| Synth pop is a style of popular music in which the synthesizer is the dominant musical instrument. While it might be argued that most current popular and commercial music in the industrialized world is realized via electronic instruments, synth pop has its own stylistic tendencies which differentiate it from other music produced by the same means. These include: the exploitation of artificiality (the synthesizers are not used to imitate acoustic instruments), the use of mechanical rhythms and "feel", the use of vocal arrangements as a counterpoint to the artificiality of the instruments, and the use of ostinato patterns as an effect. Synth pop song forms are generally the same as in "regular" pop music. Lyrically, synth pop has an affection for science-fiction themes. Synth pop is sometimes referred to as electropop although electropop is generally regarded to be a particular style of synth pop that flourished during the early 1980s most closely associated with the post-punk New Wave music scene.Several of these bands in the 1980s were quite successful. None of the newer acts have had more than a modicum of commercial success in the United States, although some have done very well in Europe, South America, and/or Asia.Depending on context, pop music is either an abbreviation of popular music or, more recently, a term for a sub-genre of it.The subgenre of pop is perhaps the most widely crowd-pleasing form of all popular music. Some of the defining musical characteristics of the subgenre are the presence of a hook, and production techniques which are somewhat reliant on the musical fashions of the time.A hook can be any part of the song, musical, rhythmic, vocal, or as is most often the case, a mixture of all of them. The principles of good music production (in its broadest sense), are universal, and therefore when the person behind the music is a talented writer/arranger/producer the end result is almost guaranteed to be based around several musical ideas repeated to "hook" a listener's interest.The production techniques of pop music follow closely the prevailing musical fashions. Generally, underground, non-mainstream music sub-genres have the biggest influence on mainstream pop production. The most sought-after producers of today are quite often those at the forefront of very leftfield "scenes". Britney Spears, Christina Aguilera, and other pop artists from the last few years have strong hip hop and R & B influences. The slightly more underground influence at the present time is the re-emergence of synthesisers.It is usually instantly accessible to anyone who is culturally inclined to take part, even often the musical novice. Successful pop music, which is often measured in terms of its commercial success, is usually performed by charismatic performers who look attractive, are fashionable, and usually are able to dance well. Songwriting and arranging may be performed by anonymous producers.Producer Frank Farian briefly experimented with the notion of having one party sing a song, and another, more photogenic group, lip-sync to it. The result was called Milli Vanilli and was hugely successful, until people discovered that they had no role in the production of their album. Though this was scandalous in the late 1980s, today many of the most popular pop singers employ lip-synching to pre-recorded tracks during their live performances. The performers often argue that it is not an issue of them lacking singing talent. Rather, they claim, it is difficult to dance, peform, and get all the words out at the same time, so they play recorded music in the background in order to ensure that the performance sounds good. However, critics maintain that in a live musical performance, the live music creation (be it sung, instrumental, or both) should be the issue that receives precedence over other less important things, such as dancing or theatrics.Due to its increasing commercialization and the lip-synching issue, pop music is often criticized for being entertaining while lacking serious musical value and artistic significance. This is believed to be primarily due to record companies' financial considerations being placed above any artistic considerations, whereby the record companies hand-pick the artists and songs that they think will make them the most money. In a sense, young and fashionable teens who might have no prior knowledge of the music industry are marketed into something that can sell fun and danceable music to a preteen audience. Companies often figure that their profits will be maximized by selling music that has the broadest possible appeal. This is often the case, as some works of popular music have sold tens of millions of copies. This is also at least partially why genres that manage to attain a certain level of credibility as styles in their own right are often no longer considered "pop"; as several of the more serious musicians, as well as their fans, strive to separate themselves from the commercialism-over-creativity aspect of current pop music.In most of pop music, the record producer is a major contributor. He or she often chooses the songs and shapes the sound of the music. |