Editing Pop music (section)

==Characteristics==
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 | description ={{As of|2011}}, "[[You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin']]" ranks as the most frequently played song in US radio history.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-15186967 |title=Van's Brown Eyed Girl hits the 10 million mark in US |date=5 October 2011 |work=BBC |access-date=21 July 2018 |archive-date=27 October 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181027003530/https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-15186967 |url-status=live }}</ref> It is described by music writers [[Nick Logan]] and [[Bob Woffinden]] as "the ultimate pop record".<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QWBPAQAAQBAJ&pg=PA101 |title=Encyclopedia of Great Popular Song Recordings, Volume 2|first=Steve|last=Sullivan|pages=101–103 |publisher=Scarecrow Press |year=2013 |isbn= 978-0-8108-8296-6 }}</ref>
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{{listen|filename=|title="All About That Bass" (2014)
|description=An 18-second sample of "All About That Bass", featuring [[Meghan Trainor]]
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According to Frith, characteristics of pop music include an aim of appealing to a general audience, rather than to a particular sub-culture or ideology, and an emphasis on craftsmanship rather than formal "artistic" qualities.<ref name=Firth2001/> Besides, Frith also offers three identifying characteristics of pop music: light entertainment, commercial imperatives, and personal identification. Pop music grew out of a light entertainment and [[easy listening]] tradition.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Rojek|first=Chris|title=Pop music, pop culture|publisher=Polity; 1st edition (June 13, 2011)|year=2011|isbn=978-0745642642|pages=2–3}}</ref> Pop music is more conservative than other music genres such as folk, blues, country, and tradition. Many pop songs do not contain themes of resistance, opposition, or politics, rather focusing more on love and relationships.  Therefore, pop music does not challenge its audiences socially, and does not cause political activism. Frith also said the main purpose of pop music is to create revenue. It is not a medium of free articulation of the people. Instead, pop music seeks to achieve the instant empathy with cliche personalities, stereotypes, and melodrama that appeals to listeners.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Rojek|first=Chris|title=Pop music, pop culture|publisher=Polity; 1st edition (June 13, 2011)|year=2011|pages=2–3}}</ref> Music scholar Timothy Warner said pop music typically has an emphasis on recording, production, and technology, rather than live performance; a tendency to reflect existing trends rather than [[progressive music|progressive developments]]; and seeks to encourage dancing or uses dance-oriented rhythms.<ref name=Warner2003/>
[[File:Amr_Diab_at_World_Music_Awards_2007.jpg|alt=Amr Diab at World Music Awards 2007|thumb|[[Amr Diab]], Egyptian pop star, named "El-Hadaba", for achieving high records sales in the [[Middle East]] and [[Africa]] for the last three decades<ref>{{Cite web |last=Maisey |first=Sarah |date=2023-06-27 |title=Amr Diab to perform in Beirut for the first time in 12 years |url=https://www.thenationalnews.com/arts-culture/music-stage/2023/06/27/amr-diab-to-perform-in-beirut-for-the-first-time-in-12-years/ |access-date=2023-11-26 |website=The National |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2021-12-27 |title=Egypt's megastar Amr Diab releases 'Katar Men Orbak' song |url=https://www.egypttoday.com/Article/4/111300/Egypt%E2%80%99s-megastar-Amr-Diab-releases-%E2%80%98Katar-Men-Orbak%E2%80%99-song |access-date=2023-11-26 |website=EgyptToday}}</ref>]]
The main medium of pop music is the song, often between two and a half and three and a half minutes in length, generally marked by a consistent and noticeable [[rhythm|rhythmic element]], a mainstream style and a simple traditional [[song structure (popular music)|structure]].<ref>W. Everett, ''Expression in Pop-rock Music: A Collection of Critical and Analytical Essays'' (London: Taylor & Francis, 2000), p. 272.</ref> The structure of many popular songs is that of a verse and a chorus, the chorus serving as the portion of the track that is designed to stick in the ear through simple repetition both musically and lyrically. The chorus is often where the music builds towards and is often preceded by "the drop" where the bass and drum parts "drop out".<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.cmuse.org/characteristics-of-pop-music|title=Characteristics of Pop Music: An Introduction|access-date=2020-07-07|website=Cmuse.org|date=9 December 2019|archive-date=2020-07-08|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200708195748/https://www.cmuse.org/characteristics-of-pop-music|url-status=live}}</ref> Common variants include the verse-chorus form and the [[thirty-two-bar form]], with a focus on [[melody|melodies]] and catchy [[hook (music)|hooks]], and a [[refrain|chorus]] that contrasts melodically, rhythmically and [[harmony|harmonically]] with the [[Verse (music)|verse]].<ref>J. Shepherd, ''Continuum Encyclopedia of Popular Music of the World: Performance and production'' (Continuum, 2003), p. 508.</ref> The beat and the melodies tend to be simple, with limited harmonic accompaniment.<ref>V. Kramarz, ''The Pop Formulas: Harmonic Tools of the Hit Makers'' (Mel Bay Publications, 2007), p. 61.</ref> The lyrics of modern pop songs typically focus on simple themes&nbsp;– often love and romantic relationships&nbsp;– although there are notable exceptions.<ref name=Firth2001/>

[[Harmony (music)|Harmony]] and [[chord progression]]s in pop music are often "that of [[Classical music|classical]] European [[tonality]], only more simple-minded."<ref>Winkler, Peter (1978). "Toward a theory of pop harmony", ''In Theory Only'', 4, pp.&nbsp;3–26.</ref> Clichés include the [[close and open harmony|barbershop quartet-style harmony]] (i.e. ii – V – I) and [[blues scale]]-influenced harmony.<ref>Sargeant, p. 198. cited in Winkler (1978), p. 4.</ref> There was a lessening of the influence of traditional views of the [[circle of fifths]] between the mid-1950s and the late 1970s, including less predominance for the [[dominant (music)|dominant]] [[diatonic function|function]].<ref>Winkler (1978), p. 22.</ref>

In October 2023, [[Billboard (magazine)|''Billboard'']] compiled a list of "the 500 best pop songs". In doing so, they noted the difficulty of defining "pop songs":
{{blockquote|One of the reasons pop can be hard to summarize is because there’s no real sonic or musical definition to it. There are common elements to a lot of the biggest pop songs, but at the end of the day, "pop" means "popular" first and foremost, and just about any song that becomes popular enough...can be considered a pop song.<ref>{{cite magazine |title=The 500 Best Pop Songs: Staff List |url=https://www.billboard.com/lists/best-pop-songs-all-time-hits/ |magazine=Billboard |date=October 19, 2023|first1=Rania|last1=Aniftos|first2=Katie|last2=Atkinson|first3=Katie|last3=Bain|first4=Eric|last4=Renner Brown|first5=Anna|last5=Chan|first6=Ed|last6=Christman|first7=Hannah|last7=Dailey|first8=Stephen|last8=Daw|first9=Kyle|last9=Denis|first10=Frank|last10=DiGiacomo|first11=Thom|last11=Duffy|first12=Chris|last12=Eggertsen|first13=Ingrid|last13=Fajardo|first14=Griselda|last14=Flores|first15=Josh|last15=Glicksman|first16=Quincy|last16=Green|first17=Paul|last17=Grein|first18=Lyndsey|last18=Havens|first19=Rylee|last19=Johnston|first20=Becky|last20=Kaminsky|first21=Gil|last21=Kaufman|first22=Carl|last22=Lamarre|first23=Elias|last23=Leight|first24=Jason|last24=Lipshutz|first25=Joe|last25=Lynch|first26=Meghan|last26=Mahar|first27=Elizabeth|last27=Dilts Marshall|first28=Rebecca|last28=Milzoff|first29=Taylor|last29=Mims|first30=Gail|last30=Mitchell|first31=Melinda|last31=Newman|first32=Jessica|last32=Nicholson|first33=Danielle|last33=Pascual|first34=Glenn|last34=Peoples|first35=Isabela|last35=Raygoza|first36=Kristin|last36=Robinson|first37=Dan|last37=Rys|first38=Marc|last38=Schneider|first39=Andrew|last39=Unterberger|first40=Christine|last40=Werthman|display-authors=5}}</ref>}}