How Has Pop Music Changed over the Last 80 Years Essay

Over the past 80 years, pop music has changed largely due to many reasons. For example, our technology has developed majorly, resulting in auto tune being overused by popular artists of this generation, along with the change in the way we regard music now. Also, the genres of music that are now popular have changed, and rap and alternative/indie music have advanced massively in popularity. To begin with, technology has progressed a great deal, which has influenced music produced recently. An example of this is auto tune, which has been used by countless artists; Rihanna, Chris Brown, Ke$ha, Kanye West and Justin Bieber are only a small number of these. This means that music these days is much less natural, and artist’s voices are often entirely altered. Another way the development of technology has changed how we listen to pop music, is websites on the Internet such as YouTube, which allow us to explore different genres of music much more easily. Since TVs, radios, and cellular devices have been made more accessible, advertising for new music has become much more common, this means that we are introduced to new genres and styles of music. The development of technology has provided us with an overall easier access to music, and has opened us to different types of music that we would not have originally listened to. It also provided artists with a chance to use new types of editing to change the sound of their music. Music is popular with children, teenagers and adults. More often than not, teenagers are seen with mp3s and earphones, but children are often singing music from TV shows, and adults singing songs from ‘back in the day’. In the 50s, pop music stopped being a genre listened to by children and adults alike, but started being specifically for teens. Artists like Justin Bieber, One Direction, Elvis and The Wanted used sex appeal to make their music sell. Elvis was nicknamed ‘Elvis Pelvis’ for the way he moved his hips, and most boy bands are known better for their good looks than their music. Younger artists are now coming in with new music, and their music is appreciated more by teens who feel more of a relation with them, because of the closer age gap.