Pop rock (also typeset as pop/rock[4]) is a fusion genre characterized by a strong commercial appeal,[5] with more emphasis on 🏀 professional songwriting and recording craft, and less emphasis on attitude than standard rock music.[6][7][1] Originating in the late 1950s as 🏀 an alternative to normal rock and roll, early pop rock was influenced by the beat, arrangements, and original style of 🏀 rock and roll (and sometimes doo-wop).[1] It may be viewed as a distinct genre field rather than music that overlaps 🏀 with pop and rock.[4] The detractors of pop rock often deride it as a slick, commercial product and less authentic 🏀 than rock music.[8]
The term pop has been used since the early forties to refer to popular music in general, but 🏀 from the mid-1950s it began to be used for a distinct genre, aimed at a youth market, often characterized as 🏀 a softer alternative to rock and roll.[11][1] In the aftermath of the British Invasion, from about 1967, it was increasingly 🏀 used in opposition to the term rock, to describe a form that was more commercial, ephemeral and accessible.[12]
Debates [ edit 🏀 ]
Critic Philip Auslander argues that the distinction between pop and rock is more pronounced in the US than in the 🏀 UK. He claims that in the US, pop has roots in white crooners such as Perry Como, whereas rock is 🏀 rooted in African-American music influenced by forms such as rock and roll. Auslander points out that the concept of pop 🏀 rock, which blends pop and rock, is at odds with the typical conception of pop and rock as opposites. Auslander 🏀 and several other scholars, such as Simon Frith and Grossberg, argue that pop music is often depicted as an inauthentic, 🏀 cynical, "slickly commercial", and formulaic form of entertainment. In contrast, rock music is often heralded as an authentic, sincere, and 🏀 anti-commercial form of music, which emphasizes songwriting by the singers and bands, instrumental virtuosity, and a "real connection with the 🏀 audience".[15]
