The ever evolving genre that is popular music is nearly impossible to be defined this is due to an influx of change in our modern society, thus making it increasingly difficult to settle on a concrete definition for pop music. In the article Pop Goes by Wayne Bowman even he is unable to give a substantial definition. He does a good job at explaining all the factors of what makes a song pop, however there is no concrete definition.
Pop is a crucial commodity in our everyday lives. I never truly noticed the motive behind the creation and distribution of most popular music. Bowman highlights that pop is “commodity music designed with a market mind” (9). Popular music feeds off our socio-capitalist world and is mass distributed to a broad audience without formal training in music with the intention of creating revenue. It is frustrating to know that many, or most, pop songs in todays society are simply created with the notion of making money. I thought music was supposed to be created for a noble and personal purpose, instead of just making money.
Although Bowman never satisfies the reader with a concrete, simple definition he gets as close as he can to try and classify pop as a genre. He cannot be condemned for this as it is nearly impossible to create a simple definition as pop is always evolving, as it is simply “popular music” which means it is relevant to the time period from which it was introduced.
Bowman constantly suggest that popular music should be studied more in schools, however he never gives specific ways on how this could occur. His suggestion is that pop music should be taken more seriously, but how could pop songs like “Coco” by O.T. Genesis be taken seriously. This song is about being in love with cocaine, partying and hiding from the police. There must be a fine line draw with popular music studies on what music should be studied and taken seriously. Pop songs like this make it clear why music educators stay away from todays music and continue to teach the classics.
In conclusion, pop plays a momentous role in our modern day society, it always has and always will. However, do we need to have it being taught in schools? Is this going to make it more appealing course for the youth? Is it that important? The fact is that this genre cannot be defined, as it is always evolving, it is difficult to take seriously at times, with its ridiculous meanings and ideas, and everyone’s different tastes for music. Do we really need education to take a shift towards popular music being studied?
More questions for Bowman:
How do we take all pop music seriously?
How would classical hits be more momentous if we study pop music?
Should this be a course outside of regular music studies?
Wayne D. Bowman, Wayne D. (2004). "Pop" Goes ...? Taking Popular Music Seriously
"In Rodrigues, C. (Ed.). Bridging the gap: Popular music and music education. US: MENC