Saying that “Pop” music is no longer popular is ridiculous to hear for some. However, it does seem to be true in some ways. The music landscape is changing, and so is how people listen to their music, so it only makes sense that what is popular is ever-evolving. The definition of pop music is any music that appeals to a wide audience, and there is now a growing concern about whether pop music is on the rise or the decline.
In a poll of over 20 KHS students, a clear statement was found: kids don’t listen to pop like they used to. Every student said that they used to listen to pop music more in the 2010s or thought it was more important to music then. When asked if they listen to pop music regularly, around 90% of the women polled said yes, but every male said no. In an interview with KHS junior Everett Feinhals, he explained, “Almost all pop music feels geared and marketed towards women so I think guys just lost interest and moved to other genres like rap or older rock.” Everett’s assertion was found to be correct in the poll, as almost every male either put their favorite genre as hip-hop or some form of rock like indie or alternative. When the women in the poll were asked about their favorite genre, there was generally a 50/50 split between indie music and pop with some outliers such as folk and country.
“I think more guys would listen to Pop music if it focused on interesting both genders instead of just women.”
— Everett Feinhals
According to the poll, 75% of students said that when they did listen to pop music, it was more so of artists that first became popular before the 2020s. This idea is part of why some believe pop music is a dying genre; its most popular artists started their careers 10 or even 15 years ago. The most popular artist in the world right now is Taylor Swift, of course, she is still releasing new music but her first album was released in 2006 which was before millions of her listener base were born. The same goes for many other artists such as Miley Cyrus who just recently got her first Grammy in her 20-year career as a music artist. In the past, most of the pop charts were dominated by artists who were younger and more willing to take risks and push music further. Thinking back to even the early 2000s when most of the music on the charts came from teen idol groups, there were not many teen artists that were growing in the pop music scene. That trend of young and boundary-breaking artists is more seen in genres like hip-hop which is now considered one of the “it” genres of the 2020s alongside country.
All in all, pop music seems like it’s on the decline but it’s just changing like it always has. Pop music from the 50s or 60s doesn’t sound like something from N-Sync or Dua Lipa. More people need to look at pop music from a different angle. When only six of the top 20 artists on the Billboard charts are even considered pop, then at some point, we need to change this outdated definition.
