the term pop music comes from britain.
where does the term pop music come from?
britain
according to the website of "the new grove dictionary of music and musicians", the term "pop music" "originated in britain in the mid-1950s as a description for rock and roll and the new youth music styles that it influenced". "the oxford dictionary of music" states that while pop's "earlier meaning meant concerts appealing to a wide audience [...] since the late 1950s, however, pop has had the special meaning of non-classical mus[ic], usually in the form of songs, performed by such artists as the beatles, the rolling stones, abba, etc." "grove music online" also states that "[...] in the early 1960s, [the term] 'pop music' competed terminologically with beat music [in england], while in the us its coverage overlapped (as it still does) with that of 'rock and roll'".
pop music
the british invasion of america led by the beatles from their arrival in april 1964 saw them, uniquely, hold the top 5 positions on the "billboard" hot 100 singles chart simultaneously. during the next two years, peter and gordon, the animals, manfred mann, petula clark, freddie and the dreamers, wayne fontana and the mindbenders, herman’s hermits, the rolling stones, the troggs, and donovan would have one or more number one singles. other acts that were part of the invasion included the dave clark five, tom jones, the kinks and the who at this point most of the british invasion bands did not distinguish their rock 'n' roll or blues based music from pop music. however, around 1967 as blues-rock acts, emerging folk rock and some beat bands, including the beatles, veered towards a more serious forms of music (with an emphasis on meaning, virtuosity and orientated towards the albums market), the term pop music began to be applied to rock and roll based music with more commercial aims, often with inconsequential lyrics, particularly simple love songs, and orientated towards the singles chart, continuing the path of traditional pop. although some bands occupied territory that crossed the emerging rock/pop divide and were able to produce successes in both camps, including the beatles and rolling stones, the british pop genre in the late 60s would be dominated by individual singers like sandie shaw.
british pop music