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Welcome to Our Generation USA!
The following covers Music Genre as well as music composers and the Music Industry, starting in the 1950s.
For Music by each Prominent Music Genre, click on any of the following web pages:
Rock Music
Rhythm and Blues
Country Music
RAP and Hip-Hop
Other Popular Music Artists.
List of Popular Musical Styles
YouTube Video of Neil Young - Heart Of Gold
Pictured Performing on Stage: LEFT: The Kingston Trio (Folk); RIGHT: Led Zeppelin (Heavy Metal).
This is a list of the commercially relevant genres in modern popular music. Applicable styles are classified in this list using AllMusic genre categorization.
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- African
- Asian
- Avant-garde
- Blues
- Caribbean and Caribbean-influenced
- Comedy
- Country
- Easy listening
- Electronic
- Folk
- Hip hop
- Jazz
- Latin
- Pop
- R&B and soul
- Rock
- Exclusions
- External links
How Music Can Affect Our Emotions
YouTube Video of the Band U2 singing "With or Without You"
Pictured: LEFT: Rachel (Jennifer Aniston) kissing Ross (David Schwimmer) on the "Friends" TV Show; RIGHT: the band U2, the band whose song "With or Without You" was playing in the background. (Click on above YouTube hyperlink for the song by U2)
The study of music and emotion seeks to understand the psychological relationship between human affect and music. It is a branch of music psychology with numerous areas of study, including the nature of emotional reactions to music, how characteristics of the listener may determine which emotions are felt, and which components of a musical composition or performance may elicit certain reactions.
The field draws upon and has significant implications for such areas as philosophy, musicology, music theory and aesthetics, as well the acts of musical composition and performance.
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The field draws upon and has significant implications for such areas as philosophy, musicology, music theory and aesthetics, as well the acts of musical composition and performance.
Click on any of the following hyperlinks for amplification:
- Conveying emotion through music
- Eliciting emotion through music
- Comparison of conveyed and elicited emotions
- Music as a therapeutic tool
Hot 100 55th Anniversary By The Numbers: Top 100 Artists, Most No. 1s, Biggest No. 2s & More
YouTube Video of Roberta Flack - First Time Ever I Saw Your Face 1972
Pictured: LEFT: Chubby Checker (“The Twist”); RIGHT: Olivia Newton John ("Physical")
Published August 2, 2013 (Billboard Staff)
In the course of charting over a half-century of music, the Billboard Hot 100 -- which now celebrates its 55th anniversary -- has seen some songs transform into hits, but it has also chronicled major chart feats.
So in addition to the Hot 100 55th anniversary All-Time Top 100 Songs list, we've delved into the Hot 100's rich history to take a look, by the numbers, at the chart's Top 100 artists, the artists with the most Hot 100 No. 1's and top tens, the artists with the most overall Hot 100 hits, the biggest No. 2 hits, and more.
In the course of charting over a half-century of music, the Billboard Hot 100 -- which now celebrates its 55th anniversary -- has seen some songs transform into hits, but it has also chronicled major chart feats.
So in addition to the Hot 100 55th anniversary All-Time Top 100 Songs list, we've delved into the Hot 100's rich history to take a look, by the numbers, at the chart's Top 100 artists, the artists with the most Hot 100 No. 1's and top tens, the artists with the most overall Hot 100 hits, the biggest No. 2 hits, and more.
Top 50 Movie Songs Of All Time by Billboard Magazine
YouTube Video by Debby Boone singing the theme song from the movie of the same name: "You Light up my Life" (1977)
Pictured: LEFT: Dolly Parton, Lily Tomlin, Jane Fonda and Dabney Coleman in the 1980 movie "9 to 5"; RIGHT: Troy Donahue and Sandra Dee in the 1959 Movie "A Summer Place"
Movies and music have been a natural combination ever since sound was first added to moving images. Whether a film is a tear-jerking drama, an action-packed thriller or a side-splitting comedy, the right song at the right moment will always elevate the impact of a scene.
Not only that, many songs written for films have stood on their own, with the popularity of some eclipsing the movies that inspired them.
Not only that, many songs written for films have stood on their own, with the popularity of some eclipsing the movies that inspired them.
Musical Styles in the United States
YouTube Video of Elton John performing "Candle in the Wind 1997" in tribute to Princess Diana
Pictured: LEFT: Louis “Satchmo” Armstrong (1901-1971) and his hit song “Hello Dolly”; RIGHT: Tanya Tucker (1958 to Present: Hit song “Delta Dawn”) recording a new album.
The music of the United States reflects the country's multi-ethnic population through a diverse array of styles. It is a mixture of music influenced by West African, Irish, Scottish, Mexican, and Cuban music traditions among others.
The country's most internationally renowned genres are:
The United States has the world's largest music market with a total retail value of 4,898.3 million dollars in 2014, and its music is heard around the world. Since the beginning of the 20th century, some forms of American popular music have gained a near global audience.
Native Americans were the earliest inhabitants of the land that is today known as the United States and played its first music.
Much of modern popular music can trace its roots to the emergence in the late 19th century of African American blues and the growth of gospel music in the 1920s. The African American basis for popular music used elements derived from European and indigenous musics. There are also strong African roots in the music tradition of the original white settlers, such as country and bluegrass.
The United States has also seen documented folk music and recorded popular music produced in the ethnic styles of the Ukrainian, Irish, Scottish, Polish, Hispanic, and Jewish communities, among others.
Many American cities and towns have vibrant music scenes which, in turn, support a number of regional musical styles. Along with musical centers such as Philadelphia, Seattle, Portland, New York City, San Francisco, New Orleans, Detroit, Minneapolis, Chicago, Miami, Atlanta, Nashville, Austin, and Los Angeles, many smaller cities such as Asbury Park, New Jersey have produced distinctive styles of music.
The Cajun and Creole traditions in Louisiana music, the folk and popular styles of Hawaiian music, and the bluegrass and old time music of the Southeastern states are a few examples of diversity in American music. Modern day music continues to be heavily influenced by previous and present African-American music genres.
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The country's most internationally renowned genres are:
- jazz,
- blues,
- country,
- bluegrass,
- rock,
- rhythm and blues,
- ragtime,
- hip hop,
- barbershop,
- pop,
- experimental,
- techno,
- house,
- dance,
- boogaloo,
- salsa,
- and rock and roll.
The United States has the world's largest music market with a total retail value of 4,898.3 million dollars in 2014, and its music is heard around the world. Since the beginning of the 20th century, some forms of American popular music have gained a near global audience.
Native Americans were the earliest inhabitants of the land that is today known as the United States and played its first music.
Much of modern popular music can trace its roots to the emergence in the late 19th century of African American blues and the growth of gospel music in the 1920s. The African American basis for popular music used elements derived from European and indigenous musics. There are also strong African roots in the music tradition of the original white settlers, such as country and bluegrass.
The United States has also seen documented folk music and recorded popular music produced in the ethnic styles of the Ukrainian, Irish, Scottish, Polish, Hispanic, and Jewish communities, among others.
Many American cities and towns have vibrant music scenes which, in turn, support a number of regional musical styles. Along with musical centers such as Philadelphia, Seattle, Portland, New York City, San Francisco, New Orleans, Detroit, Minneapolis, Chicago, Miami, Atlanta, Nashville, Austin, and Los Angeles, many smaller cities such as Asbury Park, New Jersey have produced distinctive styles of music.
The Cajun and Creole traditions in Louisiana music, the folk and popular styles of Hawaiian music, and the bluegrass and old time music of the Southeastern states are a few examples of diversity in American music. Modern day music continues to be heavily influenced by previous and present African-American music genres.
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- Characteristics
- Diversity
- Folk music
- Classical music
- Popular music
- Government, politics and law
- Industry and economics
- Education
- Scholarship
- Holidays and festivals
List of Christmas Hit Singles in the United States
YouTube Video of Album of Alvin and the Chipmunks The Christmas Song
Pictured: Christmas Albums by (Left) Nat King Cole ("The Christmas Song" 1946) and (Right) Bing Crosby ("Merry Christmas" 1945)
The following is a list of hit Christmas songs recorded by well- and less-known artists, many of which have hit on various charts mostly in the United States (some only released in the artist's home country).
A year indicates the first year of release for that artist's recorded version of the single or track, which may not necessarily be the first year the artist's version charted on one or more popular music charts by various music trade publications. However, many tracks were re-released as singles in subsequent years.
Click here to view list
A year indicates the first year of release for that artist's recorded version of the single or track, which may not necessarily be the first year the artist's version charted on one or more popular music charts by various music trade publications. However, many tracks were re-released as singles in subsequent years.
Click here to view list
Contemporary Christian Music
YouTube Video of Whitney Houston Singing Gospel Music
Pictured: LEFT: Elvis Presley (1935-1977) Singing "You'll Never Walk Alone" (1971) and RIGHT: Aretha Franklin (1942-Present) and her Album Cover "Amazing Grace" (1972).
Contemporary Christian music (or CCM—and occasionally "inspirational music") is a genre of modern popular music which is lyrically focused on matters concerned with the Christian faith.
It formed as those affected by the 1960s Jesus movement revival began to express themselves in a more contemporary style of music than the hymns, Gospel and Southern Gospel music that was prevalent in the church at the time.
Today, the term is typically used to refer to pop, rock, or praise & worship styles.
It has representation on several music charts including Billboard's Christian Albums, Christian Songs, Hot Christian AC (Adult Contemporary), Christian CHR, Soft AC/Inspirational, and Christian Digital Songs.
Top-selling CCM artists will also appear on the Billboard 200. In the iTunes Store, the genre is represented as part of the Christian and gospel genre.
It formed as those affected by the 1960s Jesus movement revival began to express themselves in a more contemporary style of music than the hymns, Gospel and Southern Gospel music that was prevalent in the church at the time.
Today, the term is typically used to refer to pop, rock, or praise & worship styles.
It has representation on several music charts including Billboard's Christian Albums, Christian Songs, Hot Christian AC (Adult Contemporary), Christian CHR, Soft AC/Inspirational, and Christian Digital Songs.
Top-selling CCM artists will also appear on the Billboard 200. In the iTunes Store, the genre is represented as part of the Christian and gospel genre.
Country Music and the Country Music Association (CMA) awards
YouTube Video of Garth Brooks singing "Friends in Low Places" at the 1990 CMA ceremony
Pictured: LEFT: Taylor Swift (1968-Present) winning the 2011 CMA “Entertainer of the Year” award; and RIGHT: Kenny Chesney winning the 2006-8 CMA “Entertainer of the Year” awards.
Country music is a genre of United States popular music that originated in the Southern United States in the 1920s. It takes its roots from the southeastern genre of United States, such as folk music and blues music. Blues modes have been used extensively throughout its recorded history.
Country music often consists of ballads and dance tunes with generally simple forms and harmonies accompanied by mostly string instruments such as banjos, electric and acoustic guitars, dobros and fiddles as well as harmonicas.
According to Lindsey Starnes, the term country music gained popularity in the 1940s in preference to the earlier term hillbilly music; it came to encompass Western music, which evolved parallel to hillbilly music from similar roots, in the mid-20th century. The term country music is used today to describe many styles and subgenres.
The origins of country music are the folk music of working-class Americans, who blended popular songs, Irish and Celtic fiddle tunes, traditional ballads, and cowboy songs, and various musical traditions from European immigrant communities. In 2009 country music was the most listened to rush hour radio genre during the evening commute, and second most popular in the morning commute in the United States.
For more about Country Music, click here.
The Country Music Association Awards, also known as the CMA Awards or CMAs are presented to country music artists and broadcasters according to voting by CMA members.
The first CMA awards were presented at an untelevised ceremony in Nashville's Municipal Auditorium in 1967; the Entertainer of the Year award that night went to Eddy Arnold. The second annual CMA awards were presented in October 1968; NBC taped the ceremony and televised it a few weeks later.
Since then, the awards have been televised live, usually in October or November, by NBC from 1969 through 1971, by CBS from 1972 through 2005, and by the ABC beginning in 2006.
Starting in 1968 they were held at Nashville's Grand Ole Opry (initially at Ryman Auditorium, and from 1974 through 2004 at the new Grand Ole Opry House). In 2005 they moved to Madison Square Garden in New York City. Since 2006, they have been held at Nashville's Bridgestone Arena.
Click here for a list of CMA Award Winners
Country music often consists of ballads and dance tunes with generally simple forms and harmonies accompanied by mostly string instruments such as banjos, electric and acoustic guitars, dobros and fiddles as well as harmonicas.
According to Lindsey Starnes, the term country music gained popularity in the 1940s in preference to the earlier term hillbilly music; it came to encompass Western music, which evolved parallel to hillbilly music from similar roots, in the mid-20th century. The term country music is used today to describe many styles and subgenres.
The origins of country music are the folk music of working-class Americans, who blended popular songs, Irish and Celtic fiddle tunes, traditional ballads, and cowboy songs, and various musical traditions from European immigrant communities. In 2009 country music was the most listened to rush hour radio genre during the evening commute, and second most popular in the morning commute in the United States.
For more about Country Music, click here.
The Country Music Association Awards, also known as the CMA Awards or CMAs are presented to country music artists and broadcasters according to voting by CMA members.
The first CMA awards were presented at an untelevised ceremony in Nashville's Municipal Auditorium in 1967; the Entertainer of the Year award that night went to Eddy Arnold. The second annual CMA awards were presented in October 1968; NBC taped the ceremony and televised it a few weeks later.
Since then, the awards have been televised live, usually in October or November, by NBC from 1969 through 1971, by CBS from 1972 through 2005, and by the ABC beginning in 2006.
Starting in 1968 they were held at Nashville's Grand Ole Opry (initially at Ryman Auditorium, and from 1974 through 2004 at the new Grand Ole Opry House). In 2005 they moved to Madison Square Garden in New York City. Since 2006, they have been held at Nashville's Bridgestone Arena.
Click here for a list of CMA Award Winners
Disco Music
YouTube Video of the Bee Gees*: "Staying Alive"**
* -- Bee Gees; **- "Staying Alive"
Pictured: LEFT: Scene from Studio 54: 1977-1981; and RIGHT: John Travolta (1954-Present) performing in the "Saturday Night Fever" Disco Film (1977)
Disco is a genre of dance music containing elements of funk, soul, pop, and salsa. It achieved popularity during the mid-1970s to the early 1980s.
Its initial audiences in the U.S. were club-goers from the gay, African American, Italian American, Latino, and psychedelic communities in Philadelphia during the late 1960s and early 1970s.
Disco can be seen as a reaction against both the domination of rock music and the stigmatization of dance music by the counterculture during this period. It was popular with both men and women, from many different backgrounds.
The disco sound has soaring vocals over a steady "four-on-the-floor" beat, an eighth note (quaver) or 16th note (semi-quaver) hi-hat pattern with an open hi-hat on the off-beat, and a prominent, syncopated electric bass line.
In most disco tracks, string sections, horns, electric piano, and electric rhythm guitars create a lush background sound. Orchestral instruments such as the flute are often used for solo melodies, and lead guitar is less frequently used in disco than in rock. Many disco songs use electronic synthesizers, particularly in the late 1970s.
Well-known 1970s disco performers included:
While performers and singers garnered much public attention, record producers working behind the scenes played an important role in developing the "disco sound". Many non-disco artists recorded disco songs at the height of disco's popularity, and films such as Saturday Night Fever (1977) and Thank God It's Friday (1978) contributed to disco's rise in mainstream popularity. Disco was the last mass popular music movement that was driven by the baby boom generation.
Disco was a worldwide phenomenon, but its popularity drastically declined in the United States in 1980, and disco was no longer popular in the U.S. by 1981. Disco Demolition Night, an anti-disco protest held in Chicago on 12 July 1979, is commonly thought of as a factor in disco's fast and drastic decline.
By the late 1970s most major U.S. cities had thriving disco club scenes, where DJs would mix a seamless sequence of dance records. Studio 54, a venue popular among celebrities, is a well-known example of a disco club. Popular dances included The Hustle, a sexually suggestive dance.
Discotheque-goers often wore expensive, extravagant and sexy fashions. There was also a thriving drug subculture in the disco scene, particularly for drugs that would enhance the experience of dancing to the loud music and the flashing lights, such as cocaine. Disco clubs were also associated with promiscuity.
Disco was a key influence on the 1980s electronic dance music style called House. Disco has had several revivals, including in 2005 with Madonna's album Confessions on a Dance Floor, and again in 2013 and 2014, as disco-styled songs by artists like Daft Punk (with Pharrell Williams and Nile Rodgers), Justin Timberlake, Breakbot, and Bruno Mars—notably Mars' "Uptown Funk"—filled the pop charts in the UK and the US.
Its initial audiences in the U.S. were club-goers from the gay, African American, Italian American, Latino, and psychedelic communities in Philadelphia during the late 1960s and early 1970s.
Disco can be seen as a reaction against both the domination of rock music and the stigmatization of dance music by the counterculture during this period. It was popular with both men and women, from many different backgrounds.
The disco sound has soaring vocals over a steady "four-on-the-floor" beat, an eighth note (quaver) or 16th note (semi-quaver) hi-hat pattern with an open hi-hat on the off-beat, and a prominent, syncopated electric bass line.
In most disco tracks, string sections, horns, electric piano, and electric rhythm guitars create a lush background sound. Orchestral instruments such as the flute are often used for solo melodies, and lead guitar is less frequently used in disco than in rock. Many disco songs use electronic synthesizers, particularly in the late 1970s.
Well-known 1970s disco performers included:
While performers and singers garnered much public attention, record producers working behind the scenes played an important role in developing the "disco sound". Many non-disco artists recorded disco songs at the height of disco's popularity, and films such as Saturday Night Fever (1977) and Thank God It's Friday (1978) contributed to disco's rise in mainstream popularity. Disco was the last mass popular music movement that was driven by the baby boom generation.
Disco was a worldwide phenomenon, but its popularity drastically declined in the United States in 1980, and disco was no longer popular in the U.S. by 1981. Disco Demolition Night, an anti-disco protest held in Chicago on 12 July 1979, is commonly thought of as a factor in disco's fast and drastic decline.
By the late 1970s most major U.S. cities had thriving disco club scenes, where DJs would mix a seamless sequence of dance records. Studio 54, a venue popular among celebrities, is a well-known example of a disco club. Popular dances included The Hustle, a sexually suggestive dance.
Discotheque-goers often wore expensive, extravagant and sexy fashions. There was also a thriving drug subculture in the disco scene, particularly for drugs that would enhance the experience of dancing to the loud music and the flashing lights, such as cocaine. Disco clubs were also associated with promiscuity.
Disco was a key influence on the 1980s electronic dance music style called House. Disco has had several revivals, including in 2005 with Madonna's album Confessions on a Dance Floor, and again in 2013 and 2014, as disco-styled songs by artists like Daft Punk (with Pharrell Williams and Nile Rodgers), Justin Timberlake, Breakbot, and Bruno Mars—notably Mars' "Uptown Funk"—filled the pop charts in the UK and the US.
Radio Music Formats
YouTube Video of Taylor Swift and Ed Sheeran interview on Radio One -- funny moments
Pictured: LEFT: Logos of Popular Radio Shows with a Musical Format; and RIGHT: Musicians Pay Tribute To David Bowie (1947-2016) on WXRT.
Music radio is a radio format in which music is the main broadcast content. After television replaced old time radio's dramatic content, music formats became dominant in many countries.
Radio drama and comedy continue, often on public radio. Music drives radio technology, including wide-band FM, modern digital radio systems such as Digital Radio Mondiale.
There is also Sirius Satellite Radio with a pay-for-play format, and even the rise of internet radio and music streaming services.
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Radio drama and comedy continue, often on public radio. Music drives radio technology, including wide-band FM, modern digital radio systems such as Digital Radio Mondiale.
There is also Sirius Satellite Radio with a pay-for-play format, and even the rise of internet radio and music streaming services.
Click on the following blue hyperlinks for amplification:
- How it works
- Programming by time
- Music formats
- Public, Commercial and Community Radio
- Regional differences
- Cost of programming
- Music radio and culture
Listing of Musical Concert Halls and Other Venues around the world.
YouTube Video of "Sail On" - Beach Boys live @ Verizon Wireless Theater 6-3-12
Pictured: LEFT: Whisky a Go-Go, West Hollywood, CA.; RIGHT: Interior of the Fox Theater, St. Louis, MO
Lists of notable venues worldwide including theaters, clubs, arenas, convention centers and stadiums, all which can host concert (music related).
Click here for a listing of Musical Venues in the United States.
Click here for a listing of Musical Venues in the United States.
Listing of Best Selling Singles in the United States
YouTube Video of Elton John Performing "Rocket Man"
Pictured: LEFT: Alicia Keys Singing “No One” and RIGHT: Queen performing “And Another One Bites the Dust”
This is a list of best-selling singles in the United States, some of which have been certified by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). All of these singles have sold over four million copies according to either reliable third-party claims or multi-platinum certifications.
In music, a single is a song considered commercially viable enough by the artist and record company to be released separately from an album, usually featured on an album as well. For more information, see single.
Click here for a listing of best-selling singles based on record sales.
In music, a single is a song considered commercially viable enough by the artist and record company to be released separately from an album, usually featured on an album as well. For more information, see single.
- The RIAA certifies a record only if that record company pays for its official certification; some companies do not consider this an important distinction and will not request certifications unless pressed by its active, still saleable artists. A full and complete list of RIAA-certified recordings would be a very incomplete list of popular American music.
- The RIAA only certifies a particular recording of a song. Remixes, live and other versions count as separate.
- Prior to 1989, physical singles were awarded with a Gold certification for shipments of 1,000,000 units and a Platinum certification for shipments of 2,000,000 units. For certification dates since January 1, 1989, a Gold award represented shipments of 500,000 units and a Platinum award represented shipments of 1,000,000 units.
- Since May 9, 2013, RIAA certifications for singles in the "digital" category include on-demand audio and/or video song streams in addition to downloads.[1]
- Physical sales figures backed by RIAA certifications may be inaccurate as physical singles can be "overcertified" (sell less copies than were shipped to stores) or "undercertified" (sell beyond their current certification level and not receive a new certification).
Click here for a listing of best-selling singles based on record sales.
Listing of Best Selling Albums in the United States
YouTube Video of Michael Jackson Performing the short version of "Thriller"*
*-- Michael Jackson's "Thriller" is the all time Best Selling Album
Pictured: Album Covers for LEFT: Led Zeppelin's "Led Zeppelin IV" (1971); and RIGHT: Eagles' "Hotel California" (1976)
This is a list of the best-selling albums in the United States based on RIAA certification and Nielsen SoundScan sales tracking. The criteria are that the album must have been published (including self-publishing by the artist), and the album must have shipped at least 10 million units in the United States, achieving, in RIAA terminology, a diamond certification.
Groupings are based on different benchmarks; the highest being for sales of at least 20 million copies, and the lowest being for multi-disc albums certified at least 10 times platinum and single-disc albums that have been certified at least 10 times platinum but with sales figures lower than 10,000,000. Albums are listed in order of shipments, or sales figures when available, by greatest to least.
As a result of the RIAA's methodology of counting each disc in a multi-disc set as one unit toward certification, most double albums on the list—such as Pink Floyd's The Wall and Outkast's Speakerboxxx/The Love Below—have been certified with a number double the number of copies sold. Such albums have the shipments of copies, not discs, indicated.
Conversely, the certification level for double albums that fit onto one compact disc such as the Saturday Night Fever soundtrack reflect the actual number of copies sold. Some notable double LPs that would appear on this list if counted as two units are Elton John's Goodbye Yellow Brick Road (8× Platinum) and Peter Frampton's Frampton Comes Alive! (8× Platinum).
The albums in this list are ordered first by number of copies shipped or sold, then by platinum awards received, and finally by artist name and album title.
Albums with two references for their estimated actual sales include sales through BMG Music Club. Albums with three references for their estimated actual sales include sales through BMG Music Club and Columbia House.
Click here for a listing of best-selling albums sold in the United States.
Groupings are based on different benchmarks; the highest being for sales of at least 20 million copies, and the lowest being for multi-disc albums certified at least 10 times platinum and single-disc albums that have been certified at least 10 times platinum but with sales figures lower than 10,000,000. Albums are listed in order of shipments, or sales figures when available, by greatest to least.
As a result of the RIAA's methodology of counting each disc in a multi-disc set as one unit toward certification, most double albums on the list—such as Pink Floyd's The Wall and Outkast's Speakerboxxx/The Love Below—have been certified with a number double the number of copies sold. Such albums have the shipments of copies, not discs, indicated.
Conversely, the certification level for double albums that fit onto one compact disc such as the Saturday Night Fever soundtrack reflect the actual number of copies sold. Some notable double LPs that would appear on this list if counted as two units are Elton John's Goodbye Yellow Brick Road (8× Platinum) and Peter Frampton's Frampton Comes Alive! (8× Platinum).
The albums in this list are ordered first by number of copies shipped or sold, then by platinum awards received, and finally by artist name and album title.
Albums with two references for their estimated actual sales include sales through BMG Music Club. Albums with three references for their estimated actual sales include sales through BMG Music Club and Columbia House.
Click here for a listing of best-selling albums sold in the United States.
Listing of Best Selling Musical Artists in the United States
YouTube Video of Barbra Streisand singing her signature song "People"
Pictured: In concert with LEFT: Bruce Springsteen and the e Street Band; and RIGHT: Garth Brooks.
This is the list of the top 100 highest-certified music artists in the United States based on album certifications by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA).
RIAA certifications are based on wholesale shipments rather than retail sales. Since 2016, the RIAA album certification has also included on-demand audio/video streams (1,500 streams = 1 album unit) and track sale equivalent (10 track sales = 1 album unit).
Additionally, awards are only presented if and when a record company applies for certification. Therefore, the total certified units for a given artist may be incomplete or out of date.
The RIAA began its certifications in 1958, therefore, popular artists from earlier eras are generally not represented on this list.
Click here fore the listing of best-selling musical artists in the United States.
RIAA certifications are based on wholesale shipments rather than retail sales. Since 2016, the RIAA album certification has also included on-demand audio/video streams (1,500 streams = 1 album unit) and track sale equivalent (10 track sales = 1 album unit).
Additionally, awards are only presented if and when a record company applies for certification. Therefore, the total certified units for a given artist may be incomplete or out of date.
The RIAA began its certifications in 1958, therefore, popular artists from earlier eras are generally not represented on this list.
Click here fore the listing of best-selling musical artists in the United States.
Blues Music including Blues Awards Ceremonies
YouTube Video of Muddy Waters & The Rolling Stones* - Baby Please Don't Go - Live At Checkerboard Lounge
* -- Rolling Stones Band
Pictured: LEFT: Muddy Waters; RIGHT: B. B. King
Blues is a genre and musical form originated by African Americans in the Deep South of the United States around the end of the 19th century.
The genre developed from roots in African musical traditions, African-American work songs and European-American folk music. Blues incorporated spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts, chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads.
The blues form, ubiquitous in jazz, rhythm and blues and rock and roll, is characterized by the call-and-response pattern, the blues scale and specific chord progressions, of which the twelve-bar blues is the most common.
Blue notes (or "worried notes"), usually thirds or fifths flattened in pitch, are also an essential part of the sound. Blues shuffles or walking bass reinforce the trance-like rhythm and form a repetitive effect known as the groove. Blues as a genre is also characterized by its lyrics, bass lines, and instrumentation.
Early traditional blues verses consisted of a single line repeated four times. It was only in the first decades of the 20th century that the most common current structure became standard: the AAB pattern, consisting of a line sung over the four first bars, its repetition over the next four, and then a longer concluding line over the last bars.
Early blues frequently took the form of a loose narrative, often relating the troubles experienced in African-American society.
Many elements, such as the call-and-response format and the use of blue notes, can be traced back to the music of Africa. The origins of the blues are also closely related to the religious music of the Afro-American community, the spirituals.
The first appearance of the blues is often dated to after the ending of slavery and, later, the development of juke joints. It is associated with the newly acquired freedom of the former slaves. Chroniclers began to report about blues music at the dawn of the 20th century. The first publication of blues sheet music was in 1908.
Blues has since evolved from unaccompanied vocal music and oral traditions of slaves into a wide variety of styles and subgenres. Blues subgenres include country blues, such as Delta blues and Piedmont blues, as well as urban blues styles such as Chicago blues and West Coast blues.
World War II marked the transition from acoustic to electric blues and the progressive opening of blues music to a wider audience, especially white listeners. In the 1960s and 1970s, a hybrid form called blues rock evolved.
The Blues Music Awards are awards presented by the Blues Foundation, a non-profit organization set up to foster blues heritage. The awards, started in 1980, are according to Offbeat music magazine "universally recognized as the highest accolade afforded musicians and songwriters in blues music."
The awards were formerly known as the W. C. Handy Awards (or "The Handys") but were renamed in 2006 in an effort to increase public appreciation of the significance of the awards.
The awards had been presented annually in Memphis, Tennessee, where the Blues Foundation is located, although the 2008 award ceremony was held in Tunica, Mississippi. The 35th Blues Music Awards were held on May 8, 2014, at the Cook Convention Center in Memphis. The 36th Blues Music Awards were held on May 7, 2015.
The genre developed from roots in African musical traditions, African-American work songs and European-American folk music. Blues incorporated spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts, chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads.
The blues form, ubiquitous in jazz, rhythm and blues and rock and roll, is characterized by the call-and-response pattern, the blues scale and specific chord progressions, of which the twelve-bar blues is the most common.
Blue notes (or "worried notes"), usually thirds or fifths flattened in pitch, are also an essential part of the sound. Blues shuffles or walking bass reinforce the trance-like rhythm and form a repetitive effect known as the groove. Blues as a genre is also characterized by its lyrics, bass lines, and instrumentation.
Early traditional blues verses consisted of a single line repeated four times. It was only in the first decades of the 20th century that the most common current structure became standard: the AAB pattern, consisting of a line sung over the four first bars, its repetition over the next four, and then a longer concluding line over the last bars.
Early blues frequently took the form of a loose narrative, often relating the troubles experienced in African-American society.
Many elements, such as the call-and-response format and the use of blue notes, can be traced back to the music of Africa. The origins of the blues are also closely related to the religious music of the Afro-American community, the spirituals.
The first appearance of the blues is often dated to after the ending of slavery and, later, the development of juke joints. It is associated with the newly acquired freedom of the former slaves. Chroniclers began to report about blues music at the dawn of the 20th century. The first publication of blues sheet music was in 1908.
Blues has since evolved from unaccompanied vocal music and oral traditions of slaves into a wide variety of styles and subgenres. Blues subgenres include country blues, such as Delta blues and Piedmont blues, as well as urban blues styles such as Chicago blues and West Coast blues.
World War II marked the transition from acoustic to electric blues and the progressive opening of blues music to a wider audience, especially white listeners. In the 1960s and 1970s, a hybrid form called blues rock evolved.
The Blues Music Awards are awards presented by the Blues Foundation, a non-profit organization set up to foster blues heritage. The awards, started in 1980, are according to Offbeat music magazine "universally recognized as the highest accolade afforded musicians and songwriters in blues music."
The awards were formerly known as the W. C. Handy Awards (or "The Handys") but were renamed in 2006 in an effort to increase public appreciation of the significance of the awards.
The awards had been presented annually in Memphis, Tennessee, where the Blues Foundation is located, although the 2008 award ceremony was held in Tunica, Mississippi. The 35th Blues Music Awards were held on May 8, 2014, at the Cook Convention Center in Memphis. The 36th Blues Music Awards were held on May 7, 2015.
Hip-Hop Music and its Hip Hop Awards Presented by Black Entertainment Television (BET)
YouTube Video of Rihanna performing Live Your Life (T.I. song)
Pictured: LEFT: Snoop Dogg performs in Hawaii for U.S. military members in 2005; and RIGHT:
Kanye West performing at Lollapalooza in 2011.
Hip hop music, also called hip-hop or rap music, is a music genre formed in the United States in the 1970s that consists of a stylized rhythmic music that commonly accompanies rapping, a rhythmic and rhyming speech that is chanted.
Hip Hop developed as part of hip hop culture, a subculture defined by four key stylistic elements: MCing/rapping, DJing/scratching, break dancing, and graffiti writing. Other elements include sampling (or synthesis), and beatboxing.
While often used to refer to rapping, "hip hop" more properly denotes the practice of the entire subculture. The term hip hop music is sometimes used synonymously with the term rap music, though rapping is not a required component of hip hop music; the genre may also incorporate other elements of hip hop culture, including DJing, turntablism, and scratching, beatboxing, and instrumental tracks.
Hip hop as music and culture formed during the 1970s when block parties became increasingly popular in New York City, particularly among African-American youth residing in the Bronx. At block parties DJs played percussive breaks of popular songs using two turntables to extend the breaks.
Hip hop's early evolution occurred as sampling technology and drum-machines became widely available and affordable. Turntablist techniques developed along with the breaks and the Jamaican toasting vocal style was used. Rapping developed as a vocal style in which the artist speaks along with an instrumental or synthesized beat.
Notable artists at this time include:
The Sugarhill Gang's 1979 song "Rapper's Delight" is widely regarded to be the first hip hop record to gain widespread popularity in the mainstream. The 1980s marked the diversification of hip hop as the genre developed more complex styles. Prior to the 1980s, hip hop music was largely confined within the United States. However, during the 1980s, it began its spread and became a part of the music scene in dozens of countries.
New school hip hop was the second wave of hip hop music, originating in 1983–84 with the early records of Run-D.M.C. and LL Cool J.
The Golden age hip hop period was an innovative period between the mid-1980s and the early 1990s. Notable artists from this era include:
Gangsta rap is a subgenre of hip hop that often focuses on the violent lifestyles and impoverished conditions of inner-city youths.
Schoolly D, N.W.A, Ice-T, Ice Cube, and the Geto Boys are artists most frequently associated with the founding of gangsta rap. These artists were known for mixing the political and social commentary of political rap with the criminal elements and crime stories found in gangsta rap.
In the West Coast hip hop style, G-funk dominated mainstream hip hop for several years during the 1990s. East Coast hip hop in the early to mid 1990s was dominated by the Afrocentric jazz rap and alternative hip hop of the Native Tongues posse as well as the hardcore rap of artists such as Nas, Wu-Tang Clan, and Notorious B.I.G..
In the 1990s, hip hop began to diversify with other regional styles emerging on the national scene, such as Southern rap and Atlanta hip hop. At the same time, hip hop continued to be assimilated into other genres of popular music, an example being Neo soul.
Hip hop became a best-selling music genre in the mid-1990s and the top selling music genre by 1999. The popularity of hip hop music continued through the 2000s, with hip hop influences also increasingly finding their way into mainstream pop.
The United States also saw the success of styles such as crunk, a music that emphasized the beats and music more than the lyrics. Starting in 2005, sales of hip hop music in the United States began to severely wane. During the mid-2000s that alternative hip hop secured a place within the mainstream, due in part to the crossover success of artists such as OutKast and Kanye West.
The BET Hip Hop Awards are an annual awards show, airing on BET, showcasing hip hop performers, producers and music video directors.
The awards ceremony began in 2006, was held on November 12, 2006 at the Fox Theatre in Atlanta, Georgia, was first aired November 15 and was hosted by comedian Katt Williams.
The second ceremony was held on October 13, 2007 and aired on October 17 of the same year. Like its predecessor, the ceremony was also held at the Fox Theater in Atlanta, and was hosted by Katt Williams.
The third ceremony premiered on October 23, 2008. This ceremony was not hosted by Katt Williams, but instead was hosted by popular R&B and hip hop artist T-Pain.
The fourth ceremony was held on October 10, 2009 and was hosted by Mike Epps and aired on October 27.
The fifth ceremony was held on October 2, 2010 (aired October 12) and was also by hosted Mike Epps.
Epps would go on to host two additional years (2011 & 2012), while Snoop Dogg hosted in 2013 & 2014.
Hip Hop developed as part of hip hop culture, a subculture defined by four key stylistic elements: MCing/rapping, DJing/scratching, break dancing, and graffiti writing. Other elements include sampling (or synthesis), and beatboxing.
While often used to refer to rapping, "hip hop" more properly denotes the practice of the entire subculture. The term hip hop music is sometimes used synonymously with the term rap music, though rapping is not a required component of hip hop music; the genre may also incorporate other elements of hip hop culture, including DJing, turntablism, and scratching, beatboxing, and instrumental tracks.
Hip hop as music and culture formed during the 1970s when block parties became increasingly popular in New York City, particularly among African-American youth residing in the Bronx. At block parties DJs played percussive breaks of popular songs using two turntables to extend the breaks.
Hip hop's early evolution occurred as sampling technology and drum-machines became widely available and affordable. Turntablist techniques developed along with the breaks and the Jamaican toasting vocal style was used. Rapping developed as a vocal style in which the artist speaks along with an instrumental or synthesized beat.
Notable artists at this time include:
- DJ Kool Herc,
- Grandmaster Flash and The Furious Five,
- Fab Five Freddy,
- Marley Marl,
- Afrika Bambaataa,
- Kool Moe Dee,
- Kurtis Blow,
- Doug E. Fresh,
- Whodini,
- Warp 9,
- the Fat Boys,
- and Spoonie Gee.
The Sugarhill Gang's 1979 song "Rapper's Delight" is widely regarded to be the first hip hop record to gain widespread popularity in the mainstream. The 1980s marked the diversification of hip hop as the genre developed more complex styles. Prior to the 1980s, hip hop music was largely confined within the United States. However, during the 1980s, it began its spread and became a part of the music scene in dozens of countries.
New school hip hop was the second wave of hip hop music, originating in 1983–84 with the early records of Run-D.M.C. and LL Cool J.
The Golden age hip hop period was an innovative period between the mid-1980s and the early 1990s. Notable artists from this era include:
- Juice Crew,
- Public Enemy,
- Eric B. & Rakim,
- Boogie Down Productions and KRS-One,
- EPMD,
- Slick Rick,
- Beastie Boys,
- Kool G Rap,
- Big Daddy Kane,
- Ultramagnetic MCs,
- De La Soul,
- and A Tribe Called Quest.
Gangsta rap is a subgenre of hip hop that often focuses on the violent lifestyles and impoverished conditions of inner-city youths.
Schoolly D, N.W.A, Ice-T, Ice Cube, and the Geto Boys are artists most frequently associated with the founding of gangsta rap. These artists were known for mixing the political and social commentary of political rap with the criminal elements and crime stories found in gangsta rap.
In the West Coast hip hop style, G-funk dominated mainstream hip hop for several years during the 1990s. East Coast hip hop in the early to mid 1990s was dominated by the Afrocentric jazz rap and alternative hip hop of the Native Tongues posse as well as the hardcore rap of artists such as Nas, Wu-Tang Clan, and Notorious B.I.G..
In the 1990s, hip hop began to diversify with other regional styles emerging on the national scene, such as Southern rap and Atlanta hip hop. At the same time, hip hop continued to be assimilated into other genres of popular music, an example being Neo soul.
Hip hop became a best-selling music genre in the mid-1990s and the top selling music genre by 1999. The popularity of hip hop music continued through the 2000s, with hip hop influences also increasingly finding their way into mainstream pop.
The United States also saw the success of styles such as crunk, a music that emphasized the beats and music more than the lyrics. Starting in 2005, sales of hip hop music in the United States began to severely wane. During the mid-2000s that alternative hip hop secured a place within the mainstream, due in part to the crossover success of artists such as OutKast and Kanye West.
The BET Hip Hop Awards are an annual awards show, airing on BET, showcasing hip hop performers, producers and music video directors.
The awards ceremony began in 2006, was held on November 12, 2006 at the Fox Theatre in Atlanta, Georgia, was first aired November 15 and was hosted by comedian Katt Williams.
The second ceremony was held on October 13, 2007 and aired on October 17 of the same year. Like its predecessor, the ceremony was also held at the Fox Theater in Atlanta, and was hosted by Katt Williams.
The third ceremony premiered on October 23, 2008. This ceremony was not hosted by Katt Williams, but instead was hosted by popular R&B and hip hop artist T-Pain.
The fourth ceremony was held on October 10, 2009 and was hosted by Mike Epps and aired on October 27.
The fifth ceremony was held on October 2, 2010 (aired October 12) and was also by hosted Mike Epps.
Epps would go on to host two additional years (2011 & 2012), while Snoop Dogg hosted in 2013 & 2014.
Jazz Music including a Listing of Jazz Musicians and Jazz Award Programs
YouTube Video of The Dave Brubeck Quartet Performing "Take Five" (live 1961)
YouTube Video Recordings of the Different Forms of Jazz
Pictured: LEFT: Dave Brubeck on the cover of Time Magazine (November 8, 1954 issue); RIGHT: Herbie Hancock in December, 2013.
:
Click here to be taken to a listing of great jazz musicians.
Click here to see jazz awards and recipients.
Below, amplification of the Jazz Genre:
Jazz is a music genre that originated from African American communities of New Orleans in the United States during the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
Jazz emerged in the form of independent traditional and popular musical styles, all linked by the common bonds of African American and European American musical parentage with a performance orientation.
Jazz spans a period of over a hundred years, encompassing a very wide range of music, making it difficult to define. Jazz makes heavy use of improvisation, polyrhythms, syncopation and the swing note, as well as aspects of European harmony, American popular music the brass band tradition, and African musical elements such as blue notes and African-American styles such as ragtime.
Although the foundation of jazz is deeply rooted within the black experience of the United States, different cultures have contributed their own experience and styles to the art form as well. Intellectuals around the world have hailed jazz as "one of America's original art forms".
As jazz spread around the world, it drew on different national, regional, and local musical cultures, which gave rise to many distinctive styles. New Orleans jazz began in the early 1910s, combining earlier brass-band marches, French quadrilles, biguine, ragtime and blues with collective polyphonic improvisation.
In the 1930s, heavily arranged dance-oriented swing big bands, Kansas City jazz, a hard-swinging, bluesy, improvisational style and Gypsy jazz (a style that emphasized musette waltzes) were the prominent styles.
Bebop emerged in the 1940s, shifting jazz from danceable popular music toward a more challenging "musician's music" which was played at faster tempos and used more chord-based improvisation. Cool jazz developed in the end of the 1940s, introducing calmer, smoother sounds and long, linear melodic lines.
The 1950s saw the emergence of free jazz, which explored playing without regular meter, beat and formal structures, and in the mid-1950s, hard bop emerged, which introduced influences from rhythm and blues, gospel, and blues, especially in the saxophone and piano playing.
Modal jazz developed in the late 1950s, using the mode, or musical scale, as the basis of musical structure and improvisation. Jazz-rock fusion appeared in the late 1960s and early 1970s, combining jazz improvisation with rock music's rhythms, electric instruments and the highly amplified stage sound.
In the early 1980s, a commercial form of jazz fusion called smooth jazz became successful, garnering significant radio airplay. Other styles and genres abound in the 2000s, such as Latin and Afro-Cuban jazz.
Click here to see jazz awards and recipients.
Below, amplification of the Jazz Genre:
Jazz is a music genre that originated from African American communities of New Orleans in the United States during the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
Jazz emerged in the form of independent traditional and popular musical styles, all linked by the common bonds of African American and European American musical parentage with a performance orientation.
Jazz spans a period of over a hundred years, encompassing a very wide range of music, making it difficult to define. Jazz makes heavy use of improvisation, polyrhythms, syncopation and the swing note, as well as aspects of European harmony, American popular music the brass band tradition, and African musical elements such as blue notes and African-American styles such as ragtime.
Although the foundation of jazz is deeply rooted within the black experience of the United States, different cultures have contributed their own experience and styles to the art form as well. Intellectuals around the world have hailed jazz as "one of America's original art forms".
As jazz spread around the world, it drew on different national, regional, and local musical cultures, which gave rise to many distinctive styles. New Orleans jazz began in the early 1910s, combining earlier brass-band marches, French quadrilles, biguine, ragtime and blues with collective polyphonic improvisation.
In the 1930s, heavily arranged dance-oriented swing big bands, Kansas City jazz, a hard-swinging, bluesy, improvisational style and Gypsy jazz (a style that emphasized musette waltzes) were the prominent styles.
Bebop emerged in the 1940s, shifting jazz from danceable popular music toward a more challenging "musician's music" which was played at faster tempos and used more chord-based improvisation. Cool jazz developed in the end of the 1940s, introducing calmer, smoother sounds and long, linear melodic lines.
The 1950s saw the emergence of free jazz, which explored playing without regular meter, beat and formal structures, and in the mid-1950s, hard bop emerged, which introduced influences from rhythm and blues, gospel, and blues, especially in the saxophone and piano playing.
Modal jazz developed in the late 1950s, using the mode, or musical scale, as the basis of musical structure and improvisation. Jazz-rock fusion appeared in the late 1960s and early 1970s, combining jazz improvisation with rock music's rhythms, electric instruments and the highly amplified stage sound.
In the early 1980s, a commercial form of jazz fusion called smooth jazz became successful, garnering significant radio airplay. Other styles and genres abound in the 2000s, such as Latin and Afro-Cuban jazz.
Popular Music, including a List of American Pop Singers and the Awards Programs: MTV Musical Video and The Grammy.
YouTube Video of Paul Anka* performing "Put Your Head on my Shoulder (1959)
*--Paul Anka
Pictured: LEFT: Connie Francis and her Album “Never on Sunday” (1961); RIGHT: Billy Joel performing.
Click here for a list of American Popular Musical Artists
Click here for Recipients of the "Grammy Awards"
Click here for Recipients of the "MTV Video Musical Awards"
See below for Popular Music:
The term popular music belongs to a number of musical genres "having wide appeal" and typically distributed to large audiences through the music industry.
These forms and styles can be enjoyed and performed by people with little or no musical training. It stands in contrast to both art music and traditional or "folk" music.
Art music was historically disseminated through the performances of written music, although since the beginning of the recording industry, it is also disseminated through recordings.
Traditional music forms such as early blues songs or hymns were passed along orally, or to smaller, local audiences.
The original application of the term is to music of the 1880s Tin Pan Alley period in the United States. Although popular music sometimes is known as "pop music", the two terms are not interchangeable:
Popular music songs and pieces typically have easily singable melodies. The song structure of popular music commonly involves repetition of sections, with the verse and chorus or refrain repeating throughout the song and the bridge providing a contrasting and transitional section within a piece.
In the 2000s, with songs and pieces available as digital sound files, it has become easier for music to spread from one country or region to another. Some popular music forms have become global, while others have a wide appeal within the culture of their origin.
Through the mixture of musical genres, new popular music forms are created to reflect the ideals of a global culture. The examples of Africa, Indonesia, and the Middle East show how Western popular music styles can blend with local musical traditions to create new hybrid styles.
Click here for Recipients of the "Grammy Awards"
Click here for Recipients of the "MTV Video Musical Awards"
See below for Popular Music:
The term popular music belongs to a number of musical genres "having wide appeal" and typically distributed to large audiences through the music industry.
These forms and styles can be enjoyed and performed by people with little or no musical training. It stands in contrast to both art music and traditional or "folk" music.
Art music was historically disseminated through the performances of written music, although since the beginning of the recording industry, it is also disseminated through recordings.
Traditional music forms such as early blues songs or hymns were passed along orally, or to smaller, local audiences.
The original application of the term is to music of the 1880s Tin Pan Alley period in the United States. Although popular music sometimes is known as "pop music", the two terms are not interchangeable:
- Popular music is a generic term for a wide variety of genres of music that appeal to the tastes of a large segment of the population,
- whereas pop music usually refers to a specific musical genre within popular music.
Popular music songs and pieces typically have easily singable melodies. The song structure of popular music commonly involves repetition of sections, with the verse and chorus or refrain repeating throughout the song and the bridge providing a contrasting and transitional section within a piece.
In the 2000s, with songs and pieces available as digital sound files, it has become easier for music to spread from one country or region to another. Some popular music forms have become global, while others have a wide appeal within the culture of their origin.
Through the mixture of musical genres, new popular music forms are created to reflect the ideals of a global culture. The examples of Africa, Indonesia, and the Middle East show how Western popular music styles can blend with local musical traditions to create new hybrid styles.
Reggae including a List of Reggae Musical Artists
YouTube Video of Bob Marley: Is This Love?
Pictured: Father and Son Reggae Artists LEFT: Bob Marley (1945-1981 ) ; and RIGHT: Ziggy Marley
Click Here for a List of Reggae Musical Artists:
Reggae is a music genre that originated in Jamaica in the late 1960s. The term also denotes the modern popular music of Jamaica and its diaspora. A 1968 single by Toots and the Maytals "Do the Reggay" was the first popular song to use the word "reggae," effectively naming the genre and introducing it to a global audience.
While sometimes used in a broad sense to refer to most types of popular Jamaican dance music, the term reggae more properly denotes a particular music style that was strongly influenced by traditional mento as well as American jazz and rhythm and blues, especially the New Orleans R&B practiced by Fats Domino and Allen Toussaint, and evolved out of the earlier genres ska and rocksteady.
Reggae usually relates news, social gossip, and political comment. Reggae spread into a commercialized jazz field, being known first as ‘Rudie Blues’, then ‘Ska’, later ‘Blue Beat’, and ‘Rock Steady’. It is instantly recognizable from the counterpoint between the bass and drum downbeat, and the offbeat rhythm section. The immediate origins of reggae were in ska and rock steady; from the latter, reggae took over the use of the bass as a percussion instrument.
Stylistically, reggae incorporates some of the musical elements of rhythm and blues, jazz, mento (a celebratory, rural folk form that served its largely rural audience as dance music and an alternative to the hymns and adapted chanteys of local church singing), calypso, African music, as well as other genres. One of the most easily recognizable elements is offbeat rhythms; staccato chords played by a guitar or piano (or both) on the offbeats of the measure. The tempo of reggae is usually slower than ska but faster than rocksteady. The concept of "call and response" can be found throughout reggae music.
The bass guitar often plays the dominant role in reggae. The bass sound in reggae is thick and heavy, and equalized so the upper frequencies are removed and the lower frequencies emphasized. The guitar in reggae usually plays on the off beat of the rhythm. It is common for reggae to be sung in Jamaican Patois, Jamaican English, and Iyaric dialects. Reggae is noted for its tradition of social criticism and religion in its lyrics, although many reggae songs discuss lighter, more personal subjects, such as love and socializing.
Reggae has spread to many countries across the world, often incorporating local instruments and fusing with other genres. Reggae en Español spread from the mainland South America countries of Venezuela and Guyana to the rest of South America.
Caribbean music in the United Kingdom, including reggae, has been popular since the late 1960s, and has evolved into several subgenres and fusions. Many reggae artists began their careers in the UK, and there have been a number of European artists and bands drawing their inspiration directly from Jamaica and the Caribbean community in Europe.
Reggae in Africa was boosted by the visit of Bob Marley to Zimbabwe in 1980. In Jamaica, authentic reggae is one of the biggest sources of income.
Reggae is a music genre that originated in Jamaica in the late 1960s. The term also denotes the modern popular music of Jamaica and its diaspora. A 1968 single by Toots and the Maytals "Do the Reggay" was the first popular song to use the word "reggae," effectively naming the genre and introducing it to a global audience.
While sometimes used in a broad sense to refer to most types of popular Jamaican dance music, the term reggae more properly denotes a particular music style that was strongly influenced by traditional mento as well as American jazz and rhythm and blues, especially the New Orleans R&B practiced by Fats Domino and Allen Toussaint, and evolved out of the earlier genres ska and rocksteady.
Reggae usually relates news, social gossip, and political comment. Reggae spread into a commercialized jazz field, being known first as ‘Rudie Blues’, then ‘Ska’, later ‘Blue Beat’, and ‘Rock Steady’. It is instantly recognizable from the counterpoint between the bass and drum downbeat, and the offbeat rhythm section. The immediate origins of reggae were in ska and rock steady; from the latter, reggae took over the use of the bass as a percussion instrument.
Stylistically, reggae incorporates some of the musical elements of rhythm and blues, jazz, mento (a celebratory, rural folk form that served its largely rural audience as dance music and an alternative to the hymns and adapted chanteys of local church singing), calypso, African music, as well as other genres. One of the most easily recognizable elements is offbeat rhythms; staccato chords played by a guitar or piano (or both) on the offbeats of the measure. The tempo of reggae is usually slower than ska but faster than rocksteady. The concept of "call and response" can be found throughout reggae music.
The bass guitar often plays the dominant role in reggae. The bass sound in reggae is thick and heavy, and equalized so the upper frequencies are removed and the lower frequencies emphasized. The guitar in reggae usually plays on the off beat of the rhythm. It is common for reggae to be sung in Jamaican Patois, Jamaican English, and Iyaric dialects. Reggae is noted for its tradition of social criticism and religion in its lyrics, although many reggae songs discuss lighter, more personal subjects, such as love and socializing.
Reggae has spread to many countries across the world, often incorporating local instruments and fusing with other genres. Reggae en Español spread from the mainland South America countries of Venezuela and Guyana to the rest of South America.
Caribbean music in the United Kingdom, including reggae, has been popular since the late 1960s, and has evolved into several subgenres and fusions. Many reggae artists began their careers in the UK, and there have been a number of European artists and bands drawing their inspiration directly from Jamaica and the Caribbean community in Europe.
Reggae in Africa was boosted by the visit of Bob Marley to Zimbabwe in 1980. In Jamaica, authentic reggae is one of the biggest sources of income.
Rhythm & Blues Music Including it's Musical Artists and Rhythm & Blue's Hall of Fame
YouTube Video of Smokey Robinson & The Miracles* - Tracks Of My Tears
* About Smokey Robinson & The Miracles
Pictured: LEFT: The Supremes: Diana Ross (right), Mary Wilson (center), Florence Ballard (left) performing "My World Is Empty Without You" on The Ed Sullivan Show in 1966; and RIGHT: Smokey Robinson (who also toured with "The Miracles") in concert at the Chumash Casino Resort in Santa Ynez, California, on August 17, 2006.
Click Here for a List of Rhythm and Blues Musical Artists.
Click Here for the Rhythm and Blues Hall of Fame.
Rhythm and Blues, often abbreviated as R&B or RnB, is a genre of popular African-American music that originated in the 1940s. The term was originally used by record companies to describe recordings marketed predominantly to urban African Americans, at a time when "urbane, rocking, jazz based music with a heavy, insistent beat" was becoming more popular.
In the commercial rhythm and blues music typical of the 1950s through the 1970s, the bands usually consisted of piano, one or two guitars, bass, drums, saxophone, and sometimes background vocalists. R&B lyrical themes often encapsulate the African-American experience of pain and the quest for freedom and joy. Lyrics focus heavily on the themes of triumphs and failures in terms of relationships, freedom, economics, aspirations, and sex.
The term rhythm and blues has undergone a number of shifts in meaning. In the early 1950s it was frequently applied to blues records. Starting in the mid-1950s, after this style of music contributed to the development of rock and roll, the term "R&B" became used to refer to music styles that developed from and incorporated electric blues, as well as gospel and soul music.
In the 1960s, several British rock bands such as the Rolling Stones, The Who and The Animals were referred to and promoted as being R&B bands; posters for The Who's residency at the Marquee Club in 1964 contained the slogan.This tangent of RnB is now known as "British rhythm and blues".
By the 1970s, rhythm and blues was used as a blanket term for soul and funk. In the 1980s, a newer style of R&B developed, becoming known as "Contemporary R&B". It combines elements of rhythm and blues, soul, funk, pop, hip hop and dance.
Popular R&B vocalists towards the early twenty first century include Michael Jackson, R. Kelly, Stevie Wonder, Whitney Houston, and Mariah Carey.
Click Here for the Rhythm and Blues Hall of Fame.
Rhythm and Blues, often abbreviated as R&B or RnB, is a genre of popular African-American music that originated in the 1940s. The term was originally used by record companies to describe recordings marketed predominantly to urban African Americans, at a time when "urbane, rocking, jazz based music with a heavy, insistent beat" was becoming more popular.
In the commercial rhythm and blues music typical of the 1950s through the 1970s, the bands usually consisted of piano, one or two guitars, bass, drums, saxophone, and sometimes background vocalists. R&B lyrical themes often encapsulate the African-American experience of pain and the quest for freedom and joy. Lyrics focus heavily on the themes of triumphs and failures in terms of relationships, freedom, economics, aspirations, and sex.
The term rhythm and blues has undergone a number of shifts in meaning. In the early 1950s it was frequently applied to blues records. Starting in the mid-1950s, after this style of music contributed to the development of rock and roll, the term "R&B" became used to refer to music styles that developed from and incorporated electric blues, as well as gospel and soul music.
In the 1960s, several British rock bands such as the Rolling Stones, The Who and The Animals were referred to and promoted as being R&B bands; posters for The Who's residency at the Marquee Club in 1964 contained the slogan.This tangent of RnB is now known as "British rhythm and blues".
By the 1970s, rhythm and blues was used as a blanket term for soul and funk. In the 1980s, a newer style of R&B developed, becoming known as "Contemporary R&B". It combines elements of rhythm and blues, soul, funk, pop, hip hop and dance.
Popular R&B vocalists towards the early twenty first century include Michael Jackson, R. Kelly, Stevie Wonder, Whitney Houston, and Mariah Carey.
Rock and Roll, its Best-selling Musical Artists, as well as the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
YouTube Video: Led Zeppelin performing "Stairway to Heaven"
YouTube video of the Rolling Stones Live Performing "(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction
Youtube Video of Bruce Springsteen - Born In The USA Live: London 2013 (Full Album)
Pictured: LEFT: Fats Domino; RIGHT: AC/DC
Click here for a List of Rock and Roll Musical Artists
Click here for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
Rock and roll (often written as rock & roll or rock 'n' roll) is a genre of popular music that originated and evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s, from African-American musical styles such as gospel, jazz, boogie woogie, and rhythm and blues, with country.
While elements of rock and roll can be heard in blues records from the 1920s and in country records of the 1930s, the genre did not acquire its name until the 1950s.
"Rock and roll" can refer either to the first wave of music that originated in the US in the 1950s prior to its development into "rock music", or more broadly to rock music and culture.For the purpose of differentiation, this article deals with the first definition.
In the earliest rock and roll styles of the late 1940s and early 1950s, either the piano or saxophone was often the lead instrument, but these were generally replaced or supplemented by guitar in the middle to late 1950s.
The beat is essentially a blues rhythm with an accentuated backbeat, the latter almost always provided by a snare drum. Classic rock and roll is usually played with one or two electric guitars (one lead, one rhythm), a double bass or string bass or (after the mid-1950s) an electric bass guitar, and a drum kit.
Beyond simply a musical style, rock and roll, as seen in movies and on television, influenced lifestyles, fashion, attitudes, and language. In addition, rock and roll may have contributed to the civil rights movement because both African-American and white American teens enjoyed the music.
Rock and Roll as spawned various genres, often without the initially characteristic backbeat, that are now more commonly called simply "rock music" or "rock".
Click here for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
Rock and roll (often written as rock & roll or rock 'n' roll) is a genre of popular music that originated and evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s, from African-American musical styles such as gospel, jazz, boogie woogie, and rhythm and blues, with country.
While elements of rock and roll can be heard in blues records from the 1920s and in country records of the 1930s, the genre did not acquire its name until the 1950s.
"Rock and roll" can refer either to the first wave of music that originated in the US in the 1950s prior to its development into "rock music", or more broadly to rock music and culture.For the purpose of differentiation, this article deals with the first definition.
In the earliest rock and roll styles of the late 1940s and early 1950s, either the piano or saxophone was often the lead instrument, but these were generally replaced or supplemented by guitar in the middle to late 1950s.
The beat is essentially a blues rhythm with an accentuated backbeat, the latter almost always provided by a snare drum. Classic rock and roll is usually played with one or two electric guitars (one lead, one rhythm), a double bass or string bass or (after the mid-1950s) an electric bass guitar, and a drum kit.
Beyond simply a musical style, rock and roll, as seen in movies and on television, influenced lifestyles, fashion, attitudes, and language. In addition, rock and roll may have contributed to the civil rights movement because both African-American and white American teens enjoyed the music.
Rock and Roll as spawned various genres, often without the initially characteristic backbeat, that are now more commonly called simply "rock music" or "rock".
Soul Music, including its Musical Artists as well as the Television Show "Soul Train" (1971-2006)
YouTube Video of Stevie Wonder (Live London 2008)
YouTube Video of James Brown singing "It's A Man's Man's Man's World"
YouTube Video of Aretha Franklin (You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman*
* --(Kennedy Center Honors 2015)
Pictured: LEFT: James Brown (The Godfather of Soul!); RIGHT: Aretha Franklin
Click here for a listing of Soul Musical Artists
Click here for the television show "Soul Train" (1971-2006)
Soul music (often referred to simply as soul) is a popular music genre that originated in the United States in the late 1950s and early 1960s. It combines elements of African-American gospel music, rhythm and blues and jazz. Soul music became popular for dancing and listening in the United States; where record labels such as Motown, Atlantic and Stax were influential in the civil rights era.
Soul also became popular around the world, directly influencing rock music and the music of Africa.
According to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, soul is "music that arose out of the black experience in America through the transmutation of gospel and rhythm & blues into a form of funky, secular testifying".
Catchy rhythms, stressed by hand claps and extemporaneous body moves, are an important feature of soul music. Other characteristics are a call and response between the lead vocalist and the chorus and an especially tense vocal sound. The style also occasionally uses improvisational additions, twirls and auxiliary sounds. Soul music reflected the African-American identity and it stressed the importance of an African-American culture.
The new-found African-American consciousness led to new styles of music, which boasted pride in being black.
Soul music dominated the U.S. R&B chart in the 1960s, and many recordings crossed over into the pop charts in the U.S., Britain and elsewhere. By 1968, the soul music genre had begun to splinter. Some soul artists developed funk music, while other singers and groups developed slicker, more sophisticated, and in some cases more politically conscious varieties.
By the early 1970s, soul music had been influenced by psychedelic rock and other genres, leading to psychedelic soul. The United States saw the development of neo soul around 1994. There are also several other subgenres and offshoots of soul music.
The key subgenres of soul include the Detroit (Motown) style, a rhythmic music influenced by:
Click here for the television show "Soul Train" (1971-2006)
Soul music (often referred to simply as soul) is a popular music genre that originated in the United States in the late 1950s and early 1960s. It combines elements of African-American gospel music, rhythm and blues and jazz. Soul music became popular for dancing and listening in the United States; where record labels such as Motown, Atlantic and Stax were influential in the civil rights era.
Soul also became popular around the world, directly influencing rock music and the music of Africa.
According to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, soul is "music that arose out of the black experience in America through the transmutation of gospel and rhythm & blues into a form of funky, secular testifying".
Catchy rhythms, stressed by hand claps and extemporaneous body moves, are an important feature of soul music. Other characteristics are a call and response between the lead vocalist and the chorus and an especially tense vocal sound. The style also occasionally uses improvisational additions, twirls and auxiliary sounds. Soul music reflected the African-American identity and it stressed the importance of an African-American culture.
The new-found African-American consciousness led to new styles of music, which boasted pride in being black.
Soul music dominated the U.S. R&B chart in the 1960s, and many recordings crossed over into the pop charts in the U.S., Britain and elsewhere. By 1968, the soul music genre had begun to splinter. Some soul artists developed funk music, while other singers and groups developed slicker, more sophisticated, and in some cases more politically conscious varieties.
By the early 1970s, soul music had been influenced by psychedelic rock and other genres, leading to psychedelic soul. The United States saw the development of neo soul around 1994. There are also several other subgenres and offshoots of soul music.
The key subgenres of soul include the Detroit (Motown) style, a rhythmic music influenced by:
- gospel;
- deep soul and southern soul, driving, energetic soul styles combining R&B with southern gospel music sounds;
- Memphis soul, a shimmering, sultry style;
- New Orleans soul, which came out of the rhythm and blues style;
- Chicago soul, a lighter gospel-influenced sound;
- Philadelphia soul, a lush orchestral sound with doo-wop-inspired vocals;
- Psychedelic soul, a blend of psychedelic rock and soul music;
- as well as categories such as Blue-eyed soul, which is soul music performed by white artists;
- British soul;
- and Northern soul, rare soul music played by DJs at nightclubs in Northern England.
Listing of Highest-grossing Musical Concert Tours
YouTube Video of U2 performing at the Rose Bowl on their 360 degree tour
Pictured: LEFT: The 360° Tour (with highest sales to-date) by the Irish Band U2 and RIGHT: The Rolling Stones on their "A Bigger Bang" Tour (2nd highest sales).
This is a partial list of the highest-grossing concert tours. Only tours using reliable references and having grossed over $100 million (adjusted for inflation) have been added to the list.
Some of the gross may be higher than reported on this list because not all concerts are reported. Billboard and Pollstar regularly provide the official figure of concerts' gross revenue worldwide.
Tours that span multiple decades are included in the decade that they concluded.
In bold, the tours which, when completed, became the highest-grossing of all time.
Some of the gross may be higher than reported on this list because not all concerts are reported. Billboard and Pollstar regularly provide the official figure of concerts' gross revenue worldwide.
Tours that span multiple decades are included in the decade that they concluded.
In bold, the tours which, when completed, became the highest-grossing of all time.
List of symphony orchestras in the United States
YouTube Video 1812 Overture-4th of July Boston Pops Fireworks Spectacular
Pictured: LEFT: Chicago Symphony Orchestra; and LEFT: Boston Pops Orchestra
There were about 1,200 symphony orchestras in the United States as of 1998. Some U.S. orchestras maintain a full 52-week performing season, but most are small and have shorter seasons. As of 2007, there were 117 U.S. orchestras with annual budgets of $2.5 million or more.
Critics in the 1950s identified five American orchestras as the Big Five, those considered leaders in "musical excellence, calibre of musicianship, total contract weeks, weekly basic wages, recording guarantees, and paid vacations."
The five were
But the concept and the list are now outmoded. Music critics today include more orchestras on their lists of "top" American orchestras.
Notable U.S. orchestras are listed here by state. Youth orchestras are listed in a separate list of youth orchestras in the United States.
For orchestras in other countries, see list of symphony orchestras.
Critics in the 1950s identified five American orchestras as the Big Five, those considered leaders in "musical excellence, calibre of musicianship, total contract weeks, weekly basic wages, recording guarantees, and paid vacations."
The five were
- the New York Philharmonic,
- Boston Symphony Orchestra,
- Chicago Symphony Orchestra,
- Philadelphia Orchestra,
- and Cleveland Orchestra.
But the concept and the list are now outmoded. Music critics today include more orchestras on their lists of "top" American orchestras.
Notable U.S. orchestras are listed here by state. Youth orchestras are listed in a separate list of youth orchestras in the United States.
For orchestras in other countries, see list of symphony orchestras.
A cappella (singing with no instrumental accompaniment)
YouTube Video of A Capella Singers Performing
A cappella (Italian for "in the manner of the chapel") music is specifically group or solo singing without instrumental accompaniment, or a piece intended to be performed in this way. It contrasts with cantata, which is accompanied singing.
The term "a cappella" was originally intended to differentiate between Renaissance polyphony and Baroque concertato style. In the 19th century a renewed interest in Renaissance polyphony coupled with an ignorance of the fact that vocal parts were often doubled by instrumentalists led to the term coming to mean unaccompanied vocal music. The term is also used, albeit rarely, as a synonym for alla breve.
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The term "a cappella" was originally intended to differentiate between Renaissance polyphony and Baroque concertato style. In the 19th century a renewed interest in Renaissance polyphony coupled with an ignorance of the fact that vocal parts were often doubled by instrumentalists led to the term coming to mean unaccompanied vocal music. The term is also used, albeit rarely, as a synonym for alla breve.
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Music in the 1950s
YouTube Video of Chuck Berry - Maybellene 1955
Pictured: LEFT: Mitch Miller and his Band during Dinah Washington sessions for Mercury in the late 1940s; RIGHT: Jerry Lee Lewis Standing while playing his piano and singing songs like “Great Balls of Fire!”.
This topic includes an overview of the major events and trends in popular music in the 1950s. Doo Wop, pop, swing, rhythm and blues, blues, country and rockabilly dominated and defined the decade's music.
During this decade, Rock and Roll took off with such stars as Elvis Presley, Fats Domino, Jerry Lee Lewis, Little Richard, Chuck Berry and others.
During this decade, Rock and Roll took off with such stars as Elvis Presley, Fats Domino, Jerry Lee Lewis, Little Richard, Chuck Berry and others.
Music in the 1960s
YouTube Video Janis Joplin - Piece of My Heart [live Woodstock]
Pictured: LEFT: Joan Baez and Bob Dylan during the civil rights "March on Washington", August 28, 1963; RIGHT: the band “Cream” featuring From left: Ginger Baker, Jack Bruce, and Eric Clapton.
Musical Influences of the 1960s included:
- Civil rights and other cultural events (Woodstock Festival in 1969);
- the "British Invasion" (The Beatles, Rolling Stones and others);
- Folk Music (Bob Dylan, etc.);
- Psychedelic rock (The Byrds, The Grateful Dead, Jefferson Airplane, The Doors, etc.);
- and Beach Rock, including the Beach Boys and Surfaris.
Music in the 1970s
YouTube Video Boston - Rock and Roll Band Live Dallas 2012
Pictured: (In Concert) LEFT: Willie Nelson and RIGHT Metallica
The 1970s saw the rise of disco, which became one of the biggest genres of the decade, especially in the mid-to-late 1970s.
Aside from disco, funk, smooth jazz, jazz fusion, and soul remained popular throughout the decade.
Rock music played an important part in the Western musical scene, with punk rock thriving throughout the mid to late 1970s.
Other subgenres of rock, particularly glam rock, hard rock, progressive, art rock and heavy metal achieved various amounts of success.
Other genres such as reggae were innovative throughout the decade and grew a significant following.
Hip hop emerged during this decade, but was slow to start and didn't become significant until the late 1980s.
Classical began losing a little momentum; however, through invention and theoretical development, this particular genre gave rise to experimental classical and minimalist music by classical composers.
A sub-genre of classical, film scores, remained popular with movie-goers.
Alongside the popularity of experimental music, the decade was notable for its contributions to electronic music, which rose in popularity with the continued development of synthesizers and harmonizers; more composers embraced this particular genre, gaining the notice of listeners who were looking for something new and different. Its rising popularity, mixed with the popular music of the period, led to the creation of synthpop.
Pop also had a popularity role in the 1970s.
Aside from disco, funk, smooth jazz, jazz fusion, and soul remained popular throughout the decade.
Rock music played an important part in the Western musical scene, with punk rock thriving throughout the mid to late 1970s.
Other subgenres of rock, particularly glam rock, hard rock, progressive, art rock and heavy metal achieved various amounts of success.
Other genres such as reggae were innovative throughout the decade and grew a significant following.
Hip hop emerged during this decade, but was slow to start and didn't become significant until the late 1980s.
Classical began losing a little momentum; however, through invention and theoretical development, this particular genre gave rise to experimental classical and minimalist music by classical composers.
A sub-genre of classical, film scores, remained popular with movie-goers.
Alongside the popularity of experimental music, the decade was notable for its contributions to electronic music, which rose in popularity with the continued development of synthesizers and harmonizers; more composers embraced this particular genre, gaining the notice of listeners who were looking for something new and different. Its rising popularity, mixed with the popular music of the period, led to the creation of synthpop.
Pop also had a popularity role in the 1970s.
Music in the 1980s
YouTube Video of Madonna -Like a Virgin - Rebel Heart Tour - Montreal - September 10, 2015
Pictured: LEFT: Bon Jovi in Montreal in 2007 during the Lost Highway Tour; RIGHT: AC/DC performing at the Tacoma Dome in Tacoma, Washington in August, 2009.
The 1980s saw the emergence of dance music and new wave. As disco fell out of fashion in the decade's early years, genres such as post-disco, Italo disco, Euro disco and dance-pop became more popular.
Rock music continued to enjoy a wide audience. Soft rock, glam metal, thrash metal, shred guitar characterized by heavy distortion, pinch harmonics and whammy bar abuse became very popular. Adult contemporary, quiet storm, and smooth jazz gained popularity.
In late '80s, glam metal became the largest, most commercially successful brand of music in the United States and worldwide.
The 1980s are commonly remembered for an increase in the use of digital recording, associated with the usage of synthesisers, with synth-pop music and other electronic genres featuring non-traditional instruments increasing in popularity.
Also during this decade, several major electronic genres were developed, including electro, techno, house, freestyle and Eurodance, rising in prominence during the 1990s and beyond.
Throughout the decade, R&B, hip hop and urban genres were becoming commonplace, particularly in the inner-city areas of large, metropolitan cities; rap was especially successful in the latter part of the decade, with the advent of the golden age of hip hop. These urban genres—particularly rap and hip hop—would continue their rise in popularity through the 1990s and 2000s.
Rock music continued to enjoy a wide audience. Soft rock, glam metal, thrash metal, shred guitar characterized by heavy distortion, pinch harmonics and whammy bar abuse became very popular. Adult contemporary, quiet storm, and smooth jazz gained popularity.
In late '80s, glam metal became the largest, most commercially successful brand of music in the United States and worldwide.
The 1980s are commonly remembered for an increase in the use of digital recording, associated with the usage of synthesisers, with synth-pop music and other electronic genres featuring non-traditional instruments increasing in popularity.
Also during this decade, several major electronic genres were developed, including electro, techno, house, freestyle and Eurodance, rising in prominence during the 1990s and beyond.
Throughout the decade, R&B, hip hop and urban genres were becoming commonplace, particularly in the inner-city areas of large, metropolitan cities; rap was especially successful in the latter part of the decade, with the advent of the golden age of hip hop. These urban genres—particularly rap and hip hop—would continue their rise in popularity through the 1990s and 2000s.
Music in the 1990s
YouTube Video of Collective Soul - Shine (Studio Version)
Pictured: LEFT: Nirvana performing at Pier 48, Seattle in December 1993 for MTV's Live and Loud show: RIGHT: Pearl Jam played Barclays Center.
Popular music in the 1990s saw the continuation of teen pop and dance-pop trends which had emerged in the 1970s and 1980s. Furthermore, hip hop grew and continued to be highly successful in the decade, with the continuation of the genre's golden age.
Aside from rap, reggae, contemporary R&B and urban music in general remained extremely popular throughout the decade; urban music in the late-1980s and 1990s often blended with styles such as soul, funk and jazz, resulting in fusion genres such as new jack swing, neo-soul, hip hop soul and g-funk which were popular.
Like the 1980s, rock music was also very popular in the 1990s, yet, unlike the new wave and glam metal-dominated scene of the time, grunge, Britpop, industrial rock and other alternative rock music emerged and took over as the most popular of the decade, as well as punk rock, ska punk and nu metal, among others, which attained a high level of success at different points throughout the years.
Electronic music, which had risen in popularity in the 1980s, grew highly popular in the 1990s; house and techno from the 1980s rose to international success in this decade, as well as new electronic dance music genres such as trance, happy hardcore, drum and bass, intelligent dance and trip hop.
The decade also featured the rise of contemporary country music as a major genre, which had started in the 1980s.
Aside from rap, reggae, contemporary R&B and urban music in general remained extremely popular throughout the decade; urban music in the late-1980s and 1990s often blended with styles such as soul, funk and jazz, resulting in fusion genres such as new jack swing, neo-soul, hip hop soul and g-funk which were popular.
Like the 1980s, rock music was also very popular in the 1990s, yet, unlike the new wave and glam metal-dominated scene of the time, grunge, Britpop, industrial rock and other alternative rock music emerged and took over as the most popular of the decade, as well as punk rock, ska punk and nu metal, among others, which attained a high level of success at different points throughout the years.
Electronic music, which had risen in popularity in the 1980s, grew highly popular in the 1990s; house and techno from the 1980s rose to international success in this decade, as well as new electronic dance music genres such as trance, happy hardcore, drum and bass, intelligent dance and trip hop.
The decade also featured the rise of contemporary country music as a major genre, which had started in the 1980s.
Music in the 2000s
YouTube Video of Avril Lavigne - When You're Gone (Official Video)
Pictured: LEFT: Adult contemporary artist Celine Dion is one of the biggest international stars in music history, selling more than 220 million albums worldwide; RIGHT: Rapper Eminem is the best-selling artist of the 2000s in the United States.
Unlike many past decades, the 2000s did not see the creation or emergence of many styles, with the exception of a few indie-related genres such as emo and electronic subgenres like Liquid funk and UK funky. Convergence of different styles was one of the more defining features of the decade, as seen with the creation and commercial success of the British grime genre, as well as trap and chillwave in the United States.
Nevertheless, distinguishable elements can be attributed to the decade from a musical point of view, such as the common and mainstream usage of pitch correction software Auto-Tune, as well as the rise of the internet, media player programs such as iTunes and music and video sharing websites such as YouTube. Also, most songs put less focus on elaborate bass-lines that use bass guitars and bass synthesisers in favour of louder and booming drums, and used even more electrical instruments.
The popularity of teen pop carried over from the late 1990s with acts such as *NSYNC, Backstreet Boys, Britney Spears, and Christina Aguilera dominating the charts in the earlier years of the decade.
Despite the hip hop dominance, such as Southern hip hop which lasted for most of the decade (particularly the middle years), rock music was still popular, notably:
Despite a slight slip in popularity in the early part of the decade, adult contemporary and country music were still able to find success throughout the 2000s.
Electronic music was also highly popular throughout the decade; at the beginning of the 2000s, genres such as trance, chillout, house, and indietronica, were popular.
By the end of the decade, late-1980s/early-1990s inspired dance-oriented forms of electronic music such as synthpop, electropop, and electro house had become popular.
By the end of the decade, a fusion between hip hop and electronic dance similar to the Freestyle music of the late 1980s and early 1990s, known as Hip House also were successful.
Nevertheless, distinguishable elements can be attributed to the decade from a musical point of view, such as the common and mainstream usage of pitch correction software Auto-Tune, as well as the rise of the internet, media player programs such as iTunes and music and video sharing websites such as YouTube. Also, most songs put less focus on elaborate bass-lines that use bass guitars and bass synthesisers in favour of louder and booming drums, and used even more electrical instruments.
The popularity of teen pop carried over from the late 1990s with acts such as *NSYNC, Backstreet Boys, Britney Spears, and Christina Aguilera dominating the charts in the earlier years of the decade.
Despite the hip hop dominance, such as Southern hip hop which lasted for most of the decade (particularly the middle years), rock music was still popular, notably:
- alternative rock, and especially genres such as
- post-grunge,
- post-Britpop,
- nu metal,
- pop punk,
- emo,
- post-hardcore,
- metalcore,
- and in some cases indie rock;
- the early and mid 2000s saw a resurgence in the mainstream popularity of pop rock and power pop.
Despite a slight slip in popularity in the early part of the decade, adult contemporary and country music were still able to find success throughout the 2000s.
Electronic music was also highly popular throughout the decade; at the beginning of the 2000s, genres such as trance, chillout, house, and indietronica, were popular.
By the end of the decade, late-1980s/early-1990s inspired dance-oriented forms of electronic music such as synthpop, electropop, and electro house had become popular.
By the end of the decade, a fusion between hip hop and electronic dance similar to the Freestyle music of the late 1980s and early 1990s, known as Hip House also were successful.
Music in the 2010s
YouTube Video of Lady Gaga Oscar Performance | 2016 "Til It Happens to You"
Pictured: LEFT: Katy Perry Celebrates 'Prism' With Intimate Performance (Rolling Stone); and RIGHT Justin Bieber performs onstage during the Think It Up education initiative telecast for teachers and students, hosted by Entertainment Industry Foundation.
The melismatic vocals popular in the 1990s and 2000s in pop and R&B music lost favor by mid- to late 2009, with vocally lower-key artists such as Rihanna, and Katy Perry starting to outsell new releases by perennial melismatic favorites. The saxophone has been used in multiple top 40 songs in the decade. "The Edge of Glory" from Lady Gaga's 2011 album, Born This Way is credited with popularizing the use of saxophone in the early decade.
For further amplification, click on any of the following hyperlinks:
For further amplification, click on any of the following hyperlinks:
- Musical trends in mainstream pop
- Pop
- Rock
- Pop rock
- Contemporary R&B and soul
- Hip hop
- Electronic
- Country
- Christian
American Bandstand (1952-1989: Hosted from 1956 on by Dick Clark (1929-2012)
YouTube Video of the Best of American Bandstand
Pictured: Dick Clark interviewing LEFT: Dion and Belmonts; and RIGHT: The Jackson Five.
American Bandstand is an American music-performance show that aired in various versions from 1952 to 1989 and was hosted from 1956 until its final season by Dick Clark, who also served as producer.
The show featured teenagers dancing to Top 40 music introduced by Clark; at least one popular musical act—over the decades, running the gamut from Jerry Lee Lewis to Run–D.M.C.—would usually appear in person to lip-sync one of their latest singles.
Freddy "Boom Boom" Cannon holds the record for most appearances at 110.
The show's popularity helped Dick Clark become an American media mogul and inspired similar long-running music programs, such as Soul Train and Top of the Pops.
Clark eventually assumed ownership of the program through his Dick Clark Productions company.
Click here for a List Of Musical Acts appearing on American Bandstand
The show featured teenagers dancing to Top 40 music introduced by Clark; at least one popular musical act—over the decades, running the gamut from Jerry Lee Lewis to Run–D.M.C.—would usually appear in person to lip-sync one of their latest singles.
Freddy "Boom Boom" Cannon holds the record for most appearances at 110.
The show's popularity helped Dick Clark become an American media mogul and inspired similar long-running music programs, such as Soul Train and Top of the Pops.
Clark eventually assumed ownership of the program through his Dick Clark Productions company.
Click here for a List Of Musical Acts appearing on American Bandstand
"The Day the Music Died"
YouTube Video of Ritchie Valens singing "Oh Donna" in the Background
YouTube Video of Buddy Holly singing "Peggy Sue"
YouTube Video of the Big Bopper singing "Chantilly Lace"
Pictured Left to Right: Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, and The Big Bopper
"The Day the Music Died" concerns the plane crash that occurred on February 3, 1959, rock and roll musicians Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, and J. P. "The Big Bopper" Richardson were killed in a plane crash near Clear Lake, Iowa, together with the pilot, Roger Peterson.
The event later became known as "The Day the Music Died", after singer-songwriter Don McLean so referred to it in his song "American Pie".
At the time, Holly and his band, consisting of Waylon Jennings, Tommy Allsup, and Carl Bunch, were playing on the "Winter Dance Party" tour across the Midwest. Rising artists Valens and Richardson had joined the tour as well.
The long journeys between venues on board the cold, uncomfortable tour buses adversely affected the performers, with cases of flu and even frostbite.
After stopping at Clear Lake to perform, and frustrated by such conditions, Holly fatefully decided to charter a plane to reach their next venue in Moorhead, Minnesota. Richardson, who had flu, swapped places with Jennings, taking the latter's seat on the plane, while Allsup lost his seat to Valens on a coin toss.
The event later became known as "The Day the Music Died", after singer-songwriter Don McLean so referred to it in his song "American Pie".
At the time, Holly and his band, consisting of Waylon Jennings, Tommy Allsup, and Carl Bunch, were playing on the "Winter Dance Party" tour across the Midwest. Rising artists Valens and Richardson had joined the tour as well.
The long journeys between venues on board the cold, uncomfortable tour buses adversely affected the performers, with cases of flu and even frostbite.
After stopping at Clear Lake to perform, and frustrated by such conditions, Holly fatefully decided to charter a plane to reach their next venue in Moorhead, Minnesota. Richardson, who had flu, swapped places with Jennings, taking the latter's seat on the plane, while Allsup lost his seat to Valens on a coin toss.
Patriotic Music of the United States including a List
YouTube Video of "AMERICA THE BEAUTIFUL" by Ray Charles*
*--About Ray Charles
Pictured: An illustration of the bombardment of Fort McHenry that inspired Francis Scott Key to write the lyrics for the national anthem: “Star-Spangled Banner”
Click here for an alphabetical list of patriotic music of the United States.
American patriotic music is a part of the culture and history of the United States since its founding in the 18th century and has served to encourage feelings of honor for the country's forefathers and for national unity.
These songs include hymns, military themes, national songs, and music from stage and screen, as well as songs adapted from poems. Much of American patriotic music owes its origins to six main wars:
During the period prior to American independence, much of America's patriotic music was aligned with the political ambitions of the British in the new land and so several songs are tied with the country's British origin.
American patriotic music is a part of the culture and history of the United States since its founding in the 18th century and has served to encourage feelings of honor for the country's forefathers and for national unity.
These songs include hymns, military themes, national songs, and music from stage and screen, as well as songs adapted from poems. Much of American patriotic music owes its origins to six main wars:
- the American Revolution,
- the American Indian Wars,
- the War of 1812,
- the Mexican-American War,
- the American Civil War,
- and the Spanish American War.
During the period prior to American independence, much of America's patriotic music was aligned with the political ambitions of the British in the new land and so several songs are tied with the country's British origin.
Folk Rock Music including a List of American Folk Rock Artists
YouTube Video of Neil Young* Singing "Heart of Gold"
* -- Neil Young
Pictured: LEFT: Bob Dylan; RIGHT: Peter, Paul and Mary
Click here for a List of Folk Rock Musical Artists
Folk rock is a musical genre combining elements of folk music and rock music.
In its earliest and narrowest sense, the term referred to a genre that arose in the United States and the United Kingdom around the mid-1960s. The genre was pioneered by the Los Angeles band the Byrds, who began playing traditional folk music and songs by Bob Dylan with rock instrumentation, in a style heavily influenced by the Beatles and other British bands.
The term "folk rock" was coined by the U.S. music press to describe the Byrds' music in June 1965, the month in which the band's debut album was issued. The release of the Byrds' cover version of Dylan's "Mr. Tambourine Man" and its subsequent commercial success initiated the folk rock explosion of the mid-1960s.
Dylan also contributed to the genre, particularly with his recordings with rock instrumentation on the albums Bringing It All Back Home, Highway 61 Revisited, and Blonde on Blonde. Dylan's appearance at the Newport Folk Festival July, 1965, with an electric band backing him, was a pivotal moment in the development of folk rock.
Antecedents of folk rock can be found in the American folk music revival, the beat music of the Beatles and other British Invasion bands, the Animals' hit recording of the folk song "The House of the Rising Sun", and the folk-influenced songwriting of the Beau Brummels.
In particular, the folk influence evident in such Beatles' songs as "I'm a Loser" and "You've Got to Hide Your Love Away" was influential on folk rock. The repertoire of most folk rock acts was drawn from folk sources and also from folk-influenced singer-songwriters such as Dylan.
Musically, the genre was typified by clear vocal harmonies and a relatively "clean" (effects- and distortion-free) approach to electric instruments, as epitomized by the jangly 12-string guitar sound of the Byrds. This jangly guitar sound was derived from the music of the Searchers and from George Harrison's use of a Rickenbacker 12-string on the Beatles' recordings in 1964 and 1965.
As with any genre, the borders are difficult to define. Folk rock may lean more toward folk or more toward rock in instrumentation, playing and vocal style, and choice of material; while the original genre draws on music of Europe and North America, there is no clear delineation of which folk cultures music might be included as influences.
Still, the term is not usually applied to rock music rooted in the blues-based or other African American music (except as mediated through folk revivalists), nor to rock music with Cajun roots, nor to music (especially after about 1980) with non-European folk roots, which is more typically classified as world music.
Folk rock is a musical genre combining elements of folk music and rock music.
In its earliest and narrowest sense, the term referred to a genre that arose in the United States and the United Kingdom around the mid-1960s. The genre was pioneered by the Los Angeles band the Byrds, who began playing traditional folk music and songs by Bob Dylan with rock instrumentation, in a style heavily influenced by the Beatles and other British bands.
The term "folk rock" was coined by the U.S. music press to describe the Byrds' music in June 1965, the month in which the band's debut album was issued. The release of the Byrds' cover version of Dylan's "Mr. Tambourine Man" and its subsequent commercial success initiated the folk rock explosion of the mid-1960s.
Dylan also contributed to the genre, particularly with his recordings with rock instrumentation on the albums Bringing It All Back Home, Highway 61 Revisited, and Blonde on Blonde. Dylan's appearance at the Newport Folk Festival July, 1965, with an electric band backing him, was a pivotal moment in the development of folk rock.
Antecedents of folk rock can be found in the American folk music revival, the beat music of the Beatles and other British Invasion bands, the Animals' hit recording of the folk song "The House of the Rising Sun", and the folk-influenced songwriting of the Beau Brummels.
In particular, the folk influence evident in such Beatles' songs as "I'm a Loser" and "You've Got to Hide Your Love Away" was influential on folk rock. The repertoire of most folk rock acts was drawn from folk sources and also from folk-influenced singer-songwriters such as Dylan.
Musically, the genre was typified by clear vocal harmonies and a relatively "clean" (effects- and distortion-free) approach to electric instruments, as epitomized by the jangly 12-string guitar sound of the Byrds. This jangly guitar sound was derived from the music of the Searchers and from George Harrison's use of a Rickenbacker 12-string on the Beatles' recordings in 1964 and 1965.
As with any genre, the borders are difficult to define. Folk rock may lean more toward folk or more toward rock in instrumentation, playing and vocal style, and choice of material; while the original genre draws on music of Europe and North America, there is no clear delineation of which folk cultures music might be included as influences.
Still, the term is not usually applied to rock music rooted in the blues-based or other African American music (except as mediated through folk revivalists), nor to rock music with Cajun roots, nor to music (especially after about 1980) with non-European folk roots, which is more typically classified as world music.
Musical One-Hit Wonders including a Listing of Musical One-Hit Wonders in the United States
YouTube Video: Temple Of The Dog - Hunger Strike
Pictured: Actor Steve Martin scored one Top 40 hit with the song "King Tut", which peaked at No. 17 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1978.
The term one-hit wonder is most often used to describe music performers with only one top-40 hit single that overshadows their other work.
Music journalist Wayne Jancik, whose book, The Billboard Book of One-Hit Wonders, published in 1997 and covering the period from the start of the rock and roll era in 1955 to 1992, defines a one-hit wonder objectively as "an act that has won a position on [the] national, pop, Top 40 just once."
Jancik's The Billboard Book of One-Hit Wonders, because of the publisher's limitation on size, only includes the top twenty One-Hit Wonders, or roughly half of the one-hit wonders that made the Top 40 from 1955 through 1992, and (because it was officially licensed by Billboard magazine) used the Billboard Hot 100 as its reference chart. The author has published a website "'One-Hit Wonders,' The Book", which includes all the one-hit wonders' profiles that were excluded from the book.
This formal definition can include acts with greater success outside their lone pop hit and who are not typically considered one-hit wonders, while at the same time excluding acts who have multiple hits which have been overshadowed by one signature song, or those performers who never actually hit the top 40, but, had exactly one song achieve mainstream popularity in some other fashion (that is, a "turntable hit" or a song that was ineligible for the top-40 charts).
One-hit wonders are usually exclusive to a specific market, either a country or a genre; a performer may be a one-hit wonder in one such arena but have multiple hits (or no hits) in another.
VH1's list of "100 greatest one-hit wonders":
In 2002, the American cable network VH1 aired a countdown of the VH1's 100 Greatest One-hit Wonders, hosted by William Shatner.
It listed musicians with only one American hit, regardless of international success, which has been substantial and long-lived for musicians like A-ha and Nena (see below).
Under Jancik's criteria, A-ha, Falco, Vanilla Ice and Gerardo would not qualify for the list, as all four had additional hits in the top 20 outside their signature hits; they are nonetheless commonly considered one-hit wonders because those other hits did not survive in recurrent rotation.
Los del Río likewise had two Top 40 hits, though both were versions of "Macarena".
The countdown also omitted acts such as Jimi Hendrix and Grateful Dead who, while technically charting with only one single, became too well known for their entire bodies of work to merit inclusion on the list. They did get mentioned, though, in a short segment of one-hit wonders that had popular followings.
The top ten consisted of:
Songs by decade: Each decade of one-hit wonders has a corresponding entry:
Music journalist Wayne Jancik, whose book, The Billboard Book of One-Hit Wonders, published in 1997 and covering the period from the start of the rock and roll era in 1955 to 1992, defines a one-hit wonder objectively as "an act that has won a position on [the] national, pop, Top 40 just once."
Jancik's The Billboard Book of One-Hit Wonders, because of the publisher's limitation on size, only includes the top twenty One-Hit Wonders, or roughly half of the one-hit wonders that made the Top 40 from 1955 through 1992, and (because it was officially licensed by Billboard magazine) used the Billboard Hot 100 as its reference chart. The author has published a website "'One-Hit Wonders,' The Book", which includes all the one-hit wonders' profiles that were excluded from the book.
This formal definition can include acts with greater success outside their lone pop hit and who are not typically considered one-hit wonders, while at the same time excluding acts who have multiple hits which have been overshadowed by one signature song, or those performers who never actually hit the top 40, but, had exactly one song achieve mainstream popularity in some other fashion (that is, a "turntable hit" or a song that was ineligible for the top-40 charts).
One-hit wonders are usually exclusive to a specific market, either a country or a genre; a performer may be a one-hit wonder in one such arena but have multiple hits (or no hits) in another.
VH1's list of "100 greatest one-hit wonders":
In 2002, the American cable network VH1 aired a countdown of the VH1's 100 Greatest One-hit Wonders, hosted by William Shatner.
It listed musicians with only one American hit, regardless of international success, which has been substantial and long-lived for musicians like A-ha and Nena (see below).
Under Jancik's criteria, A-ha, Falco, Vanilla Ice and Gerardo would not qualify for the list, as all four had additional hits in the top 20 outside their signature hits; they are nonetheless commonly considered one-hit wonders because those other hits did not survive in recurrent rotation.
Los del Río likewise had two Top 40 hits, though both were versions of "Macarena".
The countdown also omitted acts such as Jimi Hendrix and Grateful Dead who, while technically charting with only one single, became too well known for their entire bodies of work to merit inclusion on the list. They did get mentioned, though, in a short segment of one-hit wonders that had popular followings.
The top ten consisted of:
- "Macarena" – Los del Río (1995)
- "Tainted Love" – Soft Cell (1982)
- "Come on Eileen" – Dexys Midnight Runners (1982)
- "I'm Too Sexy" – Right Said Fred (1991)
- "Mickey" – Toni Basil (1982)
- "Who Let the Dogs Out?" – Baha Men (2000)
- "Ice Ice Baby" – Vanilla Ice (1990)
- "Take on Me" – A-ha (1985)
- "Rico Suave" – Gerardo (1990)
- "99 Luftballons" – Nena (1984)
Songs by decade: Each decade of one-hit wonders has a corresponding entry:
- List of 1950s one-hit wonders in the United States
- List of 1960s one-hit wonders in the United States
- List of 1970s one-hit wonders in the United States
- List of 1980s one-hit wonders in the United States
- List of 1990s one-hit wonders in the United States
- List of 2000s one-hit wonders in the United States
- List of 2010s one-hit wonders in the United States
Rock Music and all its (many) Genre
YouTube Video: The Beach Boys - I Get Around (Live/2013)
Pictured: Left To Right: Elvis Presley in a promotion shot for Jailhouse Rock in 1957; Jimi Hendrix performing on Dutch TV in 1967; and The Shirelles in 1962. Clockwise from top: Addie "Micki" Harris, Shirley Owens, Beverly Lee, and Doris Coley.
Rock music is a genre of popular music that originated as "rock and roll" in the United States in the 1950s, and developed into a range of different styles in the 1960s and later, particularly in the United Kingdom and the United States.
It has its roots in 1940s' and 1950s' rock and roll, itself heavily influenced by blues, rhythm and blues and country music. Rock music also drew strongly on a number of other genres such as electric blues and folk, and incorporated influences from jazz, classical and other musical sources.
Musically, rock has centered on the electric guitar, usually as part of a rock group with electric bass guitar and drums. Typically, rock is song-based music usually with a 4/4 time signature using a verse-chorus form, but the genre has become extremely diverse.
Like pop music, lyrics often stress romantic love but also address a wide variety of other themes that are frequently social or political in emphasis. The dominance of rock by white, male musicians has been seen as one of the key factors shaping the themes explored in rock music. Rock places a higher degree of emphasis on musicianship, live performance, and an ideology of authenticity than pop music.
By the late 1960s, referred to as the "golden age" or "classic rock" period, a number of distinct rock music sub-genres had emerged, including hybrids like,many of which contributed to the development of psychedelic rock, which was influenced by the countercultural psychedelic scene. New genres that emerged from this scene included progressive rock, which extended the artistic elements; glam rock, which highlighted showmanship and visual style; and the diverse and enduring sub-genre of heavy metal, which emphasized volume, power, and speed.
In the second half of the 1970s, punk rock reacted against the perceived overblown, inauthentic and overly mainstream aspects of these genres to produce a stripped-down, energetic form of music valuing raw expression and often lyrically characterized by social and political critiques.
Punk was an influence into the 1980s on the subsequent development of other sub-genres, including new wave, post-punk and eventually the alternative rock movement.
From the 1990s alternative rock began to dominate rock music and break through into the mainstream in the form of grunge, Britpop, and indie rock.
Further fusion sub-genres have since emerged, including pop punk, rap rock, and rap metal, as well as conscious attempts to revisit rock's history, including the garage rock/post-punk and synthpop revivals at the beginning of the new millennium.
Rock music has also embodied and served as the vehicle for cultural and social movements, leading to major sub-cultures including mods and rockers in the UK and the hippie counterculture that spread out from San Francisco in the US in the 1960s.
Similarly, 1970s punk culture spawned the visually distinctive goth and emo subcultures.
Inheriting the folk tradition of the protest song, rock music has been associated with political activism as well as changes in social attitudes to race, sex and drug use, and is often seen as an expression of youth revolt against adult consumerism and conformity.
Click on any of the following hyperlinks for amplification:
It has its roots in 1940s' and 1950s' rock and roll, itself heavily influenced by blues, rhythm and blues and country music. Rock music also drew strongly on a number of other genres such as electric blues and folk, and incorporated influences from jazz, classical and other musical sources.
Musically, rock has centered on the electric guitar, usually as part of a rock group with electric bass guitar and drums. Typically, rock is song-based music usually with a 4/4 time signature using a verse-chorus form, but the genre has become extremely diverse.
Like pop music, lyrics often stress romantic love but also address a wide variety of other themes that are frequently social or political in emphasis. The dominance of rock by white, male musicians has been seen as one of the key factors shaping the themes explored in rock music. Rock places a higher degree of emphasis on musicianship, live performance, and an ideology of authenticity than pop music.
By the late 1960s, referred to as the "golden age" or "classic rock" period, a number of distinct rock music sub-genres had emerged, including hybrids like,many of which contributed to the development of psychedelic rock, which was influenced by the countercultural psychedelic scene. New genres that emerged from this scene included progressive rock, which extended the artistic elements; glam rock, which highlighted showmanship and visual style; and the diverse and enduring sub-genre of heavy metal, which emphasized volume, power, and speed.
In the second half of the 1970s, punk rock reacted against the perceived overblown, inauthentic and overly mainstream aspects of these genres to produce a stripped-down, energetic form of music valuing raw expression and often lyrically characterized by social and political critiques.
Punk was an influence into the 1980s on the subsequent development of other sub-genres, including new wave, post-punk and eventually the alternative rock movement.
From the 1990s alternative rock began to dominate rock music and break through into the mainstream in the form of grunge, Britpop, and indie rock.
Further fusion sub-genres have since emerged, including pop punk, rap rock, and rap metal, as well as conscious attempts to revisit rock's history, including the garage rock/post-punk and synthpop revivals at the beginning of the new millennium.
Rock music has also embodied and served as the vehicle for cultural and social movements, leading to major sub-cultures including mods and rockers in the UK and the hippie counterculture that spread out from San Francisco in the US in the 1960s.
Similarly, 1970s punk culture spawned the visually distinctive goth and emo subcultures.
Inheriting the folk tradition of the protest song, rock music has been associated with political activism as well as changes in social attitudes to race, sex and drug use, and is often seen as an expression of youth revolt against adult consumerism and conformity.
Click on any of the following hyperlinks for amplification:
Honorific Nicknames in Popular Music
YouTube Video of Michael Jackson, the "King of Pop", performing his MoonWalk dance
Pictured: American musician James Brown was known as the "Godfather of Soul", "The Hardest Working Man in Show Business","Mr Dynamite", and "Soul Brother number one". (Courtesy of own work by Ranko - Transferred from sr.wikipedia; transferred to Commons by User:BokicaK using CommonsHelper.): RIGHT: American singer Madonna has been referred as the "Queen of Pop".
Honorific nicknames in popular music are often religious, familial, or (most frequently) royal and aristocratic in nature and are used as a form of expression in the media, or to identify the significance of an artist by fans.
Honorific nicknames were used in classical music in Europe as early as the early nineteenth century, with figures such as Mozart being called "The father of modern music" and Bach "The father of modern piano music".
They were also particularly prominent in African American culture in the post-Civil War era, perhaps as a means of conferring status that had been negated by slavery, and as a result entered early jazz and blues music, including figures such as Duke Ellington and Count Basie.
In American culture, despite its republican constitution and ideology, honorific nicknames have been used to describe leading figures in various areas of activity, such as industry, commerce, sport and the media; father ormother have been used for innovators, and royal titles such as king and queen for dominant figures in a field.
In the 1930s and 1940s, as jazz and swing music were gaining popularity, it was the more commercially successful white artists Paul Whiteman and Benny Goodman who became known as "The King of Jazz" and "The King of Swing" respectively, despite such genres of music originating from African American culture.
These patterns of naming were transferred to rock and roll when it emerged in the 1950s. There was a series of attempts to find (and a number of claimants to be) the "King of Rock 'n' Roll", a title that became most associated with Elvis Presley. This has been seen as part of a process of the appropriation of credit for innovation of the then new music by a white establishment.
Different honorifics have been taken or given for other leading figures in the genre, such as "The Architect of Rock and Roll", by Little Richard from the 1990s, but this term, like many, is also used for other important figures, in this case including pioneer electric guitarist Les Paul.
Similar honorific nicknames have been given in other genres, including Aretha Franklin, who was literally crowned "Queen of Soul" by disk jockey Pervis Spann on stage in 1968.
Other nicknames have been adopted in direct emulation of these, including Michael Jackson's title "King of Pop" from 1989.
Honorific nicknames are often part of a process of marketing and may be adopted or dropped by the press and fans over time. They have been strongly promulgated and contested by various artists and occasionally disowned or played down by their subjects. Some notable honorific nicknames are in general usage and commonly identified with particular individuals.
Click here for a full list of musical celebrity nicknames.
Honorific nicknames were used in classical music in Europe as early as the early nineteenth century, with figures such as Mozart being called "The father of modern music" and Bach "The father of modern piano music".
They were also particularly prominent in African American culture in the post-Civil War era, perhaps as a means of conferring status that had been negated by slavery, and as a result entered early jazz and blues music, including figures such as Duke Ellington and Count Basie.
In American culture, despite its republican constitution and ideology, honorific nicknames have been used to describe leading figures in various areas of activity, such as industry, commerce, sport and the media; father ormother have been used for innovators, and royal titles such as king and queen for dominant figures in a field.
In the 1930s and 1940s, as jazz and swing music were gaining popularity, it was the more commercially successful white artists Paul Whiteman and Benny Goodman who became known as "The King of Jazz" and "The King of Swing" respectively, despite such genres of music originating from African American culture.
These patterns of naming were transferred to rock and roll when it emerged in the 1950s. There was a series of attempts to find (and a number of claimants to be) the "King of Rock 'n' Roll", a title that became most associated with Elvis Presley. This has been seen as part of a process of the appropriation of credit for innovation of the then new music by a white establishment.
Different honorifics have been taken or given for other leading figures in the genre, such as "The Architect of Rock and Roll", by Little Richard from the 1990s, but this term, like many, is also used for other important figures, in this case including pioneer electric guitarist Les Paul.
Similar honorific nicknames have been given in other genres, including Aretha Franklin, who was literally crowned "Queen of Soul" by disk jockey Pervis Spann on stage in 1968.
Other nicknames have been adopted in direct emulation of these, including Michael Jackson's title "King of Pop" from 1989.
Honorific nicknames are often part of a process of marketing and may be adopted or dropped by the press and fans over time. They have been strongly promulgated and contested by various artists and occasionally disowned or played down by their subjects. Some notable honorific nicknames are in general usage and commonly identified with particular individuals.
Click here for a full list of musical celebrity nicknames.
Musical Concert Movies including a List of Concert Movies
YouTube Video from concert movie "The Last Waltz" (Trailer) featuring The Band and directed by Martin Scorsese
Pictured: LEFT: (L-R: George Harrison, Bob Dylan and Leon Russell) perform during 1971's Concert for Bangladesh; RIGHT: Bo Diddley performing at the “Sweet Toronto” concert (1969)
A concert film or concert movie, is a type of documentary film, the subject of which is an extended live performance or concert by Musical Artist or group.
Click here for a listing of Concert movies.
Click here for a listing of Concert movies.
American Folk Music including a List of Folk Singers
YouTube Video of Arlo Guthrie singing "Alice's Restaurant"
Pictured: LEFT: Arlo Guthrie and his album cover for “Alice’s Restaurant” (1967); RIGHT: Bob Dylan
American folk music is a musical term that encompasses numerous genres, many of which are known as traditional music, traditional folk music, contemporary folk music or roots music. Many traditional songs have been sung within the same family or folk group for generations, and can sometimes be traced back to such places of origin as Great Britain, Europe, or Africa.
Mike Seeger once famously commented that the definition of American folk music is "All the music that fits between the cracks."
Roots music is a broad category of music including:
The music is considered American either because it is native to the United States or because it developed there, out of foreign origins, to such a degree that it struck musicologists as something distinctly new. It is considered "roots music" because it served as the basis of music later developed in the United States, including rock and roll, rhythm and blues, and jazz.
Click here for an alphabetical listing of American folk singers.
Mike Seeger once famously commented that the definition of American folk music is "All the music that fits between the cracks."
Roots music is a broad category of music including:
- bluegrass,
- gospel,
- old time music,
- jug bands,
- Appalachian folk,
- blues,
- Cajun,
- and Native American music.
The music is considered American either because it is native to the United States or because it developed there, out of foreign origins, to such a degree that it struck musicologists as something distinctly new. It is considered "roots music" because it served as the basis of music later developed in the United States, including rock and roll, rhythm and blues, and jazz.
Click here for an alphabetical listing of American folk singers.
Grand Ole Opry
YouTube Video: Blake Shelton and Miranda Lambert - "Home" | Live at the Grand Ole Opry | Opry
Pictured: The Grand Ole Opry Stage
The Grand Ole Opry is a weekly country-music stage concert in Nashville, Tennessee, which was founded on November 28, 1925, by George D. Hay as a one-hour radio "barn dance" on WSM.
Currently owned and operated by Opry Entertainment (a division of Ryman Hospitality Properties, Inc.), it is the longest-running radio broadcast in US history, albeit not the longest-running one on a radio network.
Dedicated to honoring country music and its history, the Opry showcases a mix of famous singers and contemporary chart-toppers performing country, bluegrass, folk, gospel, and comedic performances and skits. It attracts hundreds of thousands of visitors from around the world and millions of radio and Internet listeners.
The Opry's current primary slogan is "The Show that Made Country Music Famous". Other slogans include "Home of American Music" and "Country’s Most Famous Stage".
In the 1930s the show began hiring professionals and expanded to four hours; and WSM, broadcasting by then with 50,000 watts, made the program a Saturday night musical tradition in nearly 30 states. In 1939, it debuted nationally on NBC Radio. The Opry moved to a permanent home, the Ryman Auditorium, in 1943.
As it developed in importance, so did the city of Nashville, which became America's "country music capital". The Grand Ole Opry holds such significance in Nashville that its name is included on the city/county line signs on all major roadways. The signs read "Music City|Metropolitan Nashville Davidson County|Home of the Grand Ole Opry".
Membership in the Opry remains one of country music's crowning achievements. Such country music legends as the following all became regulars on the Opry's stage:
In recent decades, the Opry has hosted such contemporary country stars as:
Since 1974, the show has been broadcast from the Grand Ole Opry House east of downtown Nashville, with an annual three-month winter foray back to the Ryman since 1999. Performances have been sporadically televised in addition to the radio programs.
For move about the Grand Ole Opry, click here.
Currently owned and operated by Opry Entertainment (a division of Ryman Hospitality Properties, Inc.), it is the longest-running radio broadcast in US history, albeit not the longest-running one on a radio network.
Dedicated to honoring country music and its history, the Opry showcases a mix of famous singers and contemporary chart-toppers performing country, bluegrass, folk, gospel, and comedic performances and skits. It attracts hundreds of thousands of visitors from around the world and millions of radio and Internet listeners.
The Opry's current primary slogan is "The Show that Made Country Music Famous". Other slogans include "Home of American Music" and "Country’s Most Famous Stage".
In the 1930s the show began hiring professionals and expanded to four hours; and WSM, broadcasting by then with 50,000 watts, made the program a Saturday night musical tradition in nearly 30 states. In 1939, it debuted nationally on NBC Radio. The Opry moved to a permanent home, the Ryman Auditorium, in 1943.
As it developed in importance, so did the city of Nashville, which became America's "country music capital". The Grand Ole Opry holds such significance in Nashville that its name is included on the city/county line signs on all major roadways. The signs read "Music City|Metropolitan Nashville Davidson County|Home of the Grand Ole Opry".
Membership in the Opry remains one of country music's crowning achievements. Such country music legends as the following all became regulars on the Opry's stage:
- Hank Williams,
- Patsy Cline,
- Marty Robbins,
- Roy Acuff,
- the Carter family,
- Bill Monroe,
- Ernest Tubb,
- Kitty Wells
- and Minnie Pearl
In recent decades, the Opry has hosted such contemporary country stars as:
- Dolly Parton,
- Alan Jackson,
- Garth Brooks,
- Reba McEntire,
- Josh Turner,
- Carrie Underwood,
- Brad Paisley,
- Rascal Flatts,
- Dierks Bentley,
- Kacey Musgraves,
- Blake Shelton
- and the Dixie Chicks.
Since 1974, the show has been broadcast from the Grand Ole Opry House east of downtown Nashville, with an annual three-month winter foray back to the Ryman since 1999. Performances have been sporadically televised in addition to the radio programs.
For move about the Grand Ole Opry, click here.
Musical Instruments, including a List of Instruments
YouTube Video Clarence Clemons* Sax Solo (Jungleland)
*--Clarence Clemons: part of Bruce Springteens' E Street Band, on the Saxophone
Pictured: The Boston Pops Orchestra
Click here for a List of Musical Instruments.
A musical instrument is an instrument created or adapted to make musical sounds. In principle, any object that produces sound can be a musical instrument—it is through purpose that the object becomes a musical instrument.
The history of musical instruments dates to the beginnings of human culture. Early musical instruments may have been used for ritual, such as a trumpet to signal success on the hunt, or a drum in a religious ceremony. Cultures eventually developed composition and performance of melodies for entertainment. Musical instruments evolved in step with changing applications.
Musical instrument classification is a discipline in its own right, and many systems of classification have been used over the years. Instruments can be classified by their effective range, their material composition, their size, etc. However, the most common academic method, Hornbostel-Sachs, uses the means by which they produce sound. The academic study of musical instruments is called organology.
Click on any of the following blue hyperlinks:
A musical instrument is an instrument created or adapted to make musical sounds. In principle, any object that produces sound can be a musical instrument—it is through purpose that the object becomes a musical instrument.
The history of musical instruments dates to the beginnings of human culture. Early musical instruments may have been used for ritual, such as a trumpet to signal success on the hunt, or a drum in a religious ceremony. Cultures eventually developed composition and performance of melodies for entertainment. Musical instruments evolved in step with changing applications.
Musical instrument classification is a discipline in its own right, and many systems of classification have been used over the years. Instruments can be classified by their effective range, their material composition, their size, etc. However, the most common academic method, Hornbostel-Sachs, uses the means by which they produce sound. The academic study of musical instruments is called organology.
Click on any of the following blue hyperlinks:
- Definition and basic operation
- Archaeology
- History: Twentieth century to present
- Classification
- Construction
- User interfaces
- See also:
Motown including a List of Motown Music
YouTube Video: Diana Ross and the Supremes singing "Stop in the Name of Love"
YouTube Video: Smokey Robinson & the Miracles singing "Tracks Of My Tears"
Pictured: Album covers of Motown Artists include (L) Diana Ross and the Supremes; (R) Smokey Robinson & the Miracles
Click here for a List of Discography for Motown Music.
Motown is an American record company. The record company was founded by Berry Gordy, Jr. as Tamla Records on January 12, 1958, and was incorporated as Motown Record Corporation on April 14, 1960, in Detroit, Michigan.
The name, a combination of motor and town, has also become a nickname for Detroit. Motown played an important role in the racial integration of popular music as an African American-owned record label that achieved significant crossover success.
In the 1960s, Motown and its subsidiary labels (including Tamla Motown, the brand used outside the US) were the most successful proponents of what came to be known as the Motown Sound, a style of soul music with a distinct pop influence.
During the 1960s, Motown achieved spectacular success for a small record company: 79 records in the Top Ten of the Billboard Hot 100 record chart between 1960 and 1969.
Following the events of the Detroit Riots of 1967, in addition to the losses of songwriters Eddie Holland, Lamont Dozier, and Brian Holland (who left the label due to dissatisfaction with their success and level of pay the same year), Gordy relocated Motown to Los Angeles in 1972, and there it remained an independent company until June 28, 1988.
It was on this date that Gordy called it quits in the music industry, having been drawn into the Hollywood lifestyle after releasing two movies starring Diana Ross: Mahogany and the Billie Holiday Biopic Lady Sings the Blues.
The company was then sold to MCA. Motown was later sold to PolyGram in 1994, before being sold again to MCA Records' successor, Universal Music Group, when it acquired PolyGram in 1999.
Motown spent much of the 2000s as a part of the Universal Music subsidiaries Universal Motown and Universal Motown Republic Group, and headquartered in New York City.
From 2011 to 2014, Motown was a part of The Island Def Jam Music Group division of Universal Music. On April 1, 2014, Universal Music Group announced the dissolution of Island Def Jam; subsequently Motown relocated back to Los Angeles to operate under the Capitol Music Group. It now operates out of the landmark Capitol Tower.
For many decades, Motown was the highest-earning African American business in the United States.
Click on any of the following blue hyperlinks for more about Motown:
Motown is an American record company. The record company was founded by Berry Gordy, Jr. as Tamla Records on January 12, 1958, and was incorporated as Motown Record Corporation on April 14, 1960, in Detroit, Michigan.
The name, a combination of motor and town, has also become a nickname for Detroit. Motown played an important role in the racial integration of popular music as an African American-owned record label that achieved significant crossover success.
In the 1960s, Motown and its subsidiary labels (including Tamla Motown, the brand used outside the US) were the most successful proponents of what came to be known as the Motown Sound, a style of soul music with a distinct pop influence.
During the 1960s, Motown achieved spectacular success for a small record company: 79 records in the Top Ten of the Billboard Hot 100 record chart between 1960 and 1969.
Following the events of the Detroit Riots of 1967, in addition to the losses of songwriters Eddie Holland, Lamont Dozier, and Brian Holland (who left the label due to dissatisfaction with their success and level of pay the same year), Gordy relocated Motown to Los Angeles in 1972, and there it remained an independent company until June 28, 1988.
It was on this date that Gordy called it quits in the music industry, having been drawn into the Hollywood lifestyle after releasing two movies starring Diana Ross: Mahogany and the Billie Holiday Biopic Lady Sings the Blues.
The company was then sold to MCA. Motown was later sold to PolyGram in 1994, before being sold again to MCA Records' successor, Universal Music Group, when it acquired PolyGram in 1999.
Motown spent much of the 2000s as a part of the Universal Music subsidiaries Universal Motown and Universal Motown Republic Group, and headquartered in New York City.
From 2011 to 2014, Motown was a part of The Island Def Jam Music Group division of Universal Music. On April 1, 2014, Universal Music Group announced the dissolution of Island Def Jam; subsequently Motown relocated back to Los Angeles to operate under the Capitol Music Group. It now operates out of the landmark Capitol Tower.
For many decades, Motown was the highest-earning African American business in the United States.
Click on any of the following blue hyperlinks for more about Motown:
- History
- Motown Sound
- The Funk Brothers
- Artist development
- Motown subsidiary labels
- British (pre-Tamla Motown) labels
- See also Music of Detroit
The MTV Video Music Awards
YouTube Video: Britney Spears - Make Me... / Me, Myself & I (Live from the 2016 MTV VMAs) ft. G-Eazy
Pictured: Britney Spears performs at 2016 MTV Video Music Awards
An MTV Video Music Award (commonly abbreviated as a VMA) is an award presented by the cable channel MTV to honor the best in the music video medium.
Originally conceived as an alternative to the Grammy Awards (in the video category), the annual MTV Video Music Awards ceremony has often been called the "Super Bowl for youth", an acknowledgment of the VMA ceremony's ability to draw millions of youth from teens to 20-somethings each year.
By 2001, the VMA had become a coveted award. The statue given to winners is an astronaut on the moon, one of the earliest representations of MTV, and colloquially called a "moonman". The statue was conceived by Manhattan Design—also designers of the original MTV logo—based on the 1981 "Top of the Hour" animation created by Fred Seibert, produced by Alan Goodman, and produced by Buzz Potamkin at Buzzco Associates. The statue is now made by New York firm, Society Awards. Since the 2006 ceremony, viewers are able to vote for their favorite videos in all general categories by visiting MTV's website.
The annual VMA ceremony occurs before the end of summer and held either in late August or mid-September, and broadcast live on MTV, along with simulcasts on MTV's sister networks to nullify in-house competition. The first VMA ceremony was held in 1984 at New York City's Radio City Music Hall. The ceremonies are normally held in either New York City or Los Angeles. However, the ceremonies have also been hosted in Miami and Las Vegas.
Click here for more about the MTV Video Music Awards.
Originally conceived as an alternative to the Grammy Awards (in the video category), the annual MTV Video Music Awards ceremony has often been called the "Super Bowl for youth", an acknowledgment of the VMA ceremony's ability to draw millions of youth from teens to 20-somethings each year.
By 2001, the VMA had become a coveted award. The statue given to winners is an astronaut on the moon, one of the earliest representations of MTV, and colloquially called a "moonman". The statue was conceived by Manhattan Design—also designers of the original MTV logo—based on the 1981 "Top of the Hour" animation created by Fred Seibert, produced by Alan Goodman, and produced by Buzz Potamkin at Buzzco Associates. The statue is now made by New York firm, Society Awards. Since the 2006 ceremony, viewers are able to vote for their favorite videos in all general categories by visiting MTV's website.
The annual VMA ceremony occurs before the end of summer and held either in late August or mid-September, and broadcast live on MTV, along with simulcasts on MTV's sister networks to nullify in-house competition. The first VMA ceremony was held in 1984 at New York City's Radio City Music Hall. The ceremonies are normally held in either New York City or Los Angeles. However, the ceremonies have also been hosted in Miami and Las Vegas.
Click here for more about the MTV Video Music Awards.
Music Festivals, including a List of Music Festivals in the United States
YouTube Video of 2016 Playboy Jazz Festival
Pictured: Music Festivals: (L) Newport Jazz Festival (2015); (R) New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival
Click here for a List of Music Festivals in the United States.
A music festival is a festival oriented towards music that is sometimes presented with a theme such as musical genre, nationality, or locality of musicians, or holiday.
They are commonly held outdoors, and are often inclusive of other attractions such as food and merchandise vending, performance art, and social activities. Many festivals are annual, or repeat at some other interval.
Some, including many rock festivals, are held only once. Some festivals are organized as for-profit concerts and others are benefits for a specific cause.
Another type of music festival is the educative type, organized annually in local communities, regionally, or nationally, for the benefit of amateur musicians of all ages and grades of achievement.
A music festival is a festival oriented towards music that is sometimes presented with a theme such as musical genre, nationality, or locality of musicians, or holiday.
They are commonly held outdoors, and are often inclusive of other attractions such as food and merchandise vending, performance art, and social activities. Many festivals are annual, or repeat at some other interval.
Some, including many rock festivals, are held only once. Some festivals are organized as for-profit concerts and others are benefits for a specific cause.
Another type of music festival is the educative type, organized annually in local communities, regionally, or nationally, for the benefit of amateur musicians of all ages and grades of achievement.
Musical Genre, including a List of Musical Genre
YouTube Video of Jerry Lee Lewis* performing "Whole Lot of Shakin' Going On" (Live 1946)
* -- Jerry Lee Lewis
YouTube Video by The Beach Boys* singing "California Girls" (1965)
*-- Beach Boys
Pictured: Examples of Musical Genre include: (L) Bob Marley (Reggae); (R) B. B. King (R&B)
Click Here for a List of Music Genre:
A music genre is a conventional category that identifies some pieces of music as belonging to a shared tradition or set of conventions. It is to be distinguished from musical form and musical style, although in practice these terms are sometimes used interchangeably.
Music can be divided into different genres in many different ways. The artistic nature of music means that these classifications are often subjective and controversial, and some genres may overlap.
There are even varying academic definitions of the term genre itself. In his book Form in Tonal Music, Douglass M. Green distinguishes between genre and form. He lists madrigal, motet, canzona, ricercar, and dance as examples of genres from the Renaissance period. To further clarify the meaning of genre, Green writes, "Beethoven's Op. 61 and Mendelssohn's Op. 64 are identical in genre – both are violin concertos – but different in form. However, Mozart's Rondo for Piano, K. 511, and the Agnus Dei from his Mass, K. 317 are quite different in genre but happen to be similar in form."
Some, like Peter van der Merwe, treat the terms genre and style as the same, saying that genre should be defined as pieces of music that share a certain style or "basic musical language."
Others, such as Allan F. Moore, state that genre and style are two separate terms, and that secondary characteristics such as subject matter can also differentiate between genres. A music genre or subgenre may also be defined by the musical techniques, the style, the cultural context, and the content and spirit of the themes.
Geographical origin is sometimes used to identify a music genre, though a single geographical category will often include a wide variety of subgenres.
Timothy Laurie argues that since the early 1980s, "genre has graduated from being a subset of popular music studies to being an almost ubiquitous framework for constituting and evaluating musical research objects".
Among the criteria often used to classify musical genres are the trichotomy of art, popular, and traditional musics.
Alternatively, music can be divided on three variables: arousal, valence, and depth. Arousal reflects the energy level of the music; valence reflects the scale from sad to happy emotions, and depth reflects the level of emotional depth in the music. These three variables help explain why many people who like similar songs from different traditionally segregated genres.
Click on any of the following blue hyperlinks for more about Music Genre:
A music genre is a conventional category that identifies some pieces of music as belonging to a shared tradition or set of conventions. It is to be distinguished from musical form and musical style, although in practice these terms are sometimes used interchangeably.
Music can be divided into different genres in many different ways. The artistic nature of music means that these classifications are often subjective and controversial, and some genres may overlap.
There are even varying academic definitions of the term genre itself. In his book Form in Tonal Music, Douglass M. Green distinguishes between genre and form. He lists madrigal, motet, canzona, ricercar, and dance as examples of genres from the Renaissance period. To further clarify the meaning of genre, Green writes, "Beethoven's Op. 61 and Mendelssohn's Op. 64 are identical in genre – both are violin concertos – but different in form. However, Mozart's Rondo for Piano, K. 511, and the Agnus Dei from his Mass, K. 317 are quite different in genre but happen to be similar in form."
Some, like Peter van der Merwe, treat the terms genre and style as the same, saying that genre should be defined as pieces of music that share a certain style or "basic musical language."
Others, such as Allan F. Moore, state that genre and style are two separate terms, and that secondary characteristics such as subject matter can also differentiate between genres. A music genre or subgenre may also be defined by the musical techniques, the style, the cultural context, and the content and spirit of the themes.
Geographical origin is sometimes used to identify a music genre, though a single geographical category will often include a wide variety of subgenres.
Timothy Laurie argues that since the early 1980s, "genre has graduated from being a subset of popular music studies to being an almost ubiquitous framework for constituting and evaluating musical research objects".
Among the criteria often used to classify musical genres are the trichotomy of art, popular, and traditional musics.
Alternatively, music can be divided on three variables: arousal, valence, and depth. Arousal reflects the energy level of the music; valence reflects the scale from sad to happy emotions, and depth reflects the level of emotional depth in the music. These three variables help explain why many people who like similar songs from different traditionally segregated genres.
Click on any of the following blue hyperlinks for more about Music Genre:
Surfing Music, including a List of Surfing Music Groups
YouTube Video of Jan and Dean* Live - "Little Old Lady from Pasadena"
* -- Jan and Dean
Pictured (L-R): The Beach Boys and The Surfaris
Click here for a List of Surfing Musical Groups by Category.
Surfing music is a subgenre of rock music associated with surf culture, particularly as found in Southern California. It was especially popular from 1962 to 1964 in two major forms.
Dick Dale developed the surf sound from instrumental rock, where he added Middle Eastern and Mexican influences, a spring reverb, and the rapid alternate picking characteristics. His regional hit "Let's Go Trippin'" (1961) launched the surf music craze, inspiring many others to take up the approach.
The genre reached national exposure when it was represented by vocal groups such as the Beach Boys, Jan and Dean, and Bruce & Terry. Their "vocal surf" style drew more from African-American genres such as doo wop with its scat singing and tight harmonies. Dale is quoted on such groups: "They were surfing sounds [with] surfing lyrics. In other words, the music wasn't surfing music. The words made them surfing songs. ... That was the difference ... the real surfing music is instrumental."
At the height of its popularity, surf music rivaled girl groups and Motown for top American popular music trends. It is sometimes referred to interchangeably with the California Sound. During the later stages of the surf music craze, many of its groups started to write songs about cars and girls; this was later known as hot rod rock.
Click on any of the following blue hyperlinks for more about Surfing Music:
Surfing music is a subgenre of rock music associated with surf culture, particularly as found in Southern California. It was especially popular from 1962 to 1964 in two major forms.
- The first is instrumental surf, distinguished by reverb-drenched electric guitars played to evoke the sound of crashing waves, largely pioneered by Dick Dale and the Del-Tones.
- The second is vocal surf, which took the original surf sound and added vocal harmonies backed by basic Chuck Berry rhythms, a movement led by the Beach Boys.
Dick Dale developed the surf sound from instrumental rock, where he added Middle Eastern and Mexican influences, a spring reverb, and the rapid alternate picking characteristics. His regional hit "Let's Go Trippin'" (1961) launched the surf music craze, inspiring many others to take up the approach.
The genre reached national exposure when it was represented by vocal groups such as the Beach Boys, Jan and Dean, and Bruce & Terry. Their "vocal surf" style drew more from African-American genres such as doo wop with its scat singing and tight harmonies. Dale is quoted on such groups: "They were surfing sounds [with] surfing lyrics. In other words, the music wasn't surfing music. The words made them surfing songs. ... That was the difference ... the real surfing music is instrumental."
At the height of its popularity, surf music rivaled girl groups and Motown for top American popular music trends. It is sometimes referred to interchangeably with the California Sound. During the later stages of the surf music craze, many of its groups started to write songs about cars and girls; this was later known as hot rod rock.
Click on any of the following blue hyperlinks for more about Surfing Music:
The Psychology of Music
YouTube Video: the Mental and Emotional Effects of Music
The Psychology of Music can be regarded as a branch of both psychology and musicology. It aims to explain and understand musical behavior and experience, including the processes through which music is perceived, created, responded to, and incorporated into everyday life.
Modern music psychology is primarily empirical; its knowledge tends to advance on the basis of interpretations of data collected by systematic observation of and interaction with human participants. Music psychology is a field of research with practical relevance for many areas, including music performance, composition, education, criticism, and therapy, as well as investigations of:
Music psychology can shed light on non-psychological aspects of musicology and musical practice. For example, it contributes to music theory through investigations of the perception and computational modelling of musical structures such as melody, harmony, tonality, rhythm, meter, and form.
Research in music history can benefit from systematic study of the history of musical syntax, or from psychological analyses of composers and compositions in relation to perceptual, affection, and social responses to their music. Ethnomusicology can benefit from psychological approaches to the study of music cognition in different cultures.
Click on any of the following blue hyperlinks for more about the Psychology of Music:
Modern music psychology is primarily empirical; its knowledge tends to advance on the basis of interpretations of data collected by systematic observation of and interaction with human participants. Music psychology is a field of research with practical relevance for many areas, including music performance, composition, education, criticism, and therapy, as well as investigations of:
- human attitude,
- skill,
- performance,
- intelligence,
- creativity,
- and social behavior.
Music psychology can shed light on non-psychological aspects of musicology and musical practice. For example, it contributes to music theory through investigations of the perception and computational modelling of musical structures such as melody, harmony, tonality, rhythm, meter, and form.
Research in music history can benefit from systematic study of the history of musical syntax, or from psychological analyses of composers and compositions in relation to perceptual, affection, and social responses to their music. Ethnomusicology can benefit from psychological approaches to the study of music cognition in different cultures.
Click on any of the following blue hyperlinks for more about the Psychology of Music:
- History
- Early history (pre-1860)
- Rise of empirical (1860–1960)
- Modern (1960–present)
- Research areas
- Applied research areas
- Journals
- Societies
- Centers of research and teaching
- See also:
Psychedelic Music
YouTube Video of The 30 Greatest Psychedelic Rock Songs (1966-1968)
Psychedelic music (sometimes psychedelia) covers a wide range of popular music styles and genres influenced by 1960s psychedelia, a subculture of people who used psychedelic drugs such as LSD, psilocybin mushrooms, mescaline and DMT to experience visual and auditory hallucinations, synesthesia and altered states of consciousness. Psychedelic music may also aim to enhance the experience of using these drugs.
Psychedelic music emerged during the 1960s among folk and rock bands in the United States and Britain, creating the subgenres of psychedelic folk, psychedelic rock (or acid rock), and psychedelic pop before declining in the early 1970s.
Numerous spiritual successors followed in the ensuing decades, including progressive rock, krautrock, heavy metal. Since the 1970s, revivals have included psychedelic funk, neo-psychedelia, and psychedelic hip hop, as well as psychedelic electronic genres such as acid house, trance music and new rave.
Characteristics:
"Psychedelic" as an adjective is often misused, with many so-called acts playing in a variety of styles.
Acknowledging this, author Michael Hicks explains: "To understand what makes music stylistically "psychedelic," one should consider three fundamental effects of LSD: dechronicization, depersonalization, and dynamization. Dechronicization permits the drug user to move outside of conventional perceptions of time. Depersonalization allows the user to lose the self and gain an "awareness of undifferentiated unity."
Dynamization, as [Timothy] Leary wrote, makes everything from floors to lamps seem to bends, as "familiar forms dissolve into moving, dancing structures" ... Music that is truly "psychedelic" mimics these three effects.
A number of features are quintessential to psychedelic music. Exotic instrumentation, with a particular fondness for the sitar and tabla are common. Songs often have more disjunctive song structures, key and time signature changes, modal melodies, and drones than contemporary pop music.
Surreal, whimsical, esoterically or literary-inspired, lyrics are often used. There is often a strong emphasis on extended instrumental segments or jams. There is a strong keyboard presence, in the 1960s especially, using electronic organs, harpsichords, or the Mellotron, an early tape-driven 'sampler' keyboard.
Elaborate studio effects are often used, such as backwards tapes, panning the music from one side to another of the stereo track, using the "swooshing" sound of electronic phasing, long delay loops, and extreme reverb. In the 1960s there was a use of electronic instruments such as early synthesizers and the theremin. Later forms of electronic psychedelia also employed repetitive computer-generated beats.
Click on any of the following blue hyperlinks for more about Psychedelic Music:
Psychedelic music emerged during the 1960s among folk and rock bands in the United States and Britain, creating the subgenres of psychedelic folk, psychedelic rock (or acid rock), and psychedelic pop before declining in the early 1970s.
Numerous spiritual successors followed in the ensuing decades, including progressive rock, krautrock, heavy metal. Since the 1970s, revivals have included psychedelic funk, neo-psychedelia, and psychedelic hip hop, as well as psychedelic electronic genres such as acid house, trance music and new rave.
Characteristics:
"Psychedelic" as an adjective is often misused, with many so-called acts playing in a variety of styles.
Acknowledging this, author Michael Hicks explains: "To understand what makes music stylistically "psychedelic," one should consider three fundamental effects of LSD: dechronicization, depersonalization, and dynamization. Dechronicization permits the drug user to move outside of conventional perceptions of time. Depersonalization allows the user to lose the self and gain an "awareness of undifferentiated unity."
Dynamization, as [Timothy] Leary wrote, makes everything from floors to lamps seem to bends, as "familiar forms dissolve into moving, dancing structures" ... Music that is truly "psychedelic" mimics these three effects.
A number of features are quintessential to psychedelic music. Exotic instrumentation, with a particular fondness for the sitar and tabla are common. Songs often have more disjunctive song structures, key and time signature changes, modal melodies, and drones than contemporary pop music.
Surreal, whimsical, esoterically or literary-inspired, lyrics are often used. There is often a strong emphasis on extended instrumental segments or jams. There is a strong keyboard presence, in the 1960s especially, using electronic organs, harpsichords, or the Mellotron, an early tape-driven 'sampler' keyboard.
Elaborate studio effects are often used, such as backwards tapes, panning the music from one side to another of the stereo track, using the "swooshing" sound of electronic phasing, long delay loops, and extreme reverb. In the 1960s there was a use of electronic instruments such as early synthesizers and the theremin. Later forms of electronic psychedelia also employed repetitive computer-generated beats.
Click on any of the following blue hyperlinks for more about Psychedelic Music:
John Williams, Composer and Conductor
YouTube Video: John Williams conducts the Boston Pops playing the main theme from "STAR WARS"
John Towner Williams (born February 8, 1932) is an American composer, conductor, and pianist. In a career spanning over six decades, Williams has composed some of the most popular and recognizable film scores in cinematic history, including
Williams has been associated with director Steven Spielberg since 1974, composing music for the majority of his feature films. Other notable works by Williams include theme music for,
Williams has composed numerous classical concerti and other works for orchestral ensembles and solo instruments; he served as the Boston Pops' principal conductor from 1980 to 1993, and is now the orchestra's laureate conductor.
Williams has won five Academy Awards, four Golden Globe Awards, seven British Academy Film Awards, and 22 Grammy Awards.
With 50 Academy Award nominations, Williams is the second most-nominated individual, after Walt Disney.
In 2005, the American Film Institute selected Williams' score to 1977's Star Wars as the greatest American film score of all time. The soundtrack to Star Wars was additionally preserved by the Library of Congress into the National Recording Registry, for being "culturally, historically, and aesthetically significant."
Williams was inducted into the Hollywood Bowl's Hall of Fame in 2000, and was a recipient of the Kennedy Center Honors in 2004 and the AFI Life Achievement Award in 2016.
Williams composed the score for eight movies in the Top 20 highest grossing films at the U.S. box office (adjusted for inflation).
- Jaws,
- the Star Wars series,
- Superman,
- E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial,
- the Indiana Jones series,
- Jurassic Park,
- Schindler's List,
- and the first three Harry Potter films.
Williams has been associated with director Steven Spielberg since 1974, composing music for the majority of his feature films. Other notable works by Williams include theme music for,
- the Olympic Games,
- NBC Sunday Night Football, "
- The Mission" theme used by NBC News,
- the television series Lost in Space and Land of the Giants,
- and the incidental music for the first season of Gilligan's Island.
Williams has composed numerous classical concerti and other works for orchestral ensembles and solo instruments; he served as the Boston Pops' principal conductor from 1980 to 1993, and is now the orchestra's laureate conductor.
Williams has won five Academy Awards, four Golden Globe Awards, seven British Academy Film Awards, and 22 Grammy Awards.
With 50 Academy Award nominations, Williams is the second most-nominated individual, after Walt Disney.
In 2005, the American Film Institute selected Williams' score to 1977's Star Wars as the greatest American film score of all time. The soundtrack to Star Wars was additionally preserved by the Library of Congress into the National Recording Registry, for being "culturally, historically, and aesthetically significant."
Williams was inducted into the Hollywood Bowl's Hall of Fame in 2000, and was a recipient of the Kennedy Center Honors in 2004 and the AFI Life Achievement Award in 2016.
Williams composed the score for eight movies in the Top 20 highest grossing films at the U.S. box office (adjusted for inflation).
Clive Davis, Record Producer
YouTube Video: Clive Davis on discovering 'stunning' Whitney Houston
Pictured: "Clive Davis Remembers Whitney Houston: 'I Miss Her'"
Clive Jay Davis (born April 4, 1932) is an American record producer, A&R executive and music industry executive. He has won five Grammy Awards and is a member of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a non-performer.
From 1967 to 1973, Davis was the president of Columbia Records. He was the founder and president of Arista Records from 1975 through 2000 until founding J Records.
From 2002 until April 2008, Davis was the chairman and CEO of the RCA Music Group (which included RCA Records, J Records and Arista Records), chairman and CEO of J Records, and chairman and CEO of BMG North America.
Currently Davis is the chief creative officer of Sony Music Entertainment. He currently plays a part in the careers of:
Davis is also credited with bringing Whitney Houston and Barry Manilow to prominence.
Click here for more about the record producer, Clive Davis.
From 1967 to 1973, Davis was the president of Columbia Records. He was the founder and president of Arista Records from 1975 through 2000 until founding J Records.
From 2002 until April 2008, Davis was the chairman and CEO of the RCA Music Group (which included RCA Records, J Records and Arista Records), chairman and CEO of J Records, and chairman and CEO of BMG North America.
Currently Davis is the chief creative officer of Sony Music Entertainment. He currently plays a part in the careers of:
- TLC,
- Rod Stewart,
- Air Supply,
- Alicia Keys,
- Barry Manilow,
- Christina Aguilera,
- Carlos Santana,
- Kelly Clarkson,
- Leona Lewis
- and Jennifer Hudson.
Davis is also credited with bringing Whitney Houston and Barry Manilow to prominence.
Click here for more about the record producer, Clive Davis.
The Music Industry and its Major Recording Labels
YouTube Video: The music industry and the digital revolution by The Economist
Pictured: Market Share by Major Recording Labels for: (L) World Market; (R) U.S. Market
The music industry consists of the companies and individuals that earn money by creating new songs and pieces and selling live concerts and shows, audio and video recordings, compositions and sheet music, and the organizations and associations that aid and represent creators.
Among the many individuals and organizations that operate in the industry are:
The industry also includes a range of professionals who assist singers and musicians with their music careers:
In addition to the businesses and artists who work in the music industry to make a profit or income, there is a range of organizations that also play an important role in the music industry, including:
The modern Western music industry emerged between the 1930s and 1950s, when records replaced sheet music as the most important product in the music business. In the commercial world, "the recording industry"–a reference to recording performances of songs and pieces and selling the recordings–began to be used as a loose synonym for "the music industry".
In the 2000s, a majority of the music market is controlled by three major corporate labels: the French-owned Universal Music Group, the Japanese-owned Sony Music Entertainment, and the US-owned Warner Music Group. Labels outside of these three major labels are referred to as independent labels (or "indies").
The largest portion of the live music market for concerts and tours is controlled by Live Nation, the largest promoter and music venue owner. Live Nation is a former subsidiary of iHeartMedia Inc, which is the largest owner of radio stations in the United States.
In the first decades of the 2000s, the music industry underwent drastic changes with the advent of widespread digital distribution of music via the Internet (which includes both illegal file sharing of songs and legal music purchases in online music stores).
A conspicuous indicator of these changes is total music sales: since 2000, sales of recorded music have dropped off substantially while live music has increased in importance.
In 2011, the largest recorded music retailer in the world was now a digital, Internet-based platform operated by a computer company: Apple Inc.'s online iTunes Store.
Click here for more about the Music Industry.
___________________________________________________________________________
A record label or record company is a brand or trademark associated with the marketing of music recordings and music videos. Sometimes, a record label is also a publishing company that manages such brands and trademarks, coordinates the production, manufacture, distribution, marketing, promotion, and enforcement of copyright for sound recordings and music videos; also conducting talent scouting and development of new artists ("artists and repertoire" or "A&R"); and maintains contracts with recording artists and their managers. The term "record label" derives from the circular label in the center of a vinyl record which prominently displays the manufacturer's name, along with other information.
Music industry
Within the mainstream music industry, recording artists have traditionally been reliant upon record labels to broaden their consumer base, market their albums, and be both promoted and heard on music streaming services, radio, and television. Record labels provide publicists, who assist performers in gaining positive media coverage, and arrange for their merchandise to be available via stores and other media outlets.
But an increasing number of artists have sought to avoid costs and gain new audiences via the Internet, often with the help of videos. Combined with the decline in album sales and rapid growth in free content available online, this has changed the way the industry works dramatically since the beginning of the 21st century. It has caused record labels to seek new sources of profit, in particular via "360" deals (see below, under "new label strategies").
Major versus independent record labels:
Record labels may be small, localized and "independent" ("indie"), or they may be part of a large international media group, or somewhere in between. As of 2012, there are only three labels that can be referred to as "major labels" (Universal Music Group, Sony Music Entertainment, and Warner Music Group). A "sublabel" is a label that is part of a larger record company but trades under a different name.
Imprint:
When a label is strictly a trademark or brand, not a company, then it is usually called an "imprint", a term used for the same concept in publishing. An imprint is sometimes marketed as being a "project", "unit", or "division" of a record label company, even though there is no legal business structure associated with the imprint.
Independent:
Main article: Independent record label
Record companies and music publishers that are not under the control of the big three are generally considered to be independent (indie), even if they are large corporations with complex structures. The term indie label is sometimes used to refer to only those independent labels that adhere to independent criteria of corporate structure and size, and some consider an indie label to be almost any label that releases non-mainstream music, regardless of its corporate structure.
Independent labels are often considered more artist-friendly. Though they may have less financial clout, indie labels typically offer larger artist royalty with 50% profit-share agreement, aka 50-50 deal, not uncommon.
Sublabel:
Music collectors often use the term sublabel to refer to either an imprint or a subordinate label company (such as those within a group). For example, in the 1980s and 1990s, "4th & B'way" was a trademarked brand owned by Island Records Ltd. in the UK and by a subordinate branch, Island Records, Inc., in the United States.
The center label on a 4th & Broadway record marketed in the United States would typically bear a 4th & B'way logo and would state in the fine print, "4th & B'way™, an Island Records, Inc. company".
Collectors discussing labels as brands would say that 4th & B'way is a sublabel or imprint of just "Island" or "Island Records". Similarly, collectors who choose to treat corporations and trademarks as equivalent might say 4th & B'way is an imprint and/or sublabel of both Island Records, Ltd. and that company's sublabel, Island Records, Inc.
However, such definitions are complicated by the corporate mergers that occurred in 1989 (when Island was sold to PolyGram) and 1998 (when PolyGram merged with Universal). Island remained registered as corporations in both the United States and UK, but control of its brands changed hands multiple times as new companies were formed, diminishing the corporation's distinction as the "parent" of any sublabels.
Vanity labels:
Main article: Vanity label
Vanity labels are labels that bear an imprint that gives the impression of an artist's ownership or control, but in fact represent a standard artist/label relationship. In such an arrangement, the artist will control nothing more than the usage of the name on the label, but may enjoy a greater say in the packaging of his or her work.
An example of such a label is the Neutron label owned by ABC while at Phonogram Inc. in the UK. At one point artist Lizzie Tear (under contract with ABC themselves) appeared on the imprint, but it was devoted almost entirely to ABC's offerings and is still used for their re-releases (though Phonogram owns the masters of all the work issued on the label).
However, not all labels dedicated to particular artists are completely superficial in origin. Many artists, early in their careers, create their own labels which are later bought out by a bigger company. If this is the case it can sometimes give the artist greater freedom than if they were signed directly to the big label.
There are many examples of this kind of label, such as Nothing Records, owned by Trent Reznor of Nine Inch Nails; and Morning Records, owned by the Cooper Temple Clause, who were releasing EPs for years before the company was bought by RCA.
Relationship with artists:
A label typically enters into an exclusive recording contract with an artist to market the artist's recordings in return for royalties on the selling price of the recordings. Contracts may extend over short or long durations, and may or may not refer to specific recordings.
Established, successful artists tend to be able to renegotiate their contracts to get terms more favorable to them, but Prince's much-publicized 1994–1996 feud with Warner Bros. provides a strong counterexample, as does Roger McGuinn's claim, made in July 2000 before a US Senate committee, that the Byrds never received any of the royalties they had been promised for their biggest hits, "Mr. Tambourine Man" and "Turn! Turn!, Turn!".
A contract either provides for the artist to deliver completed recordings to the label, or for the label to undertake the recording with the artist. For artists without a recording history, the label is often involved in selecting producers, recording studios, additional musicians, and songs to be recorded, and may supervise the output of recording sessions. For established artists, a label is usually less involved in the recording process.
The relationship between record labels and artists can be a difficult one. Many artists have had albums altered or censored in some way by the labels before they are released—songs being edited, artwork or titles being changed, etc.
Record labels generally do this because they believe that the album will sell better if the changes are made. Often the record label's decisions are prudent ones from a commercial perspective, but this typically frustrates the artists who feels that their art is being diminished or misrepresented by such actions.
In the early days of the recording industry, recording labels were absolutely necessary for the success of any artist. The first goal of any new artist or band was to get signed to a contract as soon as possible. In the 1940s, 1950s, and 1960s, many artists were so desperate to sign a contract with a record company that they sometimes ended up signing agreements in which they sold the rights to their recordings to the record label in perpetuity. Entertainment lawyers are usually employed by artists to discuss contract terms.
Through the advances of the Internet the role of labels is becoming increasingly changed, as artists are able to freely distribute their own material through web radio, peer to peer file sharing such as BitTorrent, and other services, for little or no cost but with little financial return.
Established artists, such as Nine Inch Nails, whose career was developed with major label backing, announced an end to their major label contracts, citing that the uncooperative nature of the recording industry with these new trends are hurting musicians, fans and the industry as a whole. Nine Inch Nails later returned to working with a major label, admitting that they needed the international marketing and promotional reach that a major label can provide.
Radiohead also cited similar motives with the end of their contract with EMI when their album In Rainbows was released as a "pay what you want" sales model as an online download, but they also returned to a label for a conventional release. Research shows that record labels still control most access to distribution.
Controversies:
Throughout time, artists have had clashes between themselves and their record labels. The clashes come about from things such as: album releases per year, desire to terminate or change contracts, royalties, and limitations on artist expression. Prince stirred much conflict between himself and his record label Warner Brothers. Prince was constantly creating music, and he wanted all of it to be released to his fans, regardless of what his record label suggested.
Another example is the artist Kesha. She alleged that she was raped by producer, Dr. Luke, when she was intoxicated by a substance. She went to court to free herself from her contract, and while the trial was in progress she received much support from fans and other artists such as Lorde, Lady Gaga, Kelly Clarkson, and Ariana Grande.
New label strategies:
With the advancement of the computer and technology such as the Internet, leading to an increase in file sharing and direct-to-fan digital distribution, combined with music sales plummeting in recent years, labels and organizations have had to change their strategies and the way they work with artists.
New types of deals are being made with artists called "multiple rights" or "360" deals with artists. These types of pacts give labels rights and percentages to artist's touring, merchandising, and endorsements. In exchange for these rights, labels usually give higher advance payments to artists, have more patience with artist development, and pay higher percentages of CD sales.
These 360 deals are most effective when the artist is established and has a loyal fan base. For that reason, labels now have to be more relaxed with the development of artists because longevity is the key to these types of pacts. Several artists such as Paramore, Maino, and even Madonna have signed such types of deals.
A look at an actual 360 deal offered by Atlantic Records to an artist shows a variation of the structure. Atlantic's document offers a conventional cash advance to sign the artist, who would receive a royalty for sales after expenses were recouped.
With the release of the artist's first album, however, the label has an option to pay an additional $200,000 in exchange for 30 percent of the net income from all touring, merchandise, endorsements, and fan-club fees.
Atlantic would also have the right to approve the act's tour schedule, and the salaries of certain tour and merchandise sales employees hired by the artist. But the label also offers the artist a 30 percent cut of the label's album profits—if any—which represents an improvement from the typical industry royalty of 15 percent.
Click on any of the following blue hyperlinks for more about Record Labels:
Among the many individuals and organizations that operate in the industry are:
- the songwriters and composers who create new songs and musical pieces;
- the singers, musicians, conductors and bandleaders who perform the music;
- the companies and professionals who create and sell recorded music and/or sheet music:
- and those that help organize and present live music performances:
The industry also includes a range of professionals who assist singers and musicians with their music careers:
- talent managers, artists and repertoire managers,
- business managers, entertainment lawyers);
- those who broadcast audio or video music content:
- music journalists and music critics;
- DJs;
- music educators and teachers;
- musical instrument manufacturers;
- as well as many others.
In addition to the businesses and artists who work in the music industry to make a profit or income, there is a range of organizations that also play an important role in the music industry, including:
- musician's unions (e.g., American Federation of Musicians),
- not-for-profit performance-rights organizations, e.g., American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers,
- and other associations (e.g., International Alliance for Women in Music, a non-profit organization that advocates for women composers and musicians).
The modern Western music industry emerged between the 1930s and 1950s, when records replaced sheet music as the most important product in the music business. In the commercial world, "the recording industry"–a reference to recording performances of songs and pieces and selling the recordings–began to be used as a loose synonym for "the music industry".
In the 2000s, a majority of the music market is controlled by three major corporate labels: the French-owned Universal Music Group, the Japanese-owned Sony Music Entertainment, and the US-owned Warner Music Group. Labels outside of these three major labels are referred to as independent labels (or "indies").
The largest portion of the live music market for concerts and tours is controlled by Live Nation, the largest promoter and music venue owner. Live Nation is a former subsidiary of iHeartMedia Inc, which is the largest owner of radio stations in the United States.
In the first decades of the 2000s, the music industry underwent drastic changes with the advent of widespread digital distribution of music via the Internet (which includes both illegal file sharing of songs and legal music purchases in online music stores).
A conspicuous indicator of these changes is total music sales: since 2000, sales of recorded music have dropped off substantially while live music has increased in importance.
In 2011, the largest recorded music retailer in the world was now a digital, Internet-based platform operated by a computer company: Apple Inc.'s online iTunes Store.
Click here for more about the Music Industry.
___________________________________________________________________________
A record label or record company is a brand or trademark associated with the marketing of music recordings and music videos. Sometimes, a record label is also a publishing company that manages such brands and trademarks, coordinates the production, manufacture, distribution, marketing, promotion, and enforcement of copyright for sound recordings and music videos; also conducting talent scouting and development of new artists ("artists and repertoire" or "A&R"); and maintains contracts with recording artists and their managers. The term "record label" derives from the circular label in the center of a vinyl record which prominently displays the manufacturer's name, along with other information.
Music industry
Within the mainstream music industry, recording artists have traditionally been reliant upon record labels to broaden their consumer base, market their albums, and be both promoted and heard on music streaming services, radio, and television. Record labels provide publicists, who assist performers in gaining positive media coverage, and arrange for their merchandise to be available via stores and other media outlets.
But an increasing number of artists have sought to avoid costs and gain new audiences via the Internet, often with the help of videos. Combined with the decline in album sales and rapid growth in free content available online, this has changed the way the industry works dramatically since the beginning of the 21st century. It has caused record labels to seek new sources of profit, in particular via "360" deals (see below, under "new label strategies").
Major versus independent record labels:
Record labels may be small, localized and "independent" ("indie"), or they may be part of a large international media group, or somewhere in between. As of 2012, there are only three labels that can be referred to as "major labels" (Universal Music Group, Sony Music Entertainment, and Warner Music Group). A "sublabel" is a label that is part of a larger record company but trades under a different name.
Imprint:
When a label is strictly a trademark or brand, not a company, then it is usually called an "imprint", a term used for the same concept in publishing. An imprint is sometimes marketed as being a "project", "unit", or "division" of a record label company, even though there is no legal business structure associated with the imprint.
Independent:
Main article: Independent record label
Record companies and music publishers that are not under the control of the big three are generally considered to be independent (indie), even if they are large corporations with complex structures. The term indie label is sometimes used to refer to only those independent labels that adhere to independent criteria of corporate structure and size, and some consider an indie label to be almost any label that releases non-mainstream music, regardless of its corporate structure.
Independent labels are often considered more artist-friendly. Though they may have less financial clout, indie labels typically offer larger artist royalty with 50% profit-share agreement, aka 50-50 deal, not uncommon.
Sublabel:
Music collectors often use the term sublabel to refer to either an imprint or a subordinate label company (such as those within a group). For example, in the 1980s and 1990s, "4th & B'way" was a trademarked brand owned by Island Records Ltd. in the UK and by a subordinate branch, Island Records, Inc., in the United States.
The center label on a 4th & Broadway record marketed in the United States would typically bear a 4th & B'way logo and would state in the fine print, "4th & B'way™, an Island Records, Inc. company".
Collectors discussing labels as brands would say that 4th & B'way is a sublabel or imprint of just "Island" or "Island Records". Similarly, collectors who choose to treat corporations and trademarks as equivalent might say 4th & B'way is an imprint and/or sublabel of both Island Records, Ltd. and that company's sublabel, Island Records, Inc.
However, such definitions are complicated by the corporate mergers that occurred in 1989 (when Island was sold to PolyGram) and 1998 (when PolyGram merged with Universal). Island remained registered as corporations in both the United States and UK, but control of its brands changed hands multiple times as new companies were formed, diminishing the corporation's distinction as the "parent" of any sublabels.
Vanity labels:
Main article: Vanity label
Vanity labels are labels that bear an imprint that gives the impression of an artist's ownership or control, but in fact represent a standard artist/label relationship. In such an arrangement, the artist will control nothing more than the usage of the name on the label, but may enjoy a greater say in the packaging of his or her work.
An example of such a label is the Neutron label owned by ABC while at Phonogram Inc. in the UK. At one point artist Lizzie Tear (under contract with ABC themselves) appeared on the imprint, but it was devoted almost entirely to ABC's offerings and is still used for their re-releases (though Phonogram owns the masters of all the work issued on the label).
However, not all labels dedicated to particular artists are completely superficial in origin. Many artists, early in their careers, create their own labels which are later bought out by a bigger company. If this is the case it can sometimes give the artist greater freedom than if they were signed directly to the big label.
There are many examples of this kind of label, such as Nothing Records, owned by Trent Reznor of Nine Inch Nails; and Morning Records, owned by the Cooper Temple Clause, who were releasing EPs for years before the company was bought by RCA.
Relationship with artists:
A label typically enters into an exclusive recording contract with an artist to market the artist's recordings in return for royalties on the selling price of the recordings. Contracts may extend over short or long durations, and may or may not refer to specific recordings.
Established, successful artists tend to be able to renegotiate their contracts to get terms more favorable to them, but Prince's much-publicized 1994–1996 feud with Warner Bros. provides a strong counterexample, as does Roger McGuinn's claim, made in July 2000 before a US Senate committee, that the Byrds never received any of the royalties they had been promised for their biggest hits, "Mr. Tambourine Man" and "Turn! Turn!, Turn!".
A contract either provides for the artist to deliver completed recordings to the label, or for the label to undertake the recording with the artist. For artists without a recording history, the label is often involved in selecting producers, recording studios, additional musicians, and songs to be recorded, and may supervise the output of recording sessions. For established artists, a label is usually less involved in the recording process.
The relationship between record labels and artists can be a difficult one. Many artists have had albums altered or censored in some way by the labels before they are released—songs being edited, artwork or titles being changed, etc.
Record labels generally do this because they believe that the album will sell better if the changes are made. Often the record label's decisions are prudent ones from a commercial perspective, but this typically frustrates the artists who feels that their art is being diminished or misrepresented by such actions.
In the early days of the recording industry, recording labels were absolutely necessary for the success of any artist. The first goal of any new artist or band was to get signed to a contract as soon as possible. In the 1940s, 1950s, and 1960s, many artists were so desperate to sign a contract with a record company that they sometimes ended up signing agreements in which they sold the rights to their recordings to the record label in perpetuity. Entertainment lawyers are usually employed by artists to discuss contract terms.
Through the advances of the Internet the role of labels is becoming increasingly changed, as artists are able to freely distribute their own material through web radio, peer to peer file sharing such as BitTorrent, and other services, for little or no cost but with little financial return.
Established artists, such as Nine Inch Nails, whose career was developed with major label backing, announced an end to their major label contracts, citing that the uncooperative nature of the recording industry with these new trends are hurting musicians, fans and the industry as a whole. Nine Inch Nails later returned to working with a major label, admitting that they needed the international marketing and promotional reach that a major label can provide.
Radiohead also cited similar motives with the end of their contract with EMI when their album In Rainbows was released as a "pay what you want" sales model as an online download, but they also returned to a label for a conventional release. Research shows that record labels still control most access to distribution.
Controversies:
Throughout time, artists have had clashes between themselves and their record labels. The clashes come about from things such as: album releases per year, desire to terminate or change contracts, royalties, and limitations on artist expression. Prince stirred much conflict between himself and his record label Warner Brothers. Prince was constantly creating music, and he wanted all of it to be released to his fans, regardless of what his record label suggested.
Another example is the artist Kesha. She alleged that she was raped by producer, Dr. Luke, when she was intoxicated by a substance. She went to court to free herself from her contract, and while the trial was in progress she received much support from fans and other artists such as Lorde, Lady Gaga, Kelly Clarkson, and Ariana Grande.
New label strategies:
With the advancement of the computer and technology such as the Internet, leading to an increase in file sharing and direct-to-fan digital distribution, combined with music sales plummeting in recent years, labels and organizations have had to change their strategies and the way they work with artists.
New types of deals are being made with artists called "multiple rights" or "360" deals with artists. These types of pacts give labels rights and percentages to artist's touring, merchandising, and endorsements. In exchange for these rights, labels usually give higher advance payments to artists, have more patience with artist development, and pay higher percentages of CD sales.
These 360 deals are most effective when the artist is established and has a loyal fan base. For that reason, labels now have to be more relaxed with the development of artists because longevity is the key to these types of pacts. Several artists such as Paramore, Maino, and even Madonna have signed such types of deals.
A look at an actual 360 deal offered by Atlantic Records to an artist shows a variation of the structure. Atlantic's document offers a conventional cash advance to sign the artist, who would receive a royalty for sales after expenses were recouped.
With the release of the artist's first album, however, the label has an option to pay an additional $200,000 in exchange for 30 percent of the net income from all touring, merchandise, endorsements, and fan-club fees.
Atlantic would also have the right to approve the act's tour schedule, and the salaries of certain tour and merchandise sales employees hired by the artist. But the label also offers the artist a 30 percent cut of the label's album profits—if any—which represents an improvement from the typical industry royalty of 15 percent.
Click on any of the following blue hyperlinks for more about Record Labels:
Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA)
Pictured: Canada Has Conquered the U.S. in the Digital Singles Department
The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) is a trade organization that represents the recording industry in the United States. Its members consist of record labels and distributors, which the RIAA says "create, manufacture and/or distribute approximately 85% of all legally sold recorded music in the United States." The RIAA headquarters is in Washington, D.C.
The RIAA was formed in 1952. Its original mission was to administer recording copyright fees and problems, work with trade unions, and do research relating to the record industry and government regulations. Early RIAA standards included the RIAA equalization curve, the format of the stereophonic record groove and the dimensions of 33 1/3 rpm, 45 rpm, and 78 rpm records.
The RIAA says its current mission includes:
Since 2001, the RIAA has spent $2 to $6 million each year on lobbying in the United States.
The RIAA also participates in the collective rights management of sound recordings, and it is responsible for certifying Gold and Platinum albums and singles in the United States.
Click on any of the following blue hyperlinks for more about the Recording Industry Association of America:
The RIAA was formed in 1952. Its original mission was to administer recording copyright fees and problems, work with trade unions, and do research relating to the record industry and government regulations. Early RIAA standards included the RIAA equalization curve, the format of the stereophonic record groove and the dimensions of 33 1/3 rpm, 45 rpm, and 78 rpm records.
The RIAA says its current mission includes:
- to protect intellectual property rights and the First Amendment rights of artists;
- to perform research about the music industry;
- to monitor and review relevant laws, regulations and policies.
Since 2001, the RIAA has spent $2 to $6 million each year on lobbying in the United States.
The RIAA also participates in the collective rights management of sound recordings, and it is responsible for certifying Gold and Platinum albums and singles in the United States.
Click on any of the following blue hyperlinks for more about the Recording Industry Association of America:
- Company structure and sales
- Sales certification
- Efforts against infringement of members' copyrights
- Executive leadership of RIAA
- See also:
List of Best-selling Musical Artists of All Time
YouTube Video of Madonna Singing "Like a Virgin"
Pictured: clockwise from upper left: Led Zeppelin, Elton John, Madonna and U2
This list includes music artists with claims of 75 million or more record sales. The artists in the following tables are listed with both their claimed sales figure along with their total of certified units and are ranked in descending order, with the artist with the highest amount of claimed sales at the top.
If two or more artists have the same claimed sales, they are then ranked by certified units. The claimed sales figure and the total of certified units (for each country) within the provided sources include sales of albums, singles, compilation-albums, music videos as well as downloads of singles and full-length albums.
Sales figures, such as those from Soundscan, which are sometimes published by Billboard magazine, have not been included in the certified units column. As of 2017, based on both sales claims and certified units, The Beatles are considered the highest-selling band. Elvis Presley is considered the highest-selling individual artist based on sales claims and Rihanna is the highest-selling individual artist based on certified units.
All artists included on this list, which have begun charting on official albums or singles charts have their available claimed figures supported by at least 20% in certified units. That is why the following have not been included on this list:
The more recent the artist, the higher the required percentage of certified units, so artists such as Rihanna, Taylor Swift, Flo Rida, Katy Perry, Justin Bieber, Adele, Lady Gaga, Bruno Mars and Nicki Minaj are expected to have their claimed figures supported by over 75% in certified units.
The certified units are sourced from available online databases of local music industry associations. All certified units are converted from Gold/Platinum/Diamond certification awards based on criteria provided by certifying bodies.
The certified units percentage varies according to the first year that an artist appeared in the charts.
The requirements of certified units are designed to avoid inflated sales figures, which are frequently practiced by record companies for promotional purposes. The claimed figures are referenced from online articles created by highly reliable sources.
For clarity, the sources used, say the term "records" (singles, albums, videos) and not "albums". However, if all available sources for an artist or band say "albums", such sources are only used if the certified album units of the said artist meet the required percentage amount.
This list uses claimed figures that are closest to artists' available certified units: inflated claimed figures that meet the required certified units amount but are unrealistically high, are not used.
The claimed figures are upgraded only when there is a significant progress in artists' certified units. In other words, the available certified units for each artist should get relatively closer to already listed claimed figure in order for higher figures to replace the listed ones.
The certified units of the newer artists may sometimes be higher than their listed claimed figures. This is because Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) and almost all other certifying bodies count streaming towards Gold and Platinum thresholds required for Digital Single Award certification.
For this reason, some singles and even albums get over certified by hundreds of thousands of units. The over certified figures, however, are often in millions of units for RIAA certifications, one such example is Rihanna's single "We Found Love", which is certified at nine times Platinum by the RIAA, yet during the time of the certification, it had sold 5.4 million downloads.
The certified units for some artists/bands who have multi-disc albums can be higher than their listed claimed figures due to Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) counting each unit within set as one unit toward certification.
Issued certifications for songs which have been recorded by multiple artists including featured artists are added to each artist's total amount of certified units, as all the artists would have played a significant part in a song.
For example "This Is What You Came For" and "Where Them Girls At" include Rihanna and Flo Rida, Nicki Minaj as featured artists respectively, so the certifications issued for these songs are added to the total amount of certified units for all involved artists.
However, the certifications issued for songs that have been recorded by four or more artists are not included as the artists involved would have played minor roles, examples of such songs are Kanye West's "Monster" and/or "All Day".
Click on any of the following blue hyperlinks for seeing musical artists based on their reputed volume of records sold:
See also:
If two or more artists have the same claimed sales, they are then ranked by certified units. The claimed sales figure and the total of certified units (for each country) within the provided sources include sales of albums, singles, compilation-albums, music videos as well as downloads of singles and full-length albums.
Sales figures, such as those from Soundscan, which are sometimes published by Billboard magazine, have not been included in the certified units column. As of 2017, based on both sales claims and certified units, The Beatles are considered the highest-selling band. Elvis Presley is considered the highest-selling individual artist based on sales claims and Rihanna is the highest-selling individual artist based on certified units.
All artists included on this list, which have begun charting on official albums or singles charts have their available claimed figures supported by at least 20% in certified units. That is why the following have not been included on this list:
- Cliff Richard,
- Diana Ross,
- Scorpions,
- Charles Aznavour,
- Bing Crosby,
- Gloria Estefan,
- Deep Purple,
- Iron Maiden,
- Tom Jones,
- The Jackson 5,
- Dionne Warwick,
- the Spice Girls,
- Luciano Pavarotti,
- Dolly Parton,
- Ozzy Osbourne,
- Andrea Bocelli and others.
The more recent the artist, the higher the required percentage of certified units, so artists such as Rihanna, Taylor Swift, Flo Rida, Katy Perry, Justin Bieber, Adele, Lady Gaga, Bruno Mars and Nicki Minaj are expected to have their claimed figures supported by over 75% in certified units.
The certified units are sourced from available online databases of local music industry associations. All certified units are converted from Gold/Platinum/Diamond certification awards based on criteria provided by certifying bodies.
The certified units percentage varies according to the first year that an artist appeared in the charts.
The requirements of certified units are designed to avoid inflated sales figures, which are frequently practiced by record companies for promotional purposes. The claimed figures are referenced from online articles created by highly reliable sources.
For clarity, the sources used, say the term "records" (singles, albums, videos) and not "albums". However, if all available sources for an artist or band say "albums", such sources are only used if the certified album units of the said artist meet the required percentage amount.
This list uses claimed figures that are closest to artists' available certified units: inflated claimed figures that meet the required certified units amount but are unrealistically high, are not used.
The claimed figures are upgraded only when there is a significant progress in artists' certified units. In other words, the available certified units for each artist should get relatively closer to already listed claimed figure in order for higher figures to replace the listed ones.
The certified units of the newer artists may sometimes be higher than their listed claimed figures. This is because Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) and almost all other certifying bodies count streaming towards Gold and Platinum thresholds required for Digital Single Award certification.
For this reason, some singles and even albums get over certified by hundreds of thousands of units. The over certified figures, however, are often in millions of units for RIAA certifications, one such example is Rihanna's single "We Found Love", which is certified at nine times Platinum by the RIAA, yet during the time of the certification, it had sold 5.4 million downloads.
The certified units for some artists/bands who have multi-disc albums can be higher than their listed claimed figures due to Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) counting each unit within set as one unit toward certification.
Issued certifications for songs which have been recorded by multiple artists including featured artists are added to each artist's total amount of certified units, as all the artists would have played a significant part in a song.
For example "This Is What You Came For" and "Where Them Girls At" include Rihanna and Flo Rida, Nicki Minaj as featured artists respectively, so the certifications issued for these songs are added to the total amount of certified units for all involved artists.
However, the certifications issued for songs that have been recorded by four or more artists are not included as the artists involved would have played minor roles, examples of such songs are Kanye West's "Monster" and/or "All Day".
Click on any of the following blue hyperlinks for seeing musical artists based on their reputed volume of records sold:
- 250 million or more records
- 200 million to 249 million records
- 120 million to 199 million records
- 100 million to 119 million records
- 80 million to 99 million records
- 75 million to 79 million records
See also:
- List of best-selling albums
- List of best-selling singles
- List of best-selling girl groups
- List of highest-certified music artists in the United States
Rap Music
YouTube Video: 10 Best Rap Lyricists of All Time by WatchMojo
Pictured below: This is it. 40 years of history has led to this moment. Gigwise has culminated the definitive list of the world's top rappers of all time.
Rapping (or rhyming, spitting, emceeing, MCing) is a musical form of vocal delivery that incorporates "rhyme, rhythmic speech, and street vernacular", which is performed or chanted in a variety of ways, usually over a backbeat or musical accompaniment.
The components of rap include "content" (what is being said), "flow" (rhythm, rhyme), and "delivery" (cadence, tone). Rap differs from spoken-word poetry in that rap is usually performed in time to an instrumental track.
Rap is often associated with, and is a primary ingredient of hip-hop music, but the origins of the phenomenon predate hip-hop culture. The earliest precursor to the modern rap is the West African griot tradition, in which "oral historians", or "praise-singers", would disseminate oral traditions and genealogies, or use their formidable rhetorical techniques for gossip or to "praise or critique individuals."
Griot traditions connect to rap along a lineage of Black verbal reverence that goes back to ancient Egyptian practices, through James Brown interacting with the crowd and the band between songs, to Muhammad Ali's quick-witted verbal taunts and the palpitating poems of the Last Poets.
Therefore, rap lyrics and music are part of the "Black rhetorical continuum", and aim to reuse elements of past traditions while expanding upon them through "creative use of language and rhetorical styles and strategies. The person credited with originating the style of "delivering rhymes over extensive music", that would become known as rap, was Anthony "DJ Hollywood" Holloway from Harlem, New York.
Rap is usually delivered over a beat, typically provided by a DJ, turntablist, Beatboxer, or performed A capella without accompaniment. Stylistically, rap occupies a gray area between speech, prose, poetry, and singing. The word, which predates the musical form, originally meant "to lightly strike", and is now used to describe quick speech or repartee.
The word had been used in British English since the 16th century. It was part of the African American dialect of English in the 1960s meaning "to converse", and very soon after that in its present usage as a term denoting the musical style. Today, the term rap is so closely associated with hip-hop music that many writers use the terms interchangeably.
Click on any of the following blue hyperlinks for more about Rap Music:
The components of rap include "content" (what is being said), "flow" (rhythm, rhyme), and "delivery" (cadence, tone). Rap differs from spoken-word poetry in that rap is usually performed in time to an instrumental track.
Rap is often associated with, and is a primary ingredient of hip-hop music, but the origins of the phenomenon predate hip-hop culture. The earliest precursor to the modern rap is the West African griot tradition, in which "oral historians", or "praise-singers", would disseminate oral traditions and genealogies, or use their formidable rhetorical techniques for gossip or to "praise or critique individuals."
Griot traditions connect to rap along a lineage of Black verbal reverence that goes back to ancient Egyptian practices, through James Brown interacting with the crowd and the band between songs, to Muhammad Ali's quick-witted verbal taunts and the palpitating poems of the Last Poets.
Therefore, rap lyrics and music are part of the "Black rhetorical continuum", and aim to reuse elements of past traditions while expanding upon them through "creative use of language and rhetorical styles and strategies. The person credited with originating the style of "delivering rhymes over extensive music", that would become known as rap, was Anthony "DJ Hollywood" Holloway from Harlem, New York.
Rap is usually delivered over a beat, typically provided by a DJ, turntablist, Beatboxer, or performed A capella without accompaniment. Stylistically, rap occupies a gray area between speech, prose, poetry, and singing. The word, which predates the musical form, originally meant "to lightly strike", and is now used to describe quick speech or repartee.
The word had been used in British English since the 16th century. It was part of the African American dialect of English in the 1960s meaning "to converse", and very soon after that in its present usage as a term denoting the musical style. Today, the term rap is so closely associated with hip-hop music that many writers use the terms interchangeably.
Click on any of the following blue hyperlinks for more about Rap Music:
- History
- Flow
- Performance
- Subject matter
- Freestyle and battle
- Social impact
- See also:
- Amoebaean singing
- Flyting, contests consisting of the exchange of insults, often in poetry
- Rap squat
- Sprechgesang
- Hip Hop Culture
History of Music in the United States
YouTube Video: Top 10 Most Important Moments in Music History by WatchMojo
Pictured below: Clockwise from Upper Left: Elvis Presley, Michael Jackson, Beyoncé, and the band Queen
The music history of the United States includes many styles of folk, popular and classical music. Some of the best-known genres of American music are blues, rock and roll, and country. The history began with the Native Americans, the first people to populate North America. The music of these people was highly varied in form, and was mostly religious in purpose.
With the colonization of America from European countries like France, Spain, Scotland, England, Ireland, and Wales came Christian choirs, musical notation, broadsides, as well as West African slaves. West African slaves played a variety of instruments, especially drums and string instruments similar to the banjo. The Spanish also played a similar instrument called the Bandora. Both of these cultures introduced polyrhythms and call-and-response style vocals.
As the United States incorporated more land, spreading west towards the Ocean, more immigrants began to arrive in the country, bringing with them their own instruments and styles. During this time, the United States grew to incorporate:
Immigrants brought with them:
The rural blues of poor black Southerners and the jazz of black urbanites were among the earliest styles of American popular music. At the time, black performers typically did not perform their own material, instead using songs produced by the music publishing companies of Tin Pan Alley.
African American blues evolved during the early 20th century, later evolving to create genres like rhythm and blues. During this time, jazz diversified into steadily more experimental fields.
By the end of the 1940s, jazz had grown into such varied fields as bebop and jazz.
Rock and roll was soon to become the most important component of American popular music, beginning with the rockabilly boom of the 1950s.
In the following decade, gospel evolved into secular soul. Rock, country and soul, mixed with each other and occasionally other styles, spawned a legion of subgenres over the next few decades, ranging from heavy metal to punk and funk.
In the 1970s, urban African Americans in New York City began performing spoken lyrics over a beat provided by an emcee; this became known as hip hop music.
By the dawn of the 21st century, hip hop had become a part of most recorded American popular music, and by the 2010s had surpassed rock music in overall listening.
Click on any of the following blue hyperlinks for more about the History of Music in the United States:
With the colonization of America from European countries like France, Spain, Scotland, England, Ireland, and Wales came Christian choirs, musical notation, broadsides, as well as West African slaves. West African slaves played a variety of instruments, especially drums and string instruments similar to the banjo. The Spanish also played a similar instrument called the Bandora. Both of these cultures introduced polyrhythms and call-and-response style vocals.
As the United States incorporated more land, spreading west towards the Ocean, more immigrants began to arrive in the country, bringing with them their own instruments and styles. During this time, the United States grew to incorporate:
- the Cajun and Creole music of Louisiana,
- the Polynesian music of Hawaii
- and Tex-Mex and Tejano music.
Immigrants brought with them:
- the Eastern European polka,
- Chinese and Japanese music,
- and Polish fiddling,
- Scottish and Irish music,
- Ashkenazi Jewish klezmer,
- and other styles of:
The rural blues of poor black Southerners and the jazz of black urbanites were among the earliest styles of American popular music. At the time, black performers typically did not perform their own material, instead using songs produced by the music publishing companies of Tin Pan Alley.
African American blues evolved during the early 20th century, later evolving to create genres like rhythm and blues. During this time, jazz diversified into steadily more experimental fields.
By the end of the 1940s, jazz had grown into such varied fields as bebop and jazz.
Rock and roll was soon to become the most important component of American popular music, beginning with the rockabilly boom of the 1950s.
In the following decade, gospel evolved into secular soul. Rock, country and soul, mixed with each other and occasionally other styles, spawned a legion of subgenres over the next few decades, ranging from heavy metal to punk and funk.
In the 1970s, urban African Americans in New York City began performing spoken lyrics over a beat provided by an emcee; this became known as hip hop music.
By the dawn of the 21st century, hip hop had become a part of most recorded American popular music, and by the 2010s had surpassed rock music in overall listening.
Click on any of the following blue hyperlinks for more about the History of Music in the United States:
Music Technology as Electronic and Digital, including a List of Musical Software
YouTube Video of Jimi Hendrix Greatest Guitar Solo Ever!
Pictured below:
Upper Left: This 2009 photo shows music production using a digital audio workstation (DAW) with multi-monitor setup;
Upper Right: Yamaha Piano
Bottom: AIR Music Technology Loom II (ESD)
Music technology is the use of any device, mechanism, machine or tool by a musician or composer to make or perform music; to compose, notate, play back or record songs or pieces; or to analyze or edit music.
The earliest known applications of technology to music was prehistoric peoples' use of a tool to hand-drill holes in bones to make simple flutes. Ancient Egyptians developed stringed instruments, such as harps, lyres and lutes, which required making thin strings and some type of peg system for adjusting the pitch of the strings. Ancient Egyptians also used wind instruments such as double clarinets and percussion instruments such as cymbals.
In Ancient Greece, instruments included the double-reed aulos and the lyre.
Numerous instruments are referred to in the Bible, including the horn, pipe, lyre, harp, and bagpipe. During Biblical times, the cornet, flute, horn, organ, pipe, and trumpet were also used. During the Middle Ages, music notation was used to create a written record of the notes of plainchant melodies.
During the Renaissance music era, the printing press was invented, which made it much easier to mass-produce music (which had previously been hand-copied). This helped to spread musical styles more quickly and across a larger area.
During the Baroque era (1600–1750), technologies for keyboard instruments developed, which led to improvements in the designs of pipe organs and harpsichords, and the development of a new keyboard instrument in about 1700, the piano.
In the classical era, Beethoven added new instruments to the orchestra to create new sounds, such as the piccolo, contrabassoon, trombones, and percussion in his Ninth Symphony.
During the Romantic music era (c. 1810–1900), one of the key ways that new compositions became known to the public was by the sales of sheet music, which amateur music lovers would perform at home on their piano or other instruments.
In the 19th century, new instruments such as saxophones, euphoniums, Wagner tubas, and cornets were added to the orchestra.
Around the turn of the 20th century, with the invention and popularization of the gramophone record (commercialized in 1892), and radio broadcasting (starting on a commercial basis ca. 1919-1920), there was a vast increase in music listening, and it was easier to distribute music to a wider public.
The development of sound recording had a major influence on the development of popular music genres, because it enabled recordings of songs and bands to be widely distributed. The invention of sound recording gave rise to new sub-genre of classical music, the Musique concrete style of electronic composition.
The invention of multitrack recording enabled pop bands to overdub many layers of instrument tracks and vocals, creating new sounds that would not be possible in a live performance. In the early 20th century, electric technologies such as electromagnetic pickups, amplifiers and loudspeakers were used to develop new electric instruments such as the electric piano (1929), electric guitar (1931), electro-mechanical organ (1934) and electric bass (1935).
The 20th-century orchestra gained new instruments and new sounds. Some orchestra pieces used the electric guitar, electric bass or the Theremin.
The invention of the miniature transistor in 1947 enabled the creation of a new generation of synthesizers, which were used first in pop music in the 1960s. Unlike prior keyboard instrument technologies, synthesizer keyboards do not have strings, pipes, or metal tines.
A synthesizer keyboard creates musical sounds using electronic circuitry, or, later, computer chips and software. Synthesizers became popular in the mass market in the early 1980s. With the development of powerful microchips, a number of new electronic or digital music technologies were introduced in the 1980s and subsequent decades, including drum machines and music sequencers.
Electronic and digital music technologies are any device, such as a computer, an electronic effects unit or software, that is used by a musician or composer to help make or perform music.
The term "digital" usually refers to the use of electronic devices, computer hardware and computer software that is used in the performance, playback, recording, composition, sound recording and reproduction, mixing, analysis and editing of music.
Click here for more about Music Technology.
___________________________________________________________________________
Music technology (electronic and digital):
Electronic and digital music technology is the use of electronic or digital instruments, computers, electronic effects units, software or digital audio equipment by a musician, composer, sound engineer, DJ or record producer to make, perform or record music.
The term usually refers to the use of electronic devices, electronic and digital instruments, computer hardware and computer software that is used in the performance, playback, recording, composition, sound recording and reproduction, mixing, analysis and editing of music.
Music technology is connected to both artistic and technological creativity. Musicians and music technology experts are constantly striving to devise new forms of expression through music, and they are physically creating new devices and software to enable them to do so.
Although in the 2010s, the term is most commonly used in reference to modern electronic devices and computer software such as digital audio workstations and Protools digital sound recording software, electronic and digital musical technologies have precursors in the electric music technologies of the early 20th century, such as the electromechanical Hammond organ, which was invented in 1929.
In the 2010s, the ontological range of music technology has greatly increased, and it may now be electronic, digital, software-based or indeed even purely conceptual.
Click on any of the following blue hyperlinks for more about Music Technology (Electronic and Digital):
List of Music Software:
This is a list of notable software for creating, performing, learning, analyzing, researching, broadcasting and editing music. This article only includes software, not services. For streaming services such as iHeartRadio, Pandora, Prime Music, and Spotify, see Comparison of on-demand streaming music services.
For storage, uploading, downloading and streaming of music via the cloud, see Comparison of online music lockers. Although this field is only 46 years old, this list does not include discontinued historic or legacy software, with the exception of trackers that are still supported.
For example, the company Ars Nova produces music education software, and its software program Practica Musica has remnants of the historic Palestrina software. Practica will be listed here, but not Palestrina. If a program fits dozens of categories, such as a comprehensive DAW or a foundation programming language (e.g. Pure Data), listing is limited to its top three categories.
Click on the following blue hyperlinks for more about a List of Musical Software:
The earliest known applications of technology to music was prehistoric peoples' use of a tool to hand-drill holes in bones to make simple flutes. Ancient Egyptians developed stringed instruments, such as harps, lyres and lutes, which required making thin strings and some type of peg system for adjusting the pitch of the strings. Ancient Egyptians also used wind instruments such as double clarinets and percussion instruments such as cymbals.
In Ancient Greece, instruments included the double-reed aulos and the lyre.
Numerous instruments are referred to in the Bible, including the horn, pipe, lyre, harp, and bagpipe. During Biblical times, the cornet, flute, horn, organ, pipe, and trumpet were also used. During the Middle Ages, music notation was used to create a written record of the notes of plainchant melodies.
During the Renaissance music era, the printing press was invented, which made it much easier to mass-produce music (which had previously been hand-copied). This helped to spread musical styles more quickly and across a larger area.
During the Baroque era (1600–1750), technologies for keyboard instruments developed, which led to improvements in the designs of pipe organs and harpsichords, and the development of a new keyboard instrument in about 1700, the piano.
In the classical era, Beethoven added new instruments to the orchestra to create new sounds, such as the piccolo, contrabassoon, trombones, and percussion in his Ninth Symphony.
During the Romantic music era (c. 1810–1900), one of the key ways that new compositions became known to the public was by the sales of sheet music, which amateur music lovers would perform at home on their piano or other instruments.
In the 19th century, new instruments such as saxophones, euphoniums, Wagner tubas, and cornets were added to the orchestra.
Around the turn of the 20th century, with the invention and popularization of the gramophone record (commercialized in 1892), and radio broadcasting (starting on a commercial basis ca. 1919-1920), there was a vast increase in music listening, and it was easier to distribute music to a wider public.
The development of sound recording had a major influence on the development of popular music genres, because it enabled recordings of songs and bands to be widely distributed. The invention of sound recording gave rise to new sub-genre of classical music, the Musique concrete style of electronic composition.
The invention of multitrack recording enabled pop bands to overdub many layers of instrument tracks and vocals, creating new sounds that would not be possible in a live performance. In the early 20th century, electric technologies such as electromagnetic pickups, amplifiers and loudspeakers were used to develop new electric instruments such as the electric piano (1929), electric guitar (1931), electro-mechanical organ (1934) and electric bass (1935).
The 20th-century orchestra gained new instruments and new sounds. Some orchestra pieces used the electric guitar, electric bass or the Theremin.
The invention of the miniature transistor in 1947 enabled the creation of a new generation of synthesizers, which were used first in pop music in the 1960s. Unlike prior keyboard instrument technologies, synthesizer keyboards do not have strings, pipes, or metal tines.
A synthesizer keyboard creates musical sounds using electronic circuitry, or, later, computer chips and software. Synthesizers became popular in the mass market in the early 1980s. With the development of powerful microchips, a number of new electronic or digital music technologies were introduced in the 1980s and subsequent decades, including drum machines and music sequencers.
Electronic and digital music technologies are any device, such as a computer, an electronic effects unit or software, that is used by a musician or composer to help make or perform music.
The term "digital" usually refers to the use of electronic devices, computer hardware and computer software that is used in the performance, playback, recording, composition, sound recording and reproduction, mixing, analysis and editing of music.
Click here for more about Music Technology.
___________________________________________________________________________
Music technology (electronic and digital):
Electronic and digital music technology is the use of electronic or digital instruments, computers, electronic effects units, software or digital audio equipment by a musician, composer, sound engineer, DJ or record producer to make, perform or record music.
The term usually refers to the use of electronic devices, electronic and digital instruments, computer hardware and computer software that is used in the performance, playback, recording, composition, sound recording and reproduction, mixing, analysis and editing of music.
Music technology is connected to both artistic and technological creativity. Musicians and music technology experts are constantly striving to devise new forms of expression through music, and they are physically creating new devices and software to enable them to do so.
Although in the 2010s, the term is most commonly used in reference to modern electronic devices and computer software such as digital audio workstations and Protools digital sound recording software, electronic and digital musical technologies have precursors in the electric music technologies of the early 20th century, such as the electromechanical Hammond organ, which was invented in 1929.
In the 2010s, the ontological range of music technology has greatly increased, and it may now be electronic, digital, software-based or indeed even purely conceptual.
Click on any of the following blue hyperlinks for more about Music Technology (Electronic and Digital):
- Education
- History
- Synthesizers and drum machines
- Sampling technology
- MIDI
- Computers in music technology
- 2000s
- Timeline
- See also:
List of Music Software:
This is a list of notable software for creating, performing, learning, analyzing, researching, broadcasting and editing music. This article only includes software, not services. For streaming services such as iHeartRadio, Pandora, Prime Music, and Spotify, see Comparison of on-demand streaming music services.
For storage, uploading, downloading and streaming of music via the cloud, see Comparison of online music lockers. Although this field is only 46 years old, this list does not include discontinued historic or legacy software, with the exception of trackers that are still supported.
For example, the company Ars Nova produces music education software, and its software program Practica Musica has remnants of the historic Palestrina software. Practica will be listed here, but not Palestrina. If a program fits dozens of categories, such as a comprehensive DAW or a foundation programming language (e.g. Pure Data), listing is limited to its top three categories.
Click on the following blue hyperlinks for more about a List of Musical Software:
- Types of music software
- CD ripping software
- Choir and learn-to-sing software
- DJ software
- Digital audio workstation (DAW) software
- Computer music software
- Internet, RSS, Broadcast Music Software
- Lyrics and Vocals
- MIDI plug-ins
- Music analysis software
- Music circuit software
- Music composing software
- Music education software
- Music gaming software
- Music mathematics software
- Music notation software
- Music player software
- Music research software
- Music technology, synthesis and o/s software
- Music visualization software
- Orchestration software
- Automatic composition software
- Samplers and Sequencers
- Soundtrack creation software
- Trackers
- Virtual Studio Technology Hosting Software
- Virtual Synthesizer and Studio Software
- See also:
- Main articles: Outline of music and Index of music articles
- Book: Music
- Audio editing software
- Comparison of audio synthesis environments
- Comparison of digital audio editors
- Comparison of free software for audio
- Comparison of scorewriters
- List of audio conversion software
- List of audio programming languages
- List of guitar tablature software
- List of Linux audio software
- List of MIDI editors and sequencers
- List of scorewriters
Music Record Labels, including a List of Record Labels
- YouTube Video: How To Get Your Music Heard By Record Labels/A&R's
- YouTube Video: How To Get Your Music Heard (By Actual People)
- YouTube Video: How To Market Your Music Online | Avoid This Deadly Mistake!
Click here for a List of Record Label Companies
A record label, or record company, is a brand or trademark associated with the marketing of music recordings and music videos.
Sometimes, a record label is also a publishing company that:
The term "record label" derives from the circular label in the center of a vinyl record which prominently displays the manufacturer's name, along with other information.
Within the mainstream music industry, recording artists have traditionally been reliant upon record labels to broaden their consumer base, market their albums, and be both promoted and heard on music streaming services, radio, and television.
Record labels also provide publicists, who assist performers in gaining positive media coverage, and arrange for their merchandise to be available via stores and other media outlets.
Click on any of the following blue hyperlinks for more about Record Label Companies:
A record label, or record company, is a brand or trademark associated with the marketing of music recordings and music videos.
Sometimes, a record label is also a publishing company that:
- manages such brands and trademarks,
- coordinates the
- production,
- manufacture,
- distribution,
- marketing,
- promotion,
- and enforcement of copyright for sound recordings and music videos,
- while also conducting talent scouting and development of new artists ("artists and repertoire" or "A&R"), and maintaining contracts with recording artists and their managers.
The term "record label" derives from the circular label in the center of a vinyl record which prominently displays the manufacturer's name, along with other information.
Within the mainstream music industry, recording artists have traditionally been reliant upon record labels to broaden their consumer base, market their albums, and be both promoted and heard on music streaming services, radio, and television.
Record labels also provide publicists, who assist performers in gaining positive media coverage, and arrange for their merchandise to be available via stores and other media outlets.
Click on any of the following blue hyperlinks for more about Record Label Companies:
- Major versus independent record labels
- Major labels
- Independent
- Imprint
- Sublabel
- Vanity labels
- Relationship with artists
- New label strategies
List of Signature Songs by their Musical Artists
- YouTube Video by The Moody Blues – "Nights in White Satin"
- YouTube Video The Animals - The House Of The Rising Sun 1964
- YouTube Video: Aretha Franklin – "Respect"
A signature song is the one song (or, in some cases, one of a few songs) that a popular and well-established recording artist or band is most closely identified with or best known for.
This is generally differentiated from a one-hit wonder in that the artist usually has success with other songs as well. There have also been instances where an actor has acquired a signature song by giving a popular vocal performance in a film.
Signature songs can be the result of spontaneous public identification, or a marketing tool developed by the music industry to promote artists, sell their recordings, and develop a fan base. Artists and bands with a signature song are often expected to perform it at every concert appearance, usually as an encore on concert tours, sometimes being the last song of the setlist.
Click here for a list of signature songs.
[Your WebHost: there are too many songs to be listed below, so I've included some of the most popular songs. Click on the above link for the full list]:
This is generally differentiated from a one-hit wonder in that the artist usually has success with other songs as well. There have also been instances where an actor has acquired a signature song by giving a popular vocal performance in a film.
Signature songs can be the result of spontaneous public identification, or a marketing tool developed by the music industry to promote artists, sell their recordings, and develop a fan base. Artists and bands with a signature song are often expected to perform it at every concert appearance, usually as an encore on concert tours, sometimes being the last song of the setlist.
Click here for a list of signature songs.
[Your WebHost: there are too many songs to be listed below, so I've included some of the most popular songs. Click on the above link for the full list]:
- Christina Aguilera – "Beautiful"
- The Animals – "The House of the Rising Sun"
- Tony Bennett – "I Left My Heart in San Francisco"
- Chuck Berry – "Johnny B. Goode"
- Blue Öyster Cult – "(Don't Fear) The Reaper"
- Bon Jovi – "Livin' on a Prayer"
- Jimmy Buffett – "Margaritaville"
- Ray Charles – "What'd I Say"
- Eric Clapton – "Layla"
- Phil Collins – "In the Air Tonight"
- Celine Dion – "My Heart Will Go On"
- The Doors – "Light My Fire"
- Eagles – "Hotel California"
- Aretha Franklin – "Respect"
- The Kingsmen – "Louie, Louie"
- The Kinks – "You Really Got Me"
- Kiss – "Rock and Roll All Nite"
- Gladys Knight & the Pips – "Midnight Train to Georgia"
- Cyndi Lauper – "Girls Just Want to Have Fun", "Time After Time"
- Led Zeppelin – "Stairway to Heaven"
- John Lennon – "Imagine"
- Jerry Lee Lewis – "Whole Lotta Shakin' Goin' On", "Great Balls of Fire"
- Loretta Lynn – "Coal Miner's Daughter"
- Lynyrd Skynyrd – "Free Bird"
- Martina McBride – "Independence Day"
- The Moody Blues – "Nights in White Satin"
- The Rolling Stones – "(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction"
- Linda Ronstadt – "Blue Bayou"
- Carly Simon – "You're So Vain"
- Simon & Garfunkel – "Bridge over Troubled Water"
- Frank Sinatra – "My Way"
- Sonny & Cher – "I Got You Babe"
- Bruce Springsteen – "Born to Run"
- Rod Stewart – "Maggie May"
- Taylor Swift – "Love Story"
- The Temptations – "My Girl"
- Randy Travis – "Forever and Ever, Amen"
- Village People – "Y.M.C.A."
- Andy Williams – "Moon River"
- Tammy Wynette – "Stand by Your Man"