People have always wanted to be entertained, so honestly, it’s just common sense that pop music has existed since forever. I’m not talking about today’s Top 40 hits or even what was playing 20 or 30 years ago—I mean the actual "pop-ness" of it. Catchy tunes, stuff you don't have to overthink while listening, simple, fun, relaxing, and yeah, it repeats patterns just to keep things moving. It’s all about the vibe.
Here’s my take. I read somewhere that while music went totally massive in the late 1900s, it was already hitting huge crowds back in the 1800s. People usually claim pop "started" with rock and roll. We had that first big rock era, then it drifted into disco and electronic stuff, and eventually hip-hop showed up. But when I talk about what I mentioned in the first paragraph, I’m not stuck on a specific genre; I’m talking about that pop sensibility.
But wait, what came before rock? You’ve got the jazz era, musicals... but what was considered "serious" music back then? Well, the pop music of those times would’ve been folk or traditional tunes—that was the stuff people played for fun. But here’s the kicker: there’s actually a lot of pop hidden in classical music.
To me, it sounds crazy, but someone like Johann Strauss is basically pure pop.
An Italian track written in 1880.
All these "lighter" musical forms really started popping up once the middle class emerged.
The Baroque period (which I love) and the Classical period (okay, maybe a little less) often feel like they follow the same mold, but the compositions are weirdly catchy.
Back in the Middle Ages and the Renaissance (not my favorite, feels a bit too slow for me), you had troubadours, who were essentially the pop stars of their day. In a way, you can see echoes of that in what Americans call folk music—though obviously, that's different from how people elsewhere might define it. 😁
Look, I get it—trying to categorize music is a nightmare. Back in the day, people used this wild system of dividing music into folk, popular, and classical (the "serious" stuff). Even if textbooks didn't spell it out perfectly, they admitted that these categories are pretty flawed. Folk music can definitely be popular; in fact, if it's folk, it usually is. And are some "artistic" forms within popular music actually classical? Is it more like pop Strauss or Pink Floyd? Who’s actually popular, and who’s more "art"? It's all blurry.
Bottom line: the whole point of this is to hunt for pop music—or rather, that pop sensibility—throughout all of music history, from twenty centuries ago right back to the beginning of time. 😁
