Pop Music Today

Today, pop music is identified by teen artists such as Britney Spears and `NSync, yet it encompasses an enormous variety of different styles of music.

Lee Austin, a disc jockey at radio station 93.7 in Houston, said today's music contains a healthy mix of many different genres.

"Pop today is an amalgam of many different formats," Austin said. "A radio station can play an artist like Staind and go right into Britney Spears. You have rap, R&B, hip-hop and rock all occupying pop music, resulting in more diversity on the charts than there has ever been."

While pop music today is diverse, some people argue that it lacks depth and sincerity.
"Pop music is very generic," said Jeff Cassidy, a sophomore business major. "You just take a catchy base rhythm and add some uncreative country lyrics and there is your next million-dollar single."

Recent studies suggest that the average American youth spends four to five hours per day listening to music. Music is believed to influence anything from a person's grades to a teenager's perception of sex and violence.

Many music critics seem to feel the current teeny-bopper trend is ending. Lagging concert attendance and an older, more sophisticated fanbase seems to indicate that a new type of pop may be emerging.

Ross Huchinson, a junior biological systems major, said it is about time for a change in pop.
"I think the pop music of today is catchy for the time being, but as the teenagers grow up, they don't want to listen to the same stuff," Hutchinson said. "There is a constant recycling of popular tastes, and I think the Backstreet Boys have just about run their course."

Travis Lyons, a writer and TV producer, said the attitude surrounding the recent tragedy of Sept. 11 of self realization and peace will dominate the music scene for the next few years.

"The recent world events will cause artists to reflect on themselves and our day-to-day existential concerns resulting in a more heartfelt and individualistic sound, reminiscent of the rock and folk music of the late '60s and early '70s," Lyons said.

Proesch, Micala. "Music Style Has Evolved Through the Tears and is Still Changing Today." media.www.thebatt.com. 5 Oct. 2001. 10 July 2009<http://media.www.thebatt.com/media/storage/paper657/news/2001/10/05/AggieLife/The-Music.Style.Has.Evolved.Through.The.Years.And.Is.Still.Changing.Today-515927.shtml>