Will pop music become prog?

cobb2 wrote: Some releases of prog music have also been popular music- How many copies of dark side of the moon have been sold? If this isn't popular music, It's up there with the Eagles and Michael Jackson.    Popular doesn't mean pop:   Pop Vs. Popular Music It is tempting to confuse pop music with popular music. The New Grove Dictionary Of Music and Musicians, the musicologist's ultimate reference resource, identifies popular music as the music since industrialization in the 1800's that is most in line with the tastes and interests of the urban middle class. This would include an extremely wide range of music from vaudeville and minstrel shows to heavy metal. Pop music, on the other hand, has primarily come into usage to describe music that evolved out of the rock 'n roll revolution of the mid-1950's and continues in a definable path to today. Pop Music and Song Structure One of the most consistent elements of pop music since the 1950's is the pop song. Pop music is not usually written, performed and recorded as a symphony, suite, or concerto. The basic form for pop music is the song and usually a song consisting of verse and repeated chorus. Most often the songs are between 2 1/2 minutes and 5 1/2 minutes in length. There have been notable exceptions. The Beatles' "Hey Jude" was an epic 7 minutes in length. However, in many cases, if the song is abnormally long, an edited version is released for radio airplay such as in the case of Don McLean's "American Pie." It was edited down from its original 8 1/2 minutes length to just over 4 minutes for radio airplay. On the other end of the spectrum, in the late 1950's and early 1960's some hit songs clocked in under 2 minutes in length. http://top40.about.com/od/popmusic101/a/popmusic.htm   Doesn't matter how many copies did DSOTM sold, it may be popular, but it's not POP. The main structure ofa  Pop song normalñly has an ABAB  structure (Chorus, verse, chorus, verse  abd repeat ad nauseam), Prog has changes, bridges, introduction coda, etc.     Yes were also the golden boys of the music rags such as rolling stone for a time- this is pre the term progressive music. I suppose Dream Theater could also be termed a popular band. Has anybody seen the amount of people who turned up for the Genesis When in Rome DVD- that's a fairly good indication of a popular band. As a off-side I do remember pointing out to some year 12 students back when Metallica were in their prime that because they were charting all the time on the pop charts that they were, by definition, a pop band- now that didn't go over well.   A Prog band may hit the POP charts, because the guys from the Grammys lump Prog under the Pop Rock moniker or as they want, as a fact A Crest of a Knave by Jethro Tull won a Grammy as the best Heavy Metal album and that's stupid.   Iván

Yes it will. It's called New Prog.

I think prog and pop have a lot more similarities than quite a few other genres paired with prog. After all, there are plenty of rather Yes and Genesis songs that had plenty of catchy sing-along type melodies, but were also definetely progressive. I dare you say a song like Roundabout isn't catchy or progressive in the least.

I don't know if pop will become prog, but prog bands have often tried to become pop, even WHILE WHILE REMAINING PROG, and in many cases they've succeeded beautifully. Just think of "I know what I like", "Wonderous Stories", "Lucky Man" etc.: poppy gems from great bands in their proggy heyday! And don't even get me started on Porcupine Tree or them Flour Kingz.

jplanet wrote: Now that the internet will ring the death knell of all major record labels and radio stations, my guess is that prog, along with dozens of other genres that are overlooked by the corporate music business, will end up on an equal playing field together. Sadly, it will probably never be as big as it was in the 70's when prog was king. that is exactly what I've been saying for the last year or so, nicely done sir! But, i digress. The original post wasn't about whether prog would become popular, but rather if pop music would sound so unfamiliar that it would seem like something truly innovative. Once prog starts sounding too familiar to you, you will probably do what Peter Gabriel did, and start listening to world music...

Either that or step further back into the formation of prog with the styles of jazz,blues,classical or anything for that matter.

How quickly some forget, or are too young to remember - Back in the 70's when ELP was the top-grossing concert act in the world, and Yes was selling out several consecutive nights at Madison Square Garden, and Dark Side of the Moon was earning the sales that made it the best-selling album of all time, prog rock was certainly one of the most successful genres of pop music.

Now that the internet will ring the death knell of all major record labels and radio stations, my guess is that prog, along with dozens of other genres that are overlooked by the corporate music business, will end up on an equal playing field together. Sadly, it will probably never be as big as it was in the 70's when prog was king.

But, i digress. The original post wasn't about whether prog would become popular, but rather if pop music would sound so unfamiliar that it would seem like something truly innovative. Once prog starts sounding too familiar to you, you will probably do what Peter Gabriel did, and start listening to world music...


Edited by jplanet - December 08 2008 at 15:28

Pop music is POPULAR music. One of the main indirect attributesof prog is that it isn't what people would call popular. So I doubt it somehow, by definition.

No.