How Has Popular Music Changed in the Last 50 Years?
Popular music has seen a raft of changes over the last five decades. As well as the most popular genres of music changing, the devices we use to listen to music and the ways we buy music have also changed dramatically. Yet despite all the new developments and changes to the way we interact with music, artists from the past are still widely known today and their music is often used as inspiration to create the sounds we hear today.
Without a doubt the biggest band of the 1960s was The Beatles, although joining them in The British Invasion of America were The Rolling Stones and The Who. While their success was prolonged other, harder sounding bands like Black Sabbath and the Sex Pistols made an impact in the 70s. During a period when vinyl records and tape cassettes were the most popular way of playing purchased music, artists like Marvin Gaye and Bob Marley offered alternative sounds to the rock music of British bands.
During the 1980s two developments changed how people listened to music - MTV was launched and CDs were made commercially available. MTV helped propel the likes of Madonna and Michael Jackson into super stardom, with the latter releasing the biggest selling album of all time 'Thriller" in 1982. Rock and hip hop were other popular genres with the likes of Bon Jovi and The Beastie Boys achieving considerable success.
In the decade before the millennium it was girl power that ruled the airwaves, with the Spice Girls becoming one of the most successful groups of all time. Arguably, they paved the way for female teen-pop artists such as Christina Aguilera and Britney Spears. Oasis and Blur were considered a more acceptable pop-sound for adults. After the millennium the way we play music may be more significant than what we play - downloading songs online to play through a computer or mp3 player mean that people can have a much wider selection of music instantly available at their fingertips.
Despite all the changes that have occurred over the last 50 years, it is still easy to hear the influence that music from the past has on today's artists. Whether it is Amy Winehouse echoing the popular soul sound or dance songs using samples from old forgotten classics, the old and the new often live side by side.
Without a doubt the biggest band of the 1960s was The Beatles, although joining them in The British Invasion of America were The Rolling Stones and The Who. While their success was prolonged other, harder sounding bands like Black Sabbath and the Sex Pistols made an impact in the 70s. During a period when vinyl records and tape cassettes were the most popular way of playing purchased music, artists like Marvin Gaye and Bob Marley offered alternative sounds to the rock music of British bands.
During the 1980s two developments changed how people listened to music - MTV was launched and CDs were made commercially available. MTV helped propel the likes of Madonna and Michael Jackson into super stardom, with the latter releasing the biggest selling album of all time 'Thriller" in 1982. Rock and hip hop were other popular genres with the likes of Bon Jovi and The Beastie Boys achieving considerable success.
In the decade before the millennium it was girl power that ruled the airwaves, with the Spice Girls becoming one of the most successful groups of all time. Arguably, they paved the way for female teen-pop artists such as Christina Aguilera and Britney Spears. Oasis and Blur were considered a more acceptable pop-sound for adults. After the millennium the way we play music may be more significant than what we play - downloading songs online to play through a computer or mp3 player mean that people can have a much wider selection of music instantly available at their fingertips.
Despite all the changes that have occurred over the last 50 years, it is still easy to hear the influence that music from the past has on today's artists. Whether it is Amy Winehouse echoing the popular soul sound or dance songs using samples from old forgotten classics, the old and the new often live side by side.