The Evolution of British Pop Music - Video Transcript

Unlike other genres, pop music is difficult to define, as it is a culmination of elements and influences from various music styles. Originally a term which simply described whatever music was popular at the time, pop music has gradually become its own entity. It was created to attract as wide of an audience as possible, leading to the interpretation by high-arts individuals that it is ‘shallow’ or ‘trivial’. However, songs belonging to this genre are carefully crafted to appeal to large audiences.



The first of three revolutions, the 1964 British Invasion was led by the Beatles into what became one of the leading forms of popular music in the modern world. By the early 1960s, the UK had developed a viable national music industry and created considerable impact on the development of the wider genre and on popular music in general.


Pop music continued to expand and develop new fusions between genres in the 2000s; whilst having lower international music presence in countries such as America, similar bands such as The Verve, Radiohead, Snow Patrol, Keane and the most commercially successful, Coldplay, remained popular.

It emerged in the 1950s as a departure from the orchestral sounds which previous decades focused on. The significant change in this decade was consequent to the impact of American rock and roll, which provided a new model for performance, purpose and recording, based on a predominantly young market. Although initially dominated by American acts such as Elvis Presley and Chuck Berry, distinctly British forms of the pop sound began to appear. Despite the 50s being credited as a catalyst for this contemporarily new and rapidly evolving form of music, research suggests that the genre began evolving in the 60s. 

During the next two years other artists including The Animals, The Dave Clark Five, The Kinks, Freddie and the Dreamers, The Who and The Rolling Stones had secured positions in the American Charts despite the competitive nature of the industry, proving the success and scope of British urban centres of music like Liverpool, Manchester and London. The 60s also first introduced the idea of subgenres such as ‘Bubblegum Pop’, marked by its upbeat sound e.g. the Archies and The Monkees, and ‘Baroque Pop’, e.g. The Beatles and The Bee Gees.An element which contributed to the evolution of pop music is technology – the mass manufacturing of portable transistor radios in the 1960s meant that songs had increased international opportunity, meaning that pop music especially could advance in parallel to technology, so that global audience could enjoy The Beach Boys from California in the same way as The Hollies from Salford.

In the aftermath of the British Invasion, British soul and disco enjoyed mainstream popularity during the 70s. In parallel with the changing sound with the occasional addition of keyboards and orchestration for artists such as Queen, ABBA and Elton John, the image of pop evolved; the theatrical blend of visual styles, lyrics and the flamboyant costumes of performers bridged the clear divide between music genres, similar to the combination of styles audiences can hear in songs today.

Popular music of the UK in the 1980s built on the post-punk-pop and new wave movements. In the 80s, pop music hit its next major stylistic revolution as a result of digital recording; new technology was rapidly emerging including things such as synthesisers, samplers and drum machines. The advent of MTV spurred what some interpret as a Second British Invasion with British Bands enjoying more global success than they had since the height of the Beatles. While a wide variety of styles were part of the invasion, synth-pop and new wave music emerged as a dominant force on international charts. These include:

New Romantic Music – Spandau Ballet, Duran Duran

Post-Punk Music – Joy Division, New Order

Gothic Rock Music – The Cure, The Sisters of Mercy

Indie Rock Music – The Smiths, Primal Scream, Happy Mondays

Pop Music – Wham!, Queen, David Bowie

Synth-pop Music – Depeche Mode, Eurythmics

Popular music in the 1990s also continued to develop and diversify. Although the charts predominantly featured boy bands and girl groups, British soul and electronic rock bands such as The Prodigy and Chemical Brothers began to achieve high profiles. From an international perspective hip hop seemed to be thriving, with flourishing scenes in America especially, as well as London, Bristol and Nottingham. However, internally the production of dream pop, post rock and indie pop reached the mainstream, leading to the commercial success of Britpop bands like Blur and Oasis. The most successful and influential act of the genre during this decade however were the Spice Girls, with 9 number 1 singles in the UK and the US. Their well-aimed publicity and spread ideology of girl power ensured that following girl groups such as Sugababes and Girls Aloud enjoyed similar success in the early 21^stCentury.

While talent show contestants became one of the major forces in pop music, British soul extended its high profile with figures such as Adele, Duffy and Estelle. Grime and dubstep emerged as new forms of dance music giving way for new scenes, in conjunction with a revival of garage rock and post-punk music through artists such as Arctic Monkeys, Franz Ferdinand and The Libertines who achieved the airplay and commercial success that had eluded bands of the past.

Despite development of pop music over time, some elements have remained consistent throughout the evolving styles and subgenres; popular artists in the UK Charts such as Drake frequently use themes of love, loss and experiencing life, not too dissimilar to the ideas icons like The Beatles presented in songs during their career. Therefore, although pop music has gradually branched into different sounds and styles, the ultimate premise of attracting a wide, predominantly young audience through presentations of love and loss has remained a constant.