Solo Artists (1990s - present day)

CLICK HERE to download further detailed information (Conventions of Pop study/information booklet)


Background

  • - Solo artists of the 1980s and 1990s didn't always fall neatly into a specific bracket: their music often changed from album to album
  • - In the 1990s, the main strands running through pop music included rock, dance, rap and electronic music, alongside more conventional pop music
  • - Music videos had become as important as the music itself, with MTV becoming increasingly popular over the decade
  • - Digital technology was well established by now, with digital effects often being added to instruments and voices. By this time, a lot of music was recorded on computer sequencers (such as Pro Tools or Cubase), allowing producers much greater control over their music


Technology you may hear in 1990s music includes:

- Sampling (sections and loops taken from other recordings)

- Drum loops

- Reverb/echo (though not as much reverb as in 1980s recordings)

- Overdubbing - due to the advances in technology, it was possible to record many more instrumental and vocal parts, often resulting in complex and thick textures


Musical Features

As with Pop Ballads, you will hear a build-up of instrumentation, texture and dynamics over the course of the song.

Look at musical features on the Pop Ballads page for more details


Famous Artists

- Michael Jackson - Black or White

- Kylie Minogue - Can't Get You Out Of My Head

- Adele - Someone Like You

- Mariah Carey - Always Be My Baby

- Beyoncé - Crazy In Love

- Sam Smith - Like I Can