Q3 Hit Pop Sub-Genre Influences
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Hit Songs Deconstructed Deconstructing Today's Hits for Songwriting Success http://reports.hitsongsdeconstructed.com Q3 Hit Pop Sub-Genre Influences Overview This report spotlights the individual sub-genres that helped shape the 23 top 10 songs that landed on the Billboard Pop Songs chart during Q3-2013. Typically, these sub-genres fall into one of the following categories: Dance Hip Hop/Rap Rock R&B/Soul Pop Fusion/Other “Other” refers to songs that didn’t fall into one of the primary sub-genre categories detailed above (e.g. Folk, Singer/Songwriter, Dubstep, etc…). In regard to Pop Fusion, this is where more than one primary sub-genre influences a song’s sound. Some recent examples include Country/Folk fusing with EDM (Wake Me Up), Country fusing with Straight-Up Pop and Hip Hop/Rap (Cruise) and Funk, Disco and R&B packaged in a retro manner (Treasure). Q3-2013 HIGHLIGHTS Sub Genre Performance All of the sub-genre categories yielded at least 1 #1 hit except for Dance and Rock. Songs that feature a fusion of sub-genres that define their sound (i.e. more than one) rebounded after a 2 quarter decline and once again accounted for the vast majority of 1 / 35 Hit Songs Deconstructed Deconstructing Today's Hits for Songwriting Success http://reports.hitsongsdeconstructed.com songs. Hip Hop/Rap was the only category that showed a slight increase in number over the previous quarter in addition to Pop Fusion/Other songs. Dance, Rock and R&B/Soul all declined in number. There were 14 distinct sub-genres that mixed and matched with one another to help shape the sound of the 13 songs that landed in the Pop Fusion/Other category during Q3-2013. Country and Dance saw the greatest increase over the previous quarter, while Ballads and Straight-Up Pop saw a significant decline. The vast majority of songs within the Pop Fusion category employed a “fusion blend,” meaning multiple sub-genres were at play at the same time throughout the entire song. Only 3 songs utilized “sectional segmenting.” Compositional Characteristics The majority of songs within the Hip Hop/Rap, Rock and Pop Fusion categories featured a combination of primary instrumentation within the mix. It was also the case with Dance songs as well, plus the synth which is no surprise. All of the songs within the Hip Hop/Rap category featured a combination of electric and acoustic based instrumentation. All of the other categories were primarily electric in nature. Songs featuring a male lead vocal dominated every category except for Dance, where 75% of songs featured a female lead. The Hip Hop/Rap category possessed the longest average song length at 5:05. Rock was the shortest at 3:06. The Hip Hop/Rap category possessed the longest average intro length at 0:31. Dance was the shortest at just 0:07. The Dance and Pop Fusion categories were the only ones to contain songs that kicked off with the chorus as opposed to the verse. Sectional Time Allocation Rock songs on average allocated the most amount of time to the intro while Dance songs allocated the least. Hip Hop/Rap songs on average allocated the most amount of time to the verse while Dance songs allocated the least. Pop Fusion songs on average allocated the most amount of time to the pre-chorus 2 / 35 Hit Songs Deconstructed Deconstructing Today's Hits for Songwriting Success http://reports.hitsongsdeconstructed.com while Hip Hop/Rap songs allocated the least. Pop Fusion songs on average allocated the most amount of time to the chorus while Hip Hop/Rap songs allocated the least. Pop Fusion songs on average allocated the most amount of time to the bridge while R&B/Soul songs allocated the least. Dance songs on average allocated the most amount of time to the instrumental break while Hip Hop/Rap songs allocated the least. Hip Hop/Rap allocated the most amount of time to the outro while Dance allocated the least. The Q3-2013 Primary Sub-Genre Category Breakdown As you can see in the graph above, the vast majority of songs possessed either a Fusion of influences or were different in nature than the other primary sub-genre categories (i.e. they weren’t primarily Rock, R&B, Hip Hop/Rap or Dance). Note that this category has been in decline over the past couple of quarters but finally saw a moderate rebound in Q3, increasing from 48% to 56% of songs. As for the other primary categories, notice that aside from Hip Hop/Rap that they all declined 3 / 35 Hit Songs Deconstructed Deconstructing Today's Hits for Songwriting Success http://reports.hitsongsdeconstructed.com in number from Q2 to Q3 and trailed WAY far behind the Pop Fusion/Other category. The 23 top 10 Pop hits of Q3-2013: Dance (4 Songs) *Clarity *I Need Your Love *Summertime Sadness The Other Side Hip Hop/Rap (3 Songs) Can’t Hold Us Holy Grail Same Love R&B/Soul (1 Song) Blurred Lines Suit & Tie Rock (2 Songs) My Songs Know What You Did In The Dark Radioactive Fusion & Other (13 Songs) Come & Get It: Electropop, World (Indian) Cruise: Country, Straight-Up Pop, Hip Hop/Rap *Cups: Country/Folk Get Lucky: Retro Funk, Dance (Disco), R&B/Soul I Love It: Synth Pop, Punk 4 / 35 Hit Songs Deconstructed Deconstructing Today's Hits for Songwriting Success http://reports.hitsongsdeconstructed.com Just Give Me A Reason: Straight Up Pop, Ballad *Love Somebody: Straight-Up Pop, Dance Mirrors: Straight-Up Pop, R&B, Ballad *Roar: Straight-Up Pop, Pop/Rock, Power Pop *Safe & Sound: Electro Alt Pop, Dance, Retro 80?s New Wave *Treasure: Retro Funk, Disco, R&B *Wake Me Up: Country/Folk, EDM *We Can’t Stop: Straight-Up Pop, R&B, Dance *Denotes a “new arrival” to the Pop songs top 10 during Q3-2013. The other songs were top 10 carryovers from Q2. POP FUSION CATEGORY BREAKDOWN 5 / 35 Hit Songs Deconstructed Deconstructing Today's Hits for Songwriting Success http://reports.hitsongsdeconstructed.com 6 / 35 Hit Songs Deconstructed Deconstructing Today's Hits for Songwriting Success http://reports.hitsongsdeconstructed.com There were 14 distinct sub-genres that mixed and matched with one another to help shape the sound of the 13 songs that landed in the Pop Fusion/Other category during Q3-2013. The 3 most popular elements were Straight-Up Pop/Electro Pop (showing up in 69% of songs), Dance (46% of songs) and R&B/Soul (31% of songs). The big winners of the quarter (i.e. those that showed the greatest increase in influence over the previous quarter) were Country and Dance, while Ballads and Straight-Up Pop both saw a significant decline. Sub-Genres on the Rise (these sub-genres increased in number from Q2 to Q3) Country (Increased from 8% to 23% of songs) Dance (Increased from 33% to 46% of songs) Folk (Increased from 0% to 15% of songs) New Wave (Increased from 0% to 8% of songs) Power Pop (Increased from 0% to 8% of songs) Sub-Genres in Decline (these sub-genres decreased in number from Q2 to Q3) Ballads (Decreased from 42% to 15% of songs) Dubstep (Decreased from 8% of songs to 0% of songs) Funk (Decreased from 17% to 8% of songs) Hip Hop/Rap (Decreased from 7% to 0% of songs) Straight Up Pop/Electro Pop (Decreased from 100% to 69% of songs) Sub-Genres that Remained Constant (+/- 5%) Funk Pop/Rock Punk Reggae 7 / 35 Hit Songs Deconstructed Deconstructing Today's Hits for Songwriting Success http://reports.hitsongsdeconstructed.com Singer/Songwriter World POP FUSION SUB-GENRE PLACEMENT The chart below shows where each sub-genre influence appears within songs that possess 2 or more sub-genres within the mix. 8 / 35 Hit Songs Deconstructed Deconstructing Today's Hits for Songwriting Success http://reports.hitsongsdeconstructed.com 9 / 35 Hit Songs Deconstructed Deconstructing Today's Hits for Songwriting Success http://reports.hitsongsdeconstructed.com Note that there were 2 primary methods utilized to fuse multiple sub-genres together within a single song – the full song blend and sectional segmenting: The Blend (multiple sub-genres are fused together in varying degrees of prominence at the same time throughout the song) Come & Get It Cups Get Lucky I Love It Just Give Me A Reason Love Somebody Mirrors Safe & Sound Treasure We Can’t Stop Sectional Segmenting (one specific sub-genre defines a specific section of the song) *Cruise Roar Wake Me Up *Cruise: Aside from the Hip Hop/Rap bridge, the other sections of the song are a blended fusion of Country and Straight-Up Pop. Back to Top SUB-GENRE CHART PERFORMANCE (Peak Placement on the Billboard Pop Songs Chart as of Q3-2013) 10 / 35 Hit Songs Deconstructed Deconstructing Today's Hits for Songwriting Success http://reports.hitsongsdeconstructed.com Dance Songs (4) None of the Dance songs peaked at #1 during Q3, though the majority did place in the top 5. The one exception was I Need Your Love, which peaked at #6. Clarity (#2) I Need Your Love (#6) Summertime Sadness – Cedric Gervais Remix (#5) The Other Side (#5) Hip Hop/Rap Songs (3) It was an equal split when it came to the chart performance of Hip Hop/Rap songs. Can’t Hold Us charted at #1, Same Love at #5, and Holy Grail at #10. R&B/Soul Songs (1) 11 / 35 Hit Songs Deconstructed Deconstructing Today's Hits for Songwriting Success http://reports.hitsongsdeconstructed.com The sole R&B song, Blurred Lines, peaked at #1.