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Hit Pop Sub-Genre Influences: Q1-2013
Contents
Pop Sub-Genres: Q1-2013>>
Sub-Genre Chart Performance>>
Sub-Genre Compositional Analysis>>
Sub-Genre Commonalities>>
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 Q1-2013. Typically, these influences fall into one of the following categories:
Dance
Hip Hop/Rap
Rock
R&B/Soul
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, etc…).
In regard to Fusion, this is where more than one primary sub-genre influences a song’s sound. Some recent examples include Reggae fusing with a Pop vocal (One More Night), Pop/Rock fusing with Electro, New Wave and Funk (Locked Out Of Heaven) and Straight-Up Pop
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Q1-2013 Highlights
For a fifth quarter in a row, songs that had their sound defined by a Fusion of sub-genre influences were in the majority, though down in number from the preceding quarter.
Both Hip Hop/Rap and R&B/Soul made a return appearance to the Pop Songs top 10 after a multi-quarter absence, though represented only by 1 song each.
Songs that are primarily Dance in nature rebounded in Q1 after embarking on a decline that started back in Q2-2012.
There were 14 distinct sub-genres that defined the Fusion category, up from 13 during the preceding quarter. Ballads were the big gainers while Dance saw its influence substantially decline.
Fusion songs utilized one of two methods to fuse multiple sub-genres together: The blend (e.g.. One More Night) or sectional segmenting (e.g. I Knew You Were Trouble).
None of the Dance, Hip Hop/Rap, R&B/Soul or Rock songs hit #1 on the Pop songs chart during the quarter. 4 songs in the Fusion/Other category did, however.
Around half of the Dance and Fusion/Other songs were new to the Pop songs top 10 in Q1-2013.
2 of the 6 songs in the Dance category also possessed a Hip Hop/Rap element in the mix (I Cry and Beauty & A Beat).
The majority of songs in the Dance category (50%) were duets, which is a rarity. Additionally, only 1 song featured a female lead vocal.
Each of the Dance songs that featured a fusion of lyrical themes had those themes represented in the song’s title.
2 of the songs in the Fusion/Other category (Daylight and Girl On Fire) immediately kicked off with a verse as opposed to an intro, which is a rarity.
The number of songs in the Fusion/Other category that utilized a Piano within the mix saw a substantial increase over the previous quarter.
The Q1-2013 Primary Sub-Genre Category Breakdown
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As you can see in the graph above, the vast majority of songs continued to possess either a Fusion of influences or were different than any of the primary sub-genre categories (i.e. they weren’t straight-up Rock, R&B or Dance). However, note that this number was down in relation to the previous quarter (62% vs. 76% of songs).
The reason for the decline was attributed to the slight increase in the number of songs that are primarily Dance in nature coupled with the addition of songs to the Hip Hop/Rap and R&B/Soul categories (both of which were nonexistent during the previous quarter). Additionally, the number of Rock songs remained constant with last quarter (1).
Dance (6 Songs)
Beauty &A Beat
Don’t You Worry Child
I Cry
Let Me Love You
Scream & Shout
Sweet Nothing
Hip Hop/Rap (1 Song)
Thrift Shop
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R&B/Soul (1 Song)
Suit & Tie
Rock (1 Song)
It’s Time
Fusion & Other (14 Songs)
C’Mon: Straight-Up Electro Pop, Dance
Daylight: Straight-Up Pop/Rock, Ballad
Diamonds: Electro Pop Ballad, R&B
Die Young: Straight-up Pop, Dance
Girl On Fire: R&B, Hip Hop/Rap
Ho Hey: Folk/Indie
Home: Folk, Pop/Rock
I Knew You Were Trouble: Straight-Up Pop, Dubstep
Locked Out Of Heaven: Pop/Rock, Electro, New Wave, Funk
One More Night: Straight-Up Pop, Reggae
Stay: Straight-Up Pop, Ballad
The A Team: Singer/Songwriter, Folk, Ballad
Try: Pop/Rock
When I Was Your Man: Straight-Up Pop, R&B/Soul, Ballad
SUB-GENRE FUSION CATEGORY BREAKDOWN
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There were 14 distinct sub-genres that mixed and matched with one another to help shape the sound of the 14 songs that landed in the Fusion/Other category during Q1-2013.
As was the case during the previous quarter, the most popular sub-genre influence found in chart-topping Pop songs was straight-up Pop, showing up in 50% of all songs. Interestingly, the next most popular was the Ballad, gaining tremendous ground over the previous quarter to account for a little over one-third of all songs (compared to just 13% in Q4).
On the flip side, the 2 losers of the quarter were sub-genres that had been exceptionally popular in the past. Songs that featured a Dance element in the mix declined from 38% of
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Influences on the Rise (these sub-genres increased in number from Q4 to Q1)
Straight-Up Pop (Increased from 44% to 50% of songs)
Ballads (Increased from 13% to 36% of songs)
Pop/Rock (Increased from 19% to 29% of songs)
Folk (Increased from 13% to 21% of songs)
Singer/Songwriter (Increased from 0% to 7% of songs)
Influences in Decline (these sub-genres decreased in number from Q4 to Q1)
Dance (Decreased from 38% to 14% of songs)
Dubstep (Decreased from 13% to 7% of songs)
Hip Hop/Rap (Decreased from 19% to 7% of songs)
World (Decreased from 6% to 0% of songs)
Rock (Decreased from 13% to 0% of songs)
Influences that Remained Constant (+/- 1%)
R&B/Soul
Reggae
Funk
New Wave
FUSION CATEGORY SUB-GENRE PLACEMENT
The chart below shows you where each sub-genre influence appears in the song
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Notice that there were 2 primary methods utilized to fuse multiple sub-genres together within a single song – the full song blend (9 songs) and sectional segmenting (5 songs).
The Blend (i.e. multiple sub-genres are fused together in varying degrees throughout the entire song)
C’Mon
Daylight
Diamonds
Ho Hey
One More Night
Stay
The A Team
Try
When I Was Your Man
Sectional Segmenting (i.e. one specific sub-genre defines a specific section of the song)
Die Young
Girl On Fire
Home
I Knew You Were Trouble
Locked Out Of Heaven
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SUB-GENRE CHART PERFORMANCE (Peak Placement on the Billboard Pop Songs Chart as of Q1-2013)
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Dance Songs (6)
None hit #1
All but 1 landed in the top 5 (Sweet Nothing – #6)
Half of the songs were new to the top 10 during Q1 (Don’t You Worry Child, Scream & Shout, Sweet Nothing). The others (Beauty & A Beat, I Cry Let Me Love You) were top 10 carryovers from Q4.
Hip Hop/Rap Songs (1)
Thrift Shop was the sole Hip Hop/Rap representative during Q1, peaking at #3 on the Pop songs chart. This was its first appearance in the top 10.
R&B/Soul Songs (1)
Suit & Tie was the sole R&B/Soul representative during Q1, peaking at #8 on the Pop songs chart. This was its first appearance in the top 10.
Rock Songs (1)
It’s Time was the sole Rock representative during Q1, peaking at #10 on the Pop songs chart. This was its first appearance in the top 10.
Fusion & Other Influenced Songs (14)
4 out of 14 peaked at #1 during the quarter: Die Young, I Knew You Were Trouble, Locked Out Of Heaven and One More Night.
7 out of 14 landed in the top 5: The #1’s above plus Daylight (#4), Diamonds (#2) and Ho Hey (#2).
8 out of 14 were new to the top 10 during the quarter: C’Mon, Daylight, Girl On Fire, I
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Knew You Were Trouble, Stay, The A Team, Try and When I Was Your Man.
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SUB-GENRE COMPOSITIONAL BREAKDOWN
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The most popular form across the board was A-B-A-B-C-B, or a slight variation of.
The average length of a top 10 hit Pop song in Q1 was 3:50. All of the sub-genre categories were close to the average except for R&B/Soul (i.e. Suit & Tie), which clocked in at 5:28.
The average length of an intro in Q1 was 0:11. Both the Dance and R&B/Soul categories came in under the average (at 0:07 and 0:04, respectively), while the 1 Hip Hop/Rap song (Thrift Shop) tripled the average at 0:33. The average for songs in the Fusion/Other category was 0:12, just 0:01 shorter than the Q1 average. Additionally, the vast majority of all songs in all categories contained an intro within their framework.
The average length of an outro in Q1 was 0:22. The Dance, Fusion/Other and Rock categories all hovered around this number, with the exceptions being Hip Hop/Rap (0:06) and R&B/Soul (0:38). Additionally, the vast majority of songs in Q1 DID NOT contain an outro within their framework (which is reflected in the Dance and Fusion/Other categories), but it was the case for each song in the Hip Hop/Rap, R&B/Soul and Rock categories (remember though that there was only 1 song in each).
The average amount time that it took for the first chorus to hit in Q1 was 0:40 / 18% of the way into the song. Songs within the Dance, Hip Hop/Rap and Fusion/Other categories averaged right round this number. The one Rock song (It’s Time) occurred slightly later (0:55/23%), while the one R&B/Soul song (Suit & Tie) kicked off with the chorus after a short intro.
The percentage of songs that kicked off with the chorus as opposed to the verse in Q1 was 22%. The Dance, Fusion/Other and Rock categories all fell below this number (at 17%, 14% and 0% of songs, respectively), while the Hip Hop/Rap and R&B/Soul categories had both their songs kicking off with the chorus.
The majority (52%) of songs in Q1 featured primarily electric based instrumentation. This was the case within the Dance and Fusion/Other categories, but not Hip Hop/Rap, R&B/Soul and Rock, all of which primarily featured a mix of electric and acoustic based instrumentation.
The vast majority (61%) of songs in Q1 featured a mix of primary instrumentation (e.g. synth + guitar). This was the case in every sub-genre category except for Dance, which was primarily dominated by the synth, which is no surprise.
The majority (52%) of songs in Q1 featured a male lead vocal. This was the case with each of the sub-genre categories except for Dance, which was led by duets.
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Only about half of all the songs in Q1 contained a pre-chorus within their framework. The majority of the Fusion/Other songs plus the 1 Rock song did, while the majority of Dance songs plus the Hip Hop/Rap and R&B/Soul songs did not.
Only 1 song in Q1 contained a “proper” solo within its framework – The A Team (Fusion/Other).
A minority of songs within the Fusion/Other and Dance categories contained an instrumental/vocal break, while none of the songs within the Hip Hop/Rap, R&B/Soul and Rock categories utilized one.
The majority (74%) of all songs contained a bridge within their framework during Q1. This was the case with all sub-genre categories, though the percentage was lower in the Fusion/Other category at 64% of songs.
The vast majority (57%) of songs in Q1 possessed a love/relationship lyrical theme. This was indicative of the Fusion/Other category as well as Dance (in addition to inspiration), but NOT the Hip Hop/Rap, R&B/Soul and Rock categories.
TOTAL SECTION ANALYSIS
Shows the average percentage of time allocated to each section within a song (i.e. all verses, all choruses, etc…)
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Q1 Top 10 Hit Pop Song Average / Sub-Genre Category Comparison
Intro (Comprises 5% of a song on average)
Dance: -2%
Hip Hop/Rap: +9%
R&B/Soul: -4%
Rock: +2%
Fusion/Other: +1%
All of the categories are quite close to the average except for Hip Hop Rap, which allocated 9% more time to the intro, and R&B/Soul, which allocated 4% less.
Verse (Comprises 26% of a song on average)
Dance: -1%
Hip Hop/Rap: +24%
R&B/Soul: -3%
Rock: +4%
Fusion/Other: -1%
The one category that didn’t even come close to the average was Hip Hop/Rap, which allocated 24% more time to the verse than the average top 10 Pop song.
Pre-Chorus (Comprises 15% of a song on average)
Dance: -2%
Hip Hop/Rap: n/a
R&B/Soul: n/a
Rock: +1%
Fusion/Other: +1%
All of the sub-genre categories were very close to the average. Note that the 1 Hip Hop/Rap and R&B/Soul song did not contain a pre-chorus within their framework.
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Chorus (Comprises 43% of a song on average)
Dance: +2%
Hip Hop/Rap: -22%
R&B/Soul: +4%
Rock: -20%
Fusion/Other: +2%
All of the categories were quite close to the average except for Hip Hop/Rap and Rock (allocating 22% and 20% less time to the chorus, respectively). Notice that the songs in both of these categories allocated more time to the verse, and in the case of It’s Time (Rock), the pre- chorus.
Bridge (Comprises 11% of a song on average)
Dance: 0%
Hip Hop/Rap: -3%
R&B/Soul: +6%
Rock: -3%
Fusion/Other: 0%
All of the categories were fairly close to the average except for R&B/Soul (i.e. Suit & Tie) which allocated 6% more time to the bridge.
Break/Solo (Comprises 12% of a song on average)
Dance: +1%
Hip Hop/Rap: -8%
R&B/Soul: n/a
Rock: -5%
Fusion/Other: +2%
With the exception of Rock and Hip Hop/Rap (both of which allocated 5% and 8% less time to the Break/Solo than the average), the other categories were very close. Note that the one
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R&B/Soul song (Suit & Tie) did not contain an instrumental break or a solo.
Outro (Comprises 9% of a song on average)
Dance: -2%
Hip Hop/Rap: -6%
R&B/Soul: +3%
Rock: 0%
Fusion/Other: +3%
All of the sub-genre categories were close to in line with the average except for Hip Hop/Rap (Thrift Shop), which allocated 6% less time to the outro.
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STATS AND FACTS
Dance Influenced Pop Hits: (6 Songs)
# Of Songs
There were 6 primarily Dance natured songs that landed in the top 10 during Q1, up from 4 during the previous quarter.
Form
All but 1 song followed an A-B-A-B-C-B form (verse-chorus-verse-chorus-bridge-chorus), either straight-up or with a slight variation:
Let Me Love You and Sweet Nothing are pure A-B-A-B-C-B.
Beauty & A Beat follows the form except for the instrumental breaks that follow the first and last chorus.
I Cry follows the form except for the fact that it first kicks off with a chorus (B-A-B-A-B- C-B).
Scream & Shout follows the form except for the instrumental/vocal breaks that follow the first and second choruses plus the additional third verse (A-B-IB/VB-A-A-B-IB/VB-C- B).
Sweet Nothing follows the form except for the instrumental breaks that directly follow
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the chorus sections and bridge (A-B-IB-A-B-IB-C-IB-B)
Song Length
The average length of a Dance influenced Pop song was 3:52, up just 0:01 from Q4 (and the same as Q3 as well). Note that all of the songs landed in the mid 3:00 range except for Let Me Love You and Scream & Shout, both of which landed over 4:00.
Intros
All of the Dance influenced songs contained an intro within their framework, averaging at 0:07 in length (down from 0:11 during the previous quarter). They ranged from the exceptionally short (the 0:01 swell that ushers in Sweet Nothing) to the moderate (Beauty & A Beat and Scream & Shout, both of which have their intros landing at 0:14). Besides those 2 aforementioned songs, the rest landed at 0:07 or less.
On average, Dance intros accounted for 3% of a song’s total composition, which is down from 5% during the previous quarter. Beauty & A Beat allocated the most amount of time to the intro (6%), while Sweet Nothing allocated the least (1%).
Verses
All but 1 song contained 2 verse sections within their framework. The exception was Scream & Shout, which contains 3 (note that verse-2 and verse-3 are back-to-back).
All of the songs contained verse sections that landed around 0:30 except:
Beauty & A Beat: Both verses are 0:15 in length.
Let Me Love You: 0:31 / 0:23
On average, Dance verses accounted for 25% of a song’s total composition (up from 22% during the previous quarter). Scream & Shout allocated the most amount of time to the verse (31% – due to there being 3 verse sections), while Beauty & A Beat allocated the least (13% – due to their very short nature).
Pre-Choruses
During Q1, only 2 out of 6 Dance songs contained a pre-chorus within their framework (Beauty & A Beat and Don’t You Worry Child). Beauty’s were the same length as the verse, while Child’s were half the length.
On average, Dance pre-choruses accounted for 13% of a song’s total composition (which is the same as the previous quarter).
Choruses
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The average amount of time that it took for the first chorus to hit in Dance influenced Pop songs was 0:34/15% of the way into the song (which is exactly the same as it was during the previous quarter).
The longest amount of time that it took for the first chorus to hit occurred in Don’t You Worry Child (0:50 / 24% of the way in), while the shortest was I Cry (the song kicked off with the chorus after a 0:03 intro).
On average, choruses accounted for 45% of a song’s total composition (down from 53% during the previous quarter). Let Me Love You allocated the most (67%) while Sweet Nothing allocated the least (29%).
Note that all of the songs in the category contained 3 chorus sections except for I Cry, which contains 4 (remember – the song kicks off with the chorus) and Sweet Nothing, which contains 2.
Bridges
All of the Dance songs contained a bridge in their framework except for Don’t You Worry Child.
On average, the bridge accounted for 11% of a song’s total composition (which was almost the same as the previous quarter @ 10%). I Cry allocated the most amount of time (14%) while Let Me Love You allocated the least (6%).
Outros
Only 2 out of 6 Dance songs contained an outro within their framework (Scream & Shout and Sweet Nothing), both of which landed at 0:18 and 0:17 respectively. The other songs ended on the chorus with the exception being Beauty & A Beat, which ends on an instrumental break.
On average, outros accounted for 7% of a Dance song’s total composition.
Solos & Instrumental/Vocal Breaks
Not surprisingly, none of the Dance natured Pop songs contained a solo within their framework (i.e. a “proper” guitar solo, keyboard solo, etc…). 4 out of 6 however did contain prominent instrumental and or vocal breaks within the mix. This was up from just 1 during the previous quarter.
Note that all IB/VB’s directly followed a chorus except for Sweet Nothing, which also had one following the bridge as well.
On average, instrumental/vocal breaks accounted for 13% of a song’s total composition. Sweet Nothing allocated the most amount of time (22%) while Scream & Shout allocated the least (10%).
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Tempo
The average tempo of a Dance song was 128 bpm, which comes as no surprise. Scream & Shout was the fastest at 130, while I Cry was the slowest at 126.
Instrumentation
As you would expect, all of the Dance songs were primarily synth driven. The one exception was Beauty & A Beat, which also features a prominent electric bass in the mix.
Lead Vocal Gender
During Q1, the majority (50%) of all Dance songs featured a duet (which is a first). Songs featuring a male lead vocal followed at 33%, while Sweet Nothing was the only song to feature a female lead vocal. Additionally, note that NONE of the Dance songs during the preceding quarter (Q4) featured a female lead.
Lyrical Themes
All but 2 songs possessed a love/relationship lyrical theme, either as a standalone or utilized in conjunction with another theme:
Sweet Nothing: Love/Relationships
Beauty & A Beat: Love/Relationships fused with Partying/Clubbing
Don’t You Worry Child: Love/Relationships fused with an Inspirational message
Let Me Love You: Love/Relationships fused with an Inspirational message
Notice that the songs that contain more than one lyrical theme have both themes represented in the title:
Beauty (pertains to love/relationships), Beat (refers to a club – partying/clubbing)
Don’t You Worry (the inspirational message), Child (refers to the relationship)
Let Me Love You (pertains to love/relationships), Until You Learn To Love Yourself (inspirational)
The 2 non-love/relationship themed songs of Q1 were:
I Cry: Inspirational
Scream & Shout: Partying/Clubbing (though there is a relationship component in the bridge)
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Sub-Sub Genre
Notice that Beauty & A Beat and I Cry both also feature a Hip Hop/Rap element within the mix (i.e. Flo Rida’s verses in I Cry and Minaj’s contribution to Beauty & A Beat). The reason why they’re both in the Dance category and not the Fusion category is because they’re both predominantly Dance in nature.
Hip Hop/Rap: (1 Song)
Reference the compositional breakdown chart above for specifics regarding Thrift Shop.
R&B/Soul: (1 Song)
Reference the compositional breakdown chart above for specifics regarding the retro influenced R&B/Soul song Suit & Tie. Additionally, note that it also possesses a Hip Hop/Rap influence via Jay-Z contribution to the song.
Rock Influenced Pop Hits: (1 Song)
Reference the compositional breakdown chart above for specifics regarding It’s Time.
“Fusion & Other” Influenced Pop Hits: (14 Songs)
# Of Songs
There were 14 songs that landed in the Fusion/Other category during Q1, down from 16 during Q4.
Form
The vast majority of songs (50%) featured a straight-up A-B-A-B-C-B form (verse-chorus- verse-chorus-bridge-chorus). Note that this was up significantly from the previous quarter (31%):
C’Mon
Daylight
I Knew You Were Trouble
Locked Out Of Heaven
One More Night
Stay
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When I Was Your Man
The songs that DIDN’T follow a straight-up A-B-A-B-C-B form were:
Diamonds (B-A-B-A-B-B)
Die Young (B-IB-A-B-IB-A-IB-B)
Girl On Fire (A-A-B-A-B-C-A-B-A)
Ho Hey (A-Interlude-A-B-Interlude-A-B-C-B-Interlude/Outro)
Home (A-A-B-A-B)
The A Team (A-B-A-B-Solo-B)
Song Length
The average length of a song in the Fusion/Other category was 3:42, up just 0:02 from the previous quarter. Ho Hey was by far the shortest (landing at just 2:36), and Girl On Fire was the longest at 4:28.
Intros
All of the songs except for 3 contained an intro within their framework. The exceptions were Daylight, Diamonds and Girl On Fire.
Interestingly, both Daylight and Girl On Fire immediately kicked off with the verse (which is a rarity), while Diamonds kicked off with the chorus.
The average length of an intro was 0:12 (which was the same as the previous quarter). Try possesses the longest intro of the bunch (0:22), while I Knew You Were Trouble contains the shortest (0:03).
On average, intros accounted for 6% of a song’s total composition (again, the same as the previous quarter). Ho Hey allocated the most amount of time relative to the song’s total length (10%), while I Knew You Were Trouble allocated the least (1%).
Verses
All of the songs in the category contained at least 2 verse sections within their framework. Three songs contained 3 verses (Ho Hey, Home and Try), and one song contained 5 (Girl On Fire).
Note that both Ho Hey and Home contain a double first verse, while Try has its third verse directly following the second chorus (normally where a bridge would go).
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Girl On Fire kicks off with a double first verse as well (Minaj has the first, Keys the second), and then has one following the first chorus and the bridge. The song then ends on a partial verse (which is a rarity).
All of the songs in the category had uniform (or close to uniform) verse lengths throughout the song, except:
Ho Hey: 0:15 / 0:15 / 0:21
Stay: 0:34 / 0:17
Try: 0:18 / 0:18 / 0:24
On average, verses accounted for 25% of a song’s total composition (up from 21% during the previous quarter). Home by far allocated the most amount of time (46%), while Daylight and Die Young allocated the least (14%)
Pre-Choruses
64% of all songs contained a pre-chorus within their framework, down from 81% during the previous quarter. Those that didn’t transitioned directly from the verse into the chorus.
On average, pre-choruses accounted for 16% of a song’s total composition (up just 1% from the previous quarter). One More Night allocated the most amount of time by far (28%), while I Knew You Were Trouble and Locked Out Of Heaven allocated the least (11%).
Note, however, that Locked Out Of Heaven contains 2 back-to-back pre-choruses, which is quite rare (reference the Locked Out Of Heaven Deconstructed report for details).
Choruses
Chorus Occurrences:
The vast majority of songs contained 3 chorus occurrences within their framework. The exceptions were:
2 Choruses: Home
4 Choruses: Diamonds and I Knew You Were Trouble. Note that Diamonds has an additional chorus at the very beginning of the song, while I Knew you Were Trouble has an additional “chorus combo” section that functions more in the way of an outro that directly follows the third chorus (refer to the I Knew You Were Trouble Deconstructed report for specifics).
Chorus Length Uniformity
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A little less than half of all songs have choruses of equal (or near equal) length. The others vary as follows:
Daylight: 0:32 / 0:32 / 1:04
Diamonds: 0:10 / 0:42 / 0:42 / 0:52
Die Young: 0:30 / 0:30 / 0:45
I Knew You Were Trouble: 0:38 / 0:38 / 0:38 / 0:13
One More Night: 0:21 / 0:21 / 0:44
Stay: 0:26 / 0:26 / 0:34
The A Team: 0:57 / 1:02 / 1:13
Try: 0:25 / 0:25 / 0:43
Notice that all songs except for I Knew You Were Trouble have their final chorus as being the longest (though notice that Trouble has 2 final back-to back choruses, which combined comprise the longest chorus section within the song).
In regard to the songs that kick off with the chorus as opposed to the verse, note that there were only 2 in Q1 (Diamonds and Die Young) compared to 5 during the previous quarter. Additionally, note that neither of those songs was new to the top 10 in Q1 (i.e. they charted in the top 10 during Q4 as well).
The average amount of time that it took for the first chorus to hit in fusion/other influenced Pop songs was 0:45 / 21% of the way in, up slightly from 0:38 / 18% during the previous quarter.
The longest amount of time that it took for the first chorus to hit occurred in Home (1:17 / 37% of the way into the song). This was due to the double first verse coupled with the intro which pushed back the first chorus occurrence. The shortest amount of time occurred in Diamonds, considering that the song immediately kicks off with the chorus.
On average, choruses accounted for 45% of a song’s total composition (up from 43% during the previous quarter). The A Team allocated by far the most amount of time (a whopping 74%) while Ho Hey allocated the least (21%).
Bridges
64% of the songs in the category contained a bridge within their framework, which was down from 75% during the previous quarter. All were preceded and followed by a chorus except for Girl On Fire, which is followed by a verse.
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The songs that didn’t contain a bridge did the following:
Die Young: Incorporated a variation on the Chorus (vocal + drums) to provide a departure.
Diamonds: Instead of a bridge, the song went into a breakdown play on the chorus to provide diversity before going back into the full chorus.
Home: The song just sticks to the A-A-B-A-B form. No real diversity is provided beyond the verse and chorus.
The A Team: Utilized a guitar solo in place of the bridge.
Try: Sticks to an A-B-A-B-A-B form.
On average, bridges accounted for 11% of a song’s total composition, up from 9% during the previous quarter. C’Mon allocated the most (18% of the total song), while I Knew You Were Trouble allocated the least (6% ).
Outros
Only 29% of all Fusion/Other songs contained an outro within their framework (Girl On Fire, Locked Out Of Heaven, Stay and Try).
Girl On Fire allocated the most amount of time to the outro (16% of the total song), while Stay allocated the least (just 4%). The average was 10%.
Tempo
Tempos within the Fusion/Other category were a bit all over the place, with the average landing at 115 bpm (up from 110 during the previous quarter). The slowest tempo defined the piano ballad When I Was Your Man (76 bpm) and the fastest defined The A Team (168 bpm). Note, however, that even though The A Team has the fastest tempo, it certainly doesn’t feel like it due to the manner in which the song is performed.
Solos & Instrumental/Vocal Breaks
Only 1 song contained a “proper” guitar solo in its framework (The A Team), while 4 contained prominent instrumental or instrumental/vocal breaks within the mix (Die Young, Ho Hey, Locked Out Of Heaven and Try). Note that this was down from 6 during the previous quarter.
On average, Instrumental/Vocal breaks accounted for 14% of a song’s total composition. Ho Hey allocated the most (20% of the song), while Locked Out Of Heaven allocated the least (6%).
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Instrumentation
The majority of songs (42%) featured primarily electric based instrumentation within the mix. Songs that featured primarily acoustic based instrumentation or a combo of electric and acoustic were evenly split at 29% each.
Instrumentation breakdown
Of the 14 songs in the category, the vast majority (71%) featured a synth to some degree within the mix. This was followed by an equal split of songs that featured a piano, electric or acoustic guitar (each showing up in a little over one-third of all songs).
Note that the “other” category was comprised of mandolin (Ho Hey) and strings (The A Team).
Overall, most songs featured a combination of primary instrumentation within the mix, with the most popular being synth + guitar:
Synth + Electric Guitar: Daylight, Locked Out Of Heaven, One More Night
Synth + Acoustic Guitar: Die Young, I Knew You Were Trouble
Other Combinations:
Synth + Piano: Girl On Fire
Acoustic Guitar + Mandolin: Ho Hey
Acoustic Guitar + Electric Guitar + Piano + Strings: The A Team
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Electric Guitar + Synth + Piano: Try
Additionally, there were a handful of songs that were primarily dominated by 1 specific instrument:
Synth: C’Mon, Diamonds
Piano: Stay, When I Was Your Man (both of which are Ballads)
Acoustic Guitar: Home
Lead Vocal Gender
The majority of song in Q1 (50%) featured a male lead vocalist which was down from 56% during the previous quarter. Women followed at 43% (up from 38% in Q4), and once again there was only 1 duet (Stay).
For the most part, women were featured on songs that possess a straight-up Pop, Dance, R&B or Ballad nature (C’Mon, Die Young, Girl On Fire, Diamonds). Pink once again stood out from the pack possessing the hardest edge (specifically the chorus in Try), while Taylor Swift broke from the norm with her fusion of Straight-Up Pop and Dubstep (I Knew You Were Trouble).
On the other hand, songs featuring a male lead vocal really spanned the gamete as follows:
Daylight: Straight-Up Pop/Rock, Ballad
Ho Hey: Folk/Indie
Home: Folk, Pop/Rock
Locked Out Of Heaven: Pop/Rock, Electro, New Wave, Funk
One More Night: Straight-Up Pop, Reggae
The A Team: Singer/Songwriter, Folk, Ballad
When I Was Your Man: Straight-Up Pop, R&B/Soul, Ballad
Lyrical Themes
The vast majority of songs (71%) featured a Love/Relationship lyrical theme, up from 69% during the previous quarter. It was the primary theme in 7 songs, and featured in conjunction with other themes in 3:
Love/Relationships + Inspiration: Home and Try
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Love/Relationships + Hooking Up: Locked Out Of Heaven
Additional themes in the fusion/other category included:
Hooking Up: C’Mon
Inspirational/Living It Up: Die Young
Inspirational: Girl On Fire
*Other: The A Team
Notice that the one lyrical theme that wasn’t present in the Fusion/Other category was straight-up Partying/Clubbing.
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SUB-GENRE COMMONALITIES
No matter what sub-genre influenced songs you’re looking at, the majority of them possessed similar qualities that are indicative of today’s Hit Pop Songwriting:
Most songs followed an A-B-A-B-C-B form, or a slight variation of
Most songs landed in the mid to upper 3:00 range
Most songs contained an intro within their framework with the average length hovering right around 0:11
Most songs did not contain an outro. Those that did averaged around 0:22 in length
First choruses occurred on average in the mid 0:30 to mid 0:40 range
Most songs did not kick off with the chorus
Most songs utilized primarily electric based instrumentation
Most songs featured a combination of primary instrumentation within the mix Most songs did not contain an instrumental break or a solo.
Most songs were sung by a male lead vocalist
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Most songs contained a bridge
Most songs possessed a love/relationship lyrical theme
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