Hit Pop Sub-Genre Influences: Q1-2013
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Hit Songs Deconstructed Deconstructing Today's Hits for Songwriting Success http://reports.hitsongsdeconstructed.com 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 1 / 28 Hit Songs Deconstructed Deconstructing Today's Hits for Songwriting Success http://reports.hitsongsdeconstructed.com verses fusing with a Dubstep chorus (I Knew You Were Trouble). 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 2 / 28 Hit Songs Deconstructed Deconstructing Today's Hits for Songwriting Success http://reports.hitsongsdeconstructed.com 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 3 / 28 Hit Songs Deconstructed Deconstructing Today's Hits for Songwriting Success http://reports.hitsongsdeconstructed.com 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 4 / 28 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 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 5 / 28 Hit Songs Deconstructed Deconstructing Today's Hits for Songwriting Success http://reports.hitsongsdeconstructed.com songs in Q4 down to just 14% in Q1, while Hip Hop/Rap saw its influence decline from 19% down to just 7% of songs. 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 6 / 28 Hit Songs Deconstructed Deconstructing Today's Hits for Songwriting Success http://reports.hitsongsdeconstructed.com 7 / 28 Hit Songs Deconstructed Deconstructing Today's Hits for Songwriting Success http://reports.hitsongsdeconstructed.com 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 Back to Top SUB-GENRE CHART PERFORMANCE (Peak Placement on the Billboard Pop Songs Chart as of Q1-2013) 8 / 28 Hit Songs Deconstructed Deconstructing Today's Hits for Songwriting Success http://reports.hitsongsdeconstructed.com 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 9 / 28 Hit Songs Deconstructed Deconstructing Today's Hits for Songwriting Success http://reports.hitsongsdeconstructed.com Knew You Were Trouble, Stay, The A Team, Try and When I Was Your Man. Back to Top SUB-GENRE COMPOSITIONAL BREAKDOWN 10 / 28 Hit Songs Deconstructed Deconstructing Today's Hits for Songwriting Success http://reports.hitsongsdeconstructed.com 11 / 28 Hit Songs Deconstructed Deconstructing Today's Hits for Songwriting Success http://reports.hitsongsdeconstructed.com The most popular form across the board was A-B-A-B-C-B, or a slight variation of.