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History of Popular Culture—Week 6, Assignment 2

Since 2000, there have been two major developments in American music: the so-called “bubblegum pop” genre and garage rock bands. Bubblegum pop is a genre of popular music that usually includes catchy melodies, simple musical progressions and harmonies and repeated hooks or riffs. It is popular among preteen and young teenagers, and often features less-than-meaningful lyrics. Garage band rock is characterized by its raw, unfinished sound.

But more has changed in the technology of music than in music itself since 1999. MTV is no longer the only music-centric television or cable channel available. Apple Computer’s iTunes Online Music Store sells millions of songs each year, eliminating the need to buy whole albums by a single artist. Music production is almost strictly digital now, replacing tapes with hard drives and mixers with computers in most recording studios.

• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_trends_in_music_%282000-present%29
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Music_history_of_the_United_States_%281980s_to_the_present%29
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bubblegum_pop
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Garage_rock