The ‘I Heart Radio Festival’, billed as ‘the biggest live music event in radio history’, aims to celebrate pop music with an impressive line-up, loaded with some of the biggest stars in the business: Lady Gaga, Coldplay, Nicki Minaj, the Black Eyed Peas, Alicia Keys, Carrie Underwood and Steven Tyler, to name just a few. However, it’s not just the West that appreciates pop music, as we, in Pakistan, have also had a long-standing tradition of the genre.
With maestros like Alamgir and then Nazia Hassan ruling the industry, pop music has always played an important role in defining the country’s music. Through the works of current pop music stalwarts like Atif Aslam, Ali Zafar, etcetera, Pakistan’s music industry is a notch above its Indian counterpart, which is essentially Bollywood-centric.
So what exactly is pop music and how has it influenced the music industry in Pakistan?
“As the name suggests, popular music is the music that appeals to the masses during a certain time period,” states Haroon Rashid, lead vocalist of former pop band Awaz.
Rashid, who has been following the global music scene closely, explains that pop music is not necessarily genre-centric. For instance, in the famed British show “Top of the Pops”, even Led Zeppelin — essentially a rock band — had risen to popularity. Rashid adds that pop does not have to be pigeonholed by a theme, “I’ve written all types of songs on various themes but there are certain misconceptions about pop musicians,” states Rashid.
Although there might be a thin line between the two, Rashid, in an attempt to differentiate rock from pop music, says, “A rock singer has a natural inclination to different-sounding music and while rock music might not be that articulate, due to harsh sounds, pop music is clearer. Pop music can also use minor scales; hence it incorporates mellow tones, as well.”
Meanwhile, veteran singer and TV host Fakhre Alam explains that the popular music industry has grown into a diverse and talented market. “All types of genres are now available in pop music and it’s moving in the right direction in terms of talent,” says Alam. “Progressive and popular music have meshed with folk but the music industry remains influenced by western instruments such as the rhythm guitar.”
Alam also explains the influence Indian channels have on the success of certain pop bands and songs in Pakistan. He mentions that when Strings came out with an album in 1990s, it had mediocre sales in Pakistan as soon as Indian channels started airing the song, sales picked up in Pakistan.
Additionally, Bollywood also has a huge impact on the popularity of Pakistani singers with artists like Atif Aslam, Shafqat Amanat Ali and Rahat Fateh Ali Khan garnering international fame for tracks they sung for the Indian film industry.
The soundtracks for these films are innovative and make use of new technology, which, coupled with marketing challenges, make for an interesting, if not complex, framework for the future of pop music.
“The industry has changed a lot, even for a veteran like me everything is evolving so fast. Coming up with a new idea is not good enough as sometimes the trends change so quickly, that the idea becomes stale before it can be put into action,” says Alam.
The history of pop music
Pop music, which accounts for a majority of the music on today’s charts, is an eclectic mix of many different styles of music — from jazz to country; rock and roll to rap; be-bop to hip-hop. Pop artists such as Britney Spears, Justin Timberlake, Outkast, Madonna, Maxwell, and others routinely blur the lines of these musical genres with their award-winning tunes. These artists push the boundaries of what is considered ‘avant garde’, ‘cool’ and ‘hip’ and constantly re-invent the medium. For this reason, pop music has helped make the music industry a multi-billion dollar a year business, one whose influence is reflected highly in all forms of today’s media including film, video games, TV and the internet. Pop music is also a cultural force that resonates throughout the world, touching people and societies in ways governments or politics cannot.
Source: Alexandermagazine.com
Published in The Express Tribune, September 28th, 2011.
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