What Makes It Pop?: an Analysis of Selected Pop Songs

As pop music analysis gains credibility within the field of musicology, there is a growing interest in that which makes a song popular. In this study, ten songs were selected from Billboard\u27s top 100 songs of the year for the five-year period from 1998-2002. The five #1 songs from each year and five lower-ranking songs were selected and analyzed using procedures developed by Randall G. Pembrook and Peter Mercer-Taylor. Comparative analysis was then applied to determine if similarities existed within the top songs, within the bottom songs, and between the two categories. Some extra-musical factors, such as an artist\u27s image and current events, were studied to determine how they shaped a song\u27s popularity. This study is designed primarily to investigate musical elements that aid in creating popular songs. The overall emphasis of this study is to analyze the pop of pop music. Most results and conclusions supported common elements among the top five songs. No broad statements, however, could be logically concluded to encompass all ten songs