Poptimists Review of 2006: Genre Of The Year

[freakytigger.livejournal.com]

What was the sound of 2006? That's what we're asking in the second of our end of year polls, discussing the genre of the year. Contenders - drawn from your nominations - include...

Teenpop: Teen confessional and pop narrative (a la High School Musical) drove the genre on in '06 - more teen than ever.
R&B: From Bouncy's hi-gloss dramas through Ciara and Justin's takes on the Prince legacy to Cassie's minimal precision.
Electro: Still the sound of the clubs in 06 (like I'd know) and with big high street traction too.
Emo: The comment box's friend and the parent's foe - whatever it is, it's selling.
Nu Rave: A shot in the arm for indie or a lame NME concoction? 2006's most enigmatic genre.

(A special note: I didn't put "POP" in cos it's all pop, innit. I went for Teenpop as a more specific option, and one picked by as many people.)

[Poll #891678]

You can still vote in yesterday's poll - and still nominate in the remaining 8 categories. Final results collated in the new year!

Tomorrow I'm at home, with YouTube access, which means it's a good day to do the Video Of the Year poll.

Comments

[blue-russian.livejournal.com]

I think it has to be emo.

Although HSM was certainly a sensation, I personally had very little sense of this being an unusually big year in teen pop. The same goes for R&B, although I have to admit that I generally don't listen to R&B BECAUSE IT SAYS NOTHING TO ME ABOUT MY LIFE (although our of a sense of obligation I try to check out whatever Lex says I should).

[alexmacpherson.livejournal.com]

and emo does?!

if emo ever spoke to me about my life I would have to take immediate steps to CHANGE MY LIFE.

[freakytigger.livejournal.com]

If I was nominating on this criteria I would be picking lullabies!

[blue-russian.livejournal.com]

No, emo doesn't either. But if we're casting about to describe 2006 as "the year of" I hardly see R&B as a viable candidate.

[jauntyalan.livejournal.com]

have i been away and missed ANY impact that HSM has had in the UK. it's massive in the US – or so i gather from Popstar! magazine

[freakytigger.livejournal.com]

It's pretty massive in the UK too, but confined to its demographic, none of whom are actually on Poptimists. The album is never out of the Woolworths top 10.

[jauntyalan.livejournal.com]

rly! ISTR there was one single in the charts a while back, but it wasn't so big was it? any more?

[carsmilesteve.livejournal.com]

it is on bbc over xmo so you can watch it and Report Back.

[skyecaptain.livejournal.com]

HSM was sold almost exclusively to Disney kids, and its impact was felt there the most. To the extent that Disney has monopolized a major teenpop demographic (6-14), it was a huge deal. But I'm almost certain not a single song has gotten any significant airplay (or ANY airplay, for that matter) on any station outside of Radio Disney.

[justfanoe.livejournal.com]

I recall that when HSM songs stormed the charts and broke all the records (like Hannah Montana did later, but HSM was even more so) Fred Bronson (who I love) wrote how they did it with literally 0 airplay points. Apparently Radio Diz doesn't count towards the Billboard Charts, maybe because it's AM. And "Breakin' Free" went all the way up to number 4, if I recall! Anyways, regardless of who it was sold to being the number 2 best selling album of the year is rather impressive. And it was the best selling 2006 release in 2006 (as the number one album of the year was the Carrie Underwood album). I think this (the movie, not the songs per se) has more mainstream cachet in the USA than you give it credit for.