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

Re: Boys on one side, girls on the other

[koganbot]

What you're saying actually fits in with my post above about the commercial decline of the teen confessional teenpoppers. Disney has skewed teenpop younger; its listenership is mostly female and tops off at 14; Avril and Ashlee get some of these kids, but their basic fanbase was a bit older and watching 'em on MTV (Ashlee's breakout was on the heels of an MTV reality show about the making of her first album; Cheyenne Kimball tried to repeat the trick this year with much less success). But the teen confessional fanbase (like the adult confessional fanbase) is still basically female. Emo lets the boys in; remember, the genre began with DC area straight-edge harDCore punks deciding to sound emotional rather than to play tough. (Rites Of Spring was the first band to be called emo, but I think you can take the genre back to Minor Threat's "In My Eyes" and "Out Of Step.") Emo gets the boys who won't allow themselves to like an Ashlee or a Lindsay (or a Tori or an Alanis). Which means emo speaks to a lot more musicians and bands. Most girls still don't get themselves into bands. I'm sure there are far more teen musicians trying to sound like My Chemical Romance than like Ashlee Simpson.