Can popular music ever really be unplugged?

Most popular music nowadays is ‘plugged’ from Rock, Hip Hop to Grime and Pop music. Technology contributes to the popularity of most music genre’s today e.g. Rock music wouldn’t be the same with out the electric guitar or artists wouldn’t be able to make beats with out the use of a computer. The reason why popular music is popular today is because it has a certain sound which people like and this is mostly done using technology. If popular music was unplugged then there would be no album recordings and music would have to be played live. Some music can sound good unplugged e.g. Plan B, a well-known British Hip Hop artist is famous for rapping over an acoustic guitar which does not require any electricity or technology. Overall popular music can never really be unplugged because the sound of the music will change and this might cause it to become ‘unpopular.’

What is Popular Music!

One definition of popular music is ‘ any genre of music having a wide appeal (but usually only for a short time).  Music that is listened to buy a wide audience can be seen as popular because everyone knows about it or at least familiar with the song or genre even if they don’t like it. This may apply to Commercial music. The reason why commercial music may be popular is because it is widely advertised and distributed, the music is pushed in your face. You hear it on the radio; see it on the music channels and it is easy to get hold of. An example of this is ‘pop’ music.  In the 16^th century popular meant low or base, vulgar of the common people.  Pop music is popular with mostly working class people but not everyone enjoys it. It is popular because it has been commercialised. It could be argued that popular music is commercial music.