Pop/Rock

Pop/rock is a broad genre label used to describe rock music that leans into catchy melodies, polished production, and professional songwriting craft rather than raw energy or rebellion (Pop rock, n.d.). It sits at the intersection of two closely related genres: rock, which formed in the United States as rock and roll in the late 1940s and early 1950s from a mix of blues, country, rhythm and blues, and jazz (Rock music, n.d.), and pop, which came from traditional pop and rock and roll in the mid-1940s (Pop music, n.d.). You can think of pop and rock as two overlapping circles in a Venn diagram. Pop/rock lives in the middle, where they overlap.

The genre truly took shape starting in the late 1950s as an alternative to standard rock and roll, borrowing the beat and arrangements of early rock while smoothing out the edges (Pop rock, n.d.). AllMusic describes this shift happening fully around the start of the 1970s, once the first generation of rock and roll fans grew into adults and wanted music that still had rock instrumentation and a solid backbeat, but was polished enough to appeal broadly (AllMusic, n.d.-c). Picture it like a rock and roll song that put on a suit and tie. Same energy underneath, but cleaner and more presentable.

Pop/rock's defining trait is its focus on melody. Songs are built to be big, catchy, and memorable, whether the track is an upbeat rocker or a slow ballad, and the production itself became a craft in its own right, using studio technology to keep everything sounding clean and bright (AllMusic, n.d.-c). This commercial appeal made stars out of artists like Elton John, Fleetwood Mac, and later Billy Joel and Bruce Springsteen (AllMusic, n.d.-c). Because it is essentially a fusion of two other genres, pop/rock has never had one fixed sound. It has splintered into countless subgenres over the decades, from power pop and jangle pop to pop punk and Britpop (Pop rock, n.d.).

Sources:

AllMusic. (n.d.-c). Contemporary pop/rock music genre overview. https://www.allmusic.com/genre/contemporary-pop-rock-ma0000004443
Pop music. (n.d.). In Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pop_music
Pop rock. (n.d.). In Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pop_rock
Rock music. (n.d.). In Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rock_music