According to rateyourmusic.com, the genre of ‘electropop’ consists of “Dense, layered, and compressed production, usually coupled with a distinct fuzzy and "warm" low-frequency synthesizer style".
Various articles state that the song is a mix of various genres: Pop, Electropop, Dance/electronic, R&B, EDM.
I narrowed down the list of genre’s, after heavy research on the possible genre’s and decided between pop and electropop, as the song does fit into the pop genre, but more or less at the end of its spectrum.
Codes and conventions of pop music videos:
1. Performance
Performance within music videos is when the artist is mostly performing their song, throughout the whole video. Typically, solely performance-related music videos tend to bore the audience, and therefore, artists have to incorporate various different changes, such as set, lighting, costumes, etc. In order to make the video captivating-enough to watch for the full time.
Beyoncé’s ‘Love on Top’ music video
Foster the People's 'Pumped Up Kicks'
2. Narrative
Narrative music videos typically follow a storyline, which is either linear or fragmented; this keeps the audience captivated and intrigued. Linear storylines are the most common ones, with a clear structure, from beginning, middle to end.
Katy Perry ‘The One That Got Away’
3. Lighting
Lighting often accentuates a music video, through typically either neon lighting or natural lighting, in order to make the music video seem more surreal or of an ‘alternate reality’.
For example, in Khalid’s ‘Talk’ music video, the lighting is very bright and colourful, which fits in with the vibrancy of the song, and adds to the authenticity of the whole song.
Khalid’s ‘Talk’ music video
4. Costumes/outfits
Music videos have tend to have various costumes/outfits, usually to follow with the narrative or to promote a particular brand, which will then influence fans to then wear the clothes. Some artists use exaggerating costumes, such as Lady Gaga, who uses very bright, neon clothing, in order to portray their Star Image.
Music Videos where branding is prominent:
BLACKPINK “Kill This Love”
Promotion of Samsung phones (as they are brand ambassadors)
Origins of Electropop
Electropop's origins began in the 1970s, with artists such as Jean-Micheal Jarre, from Germany, and Yellow Magic Orchestra hailing from Japan, composing and performing pop and dance music with electronic instruments. Later in the early 1980s, their music influenced new upcoming artists, such as Gary Numan, and Soft Cell.
The music was initially classed as synth-pop, but was thereafter dubbed electro pop, due to the use of electronic instrumentation (synthesisers and syndromes).
British band Human League was one of the first electro pop group's to get to the top of the charts in the 1980s, with their single, "Don't You Want Me". This was the major breakthrough for electropop songs, especially into the mainstream.
Electropop was within the mainstream for a short period, due to Madonna's 'Like a Virgin-era' recordings. But its success was short-lived, as EDM (Electronic Dance Music) took over the mainstream by the early 90s.
However, it's revival was thanks to the subgenre's of dance music, such as 'electro house' and 'electroclash', which gave way to the second wave of electro pop artists, such as Britney Spears, whose album, 'Blackout' (2007), had strong electro pop sounds. Shortly afterwards, Lady Gaga's debuted, with her 2008 album, 'The Fame', with full electro pop sounds throughout the whole album (notable mentions: 'Poker Face' and 'Lovegame'). K-pop groups, such as Girls' Generations and SHINee, carried the genre forward.
In these last few years, artists, such as Calvin Harris, Dua Lipa, and Billie Eilish are bringing in more electro pop sounds into the mainstream.
Some of the electro pop songs:
Lady Gaga's 'Poker Face' (2007)
Calvin Harris ft. Dua Lipa 'One Kiss' (2018)
Billie Eilish's 'you should see me in a crown' (2019)
Characteristics of the Electropop genre
1. Influences- Electropop draws upon many musical influences. Pop and electronic music are the main influences, but R&B and 'pop-friendly hip-hop' music is also a part to its diverse array of influences.
2. Instruments- synthesisers and drum machines dominate electropop sounds, as it was previously named as synth-pop.
3. Sound- Electropop has a warmth and edge to its production and recording, which differentiates from synth-pop's polished and spare sound. Electropop sounds also have an uplifting quality drawn from their pop roots, which is usually missing in downtempo synth-pop.
Electropop varies in sound, for example, the contrast between Calvin Harris' (notable electropop artist), and Lady Gaga, shows how the electropop genre has really transformed throughout the years.
Many people tend to find new artists/songs of the electropop genre on playlists online or published sources of 'best new electropop songs'. Similarly, nowadays, a lot of people find new songs/artists on Spotify, through daily updated playlists.
Typically, as many notable electropop artists are already in the mainstream, their music tends to play on central radio stations, such as Billie Eilish and Lady Gaga's 'The Fame' (2007) album, Calvin Harris and some of Dua Lipa's newest songs.
Singapore's top radio station(s), 987 FM, Class 95 FM, stream pop, rock, the top 40, 90s, 80s, and 70s music, from all over the world.
The 'real' fashion of the Electropop genre first started out after the successful, hit release of Lady Gaga's 'The Fame' (2007) debut, with her bright colours and very edgy outfits.
Lady Gaga's 'Just Dance' (2007) - This video demonstrates the typical fashion of the electropop genre at the time.
Lifestyle
In terms of what's portrayed in electropop music videos, the genre is all about "synthesising one's life and affections, leaving them aside and trying to see them from an external point of view". However, many different ideas are portrayed, depending on the artist. For example, Lady Gaga's electropop sounds are arguably more about partying (as seen in 'Just Dance', to essentially 'dance' away all worries and problems, "just dance, it'll be okay"), and can somewhat be political to an extent.
Other more recent electropop songs have similar ideas, with partying and just leaving away the problems, and instead cherish and celebrate the moment:
Kungs vs. Cooking on 3 Burners' 'This Girl' (2016)
Calvin Harris with Rihanna's 'This Is What You Came For' (2017)
Edward Maya and Vika Jigulina's 'Stereo Love' (2010)
Calvin Harris with Dua Lipa's 'One Kiss' (2018)
Jonas Blue's 'Mama' (2017)
Communities
There are various communities of any music genre's online. One in particular is Reddit, where fans of the electropop genre, from all over, can actually join a community of subreddit, called Electropop and can access it using /r/Electropop/ on Reddit itself. The community on the subreddit frequently posts Spotify playlists or discussions about certain songs within the genre.
Clubs and Gigs
For clubs and gigs; typically many clubs worldwide will transition between many different genre's, but it's more between dance/edm, electropop, pop, and hip-hop.
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