Summary
Adding to Netflix’s wide catalogue of docuseries, This Is Pop is a good effort to bring music fans a compiled history of how we got here.
Netflix’s This Is Pop season 1 was released on the streaming service on June 22, 2021.
Music is such a saturated space, but that there is plenty in our history that highlights trigger points — phenomenons that spurred on a generation; with the launch of music streaming services, opening up the floor for more artists, we now live in a world where you can create any niche playlist you want. We are spoilt, and there are regular rises of niches spread across all genres that eventually become mainstream.
Netflix’s This Is Pop explores different trends that we have witnessed. Of course, the title is heavily suggestible, so it’s not fooling audiences what to expect. Each chapter focuses on a different area of music.
The opening chapter titled, “The Boyz II Men Effect,” discusses the crossover harmonies of The Philly Sound and classic Motown; it recognises how this band spurred on a new wave of boy bands, and ultimately how they conflicted with mainstream and hip hop. Interestingly, the chapter piques interest when it delves into representation, and explores how the band struggled with the new era they helped create.
This Is Pop is not all nostalgic surprisingly. It does provide recent history. One of the chapters, “Auto-Tune,” nails down technology that has been widely mocked and criticized but benefitted the likes of Kanye West and Cher. I fondly remember when all artists were using it excessively, making me cringe on every corner of my face. But of course, Auto-Tune helped shape the charts, even in the present, despite the controversy.
From Sweden becoming a music superpower to the influence that festivals have had (i.e. Glastonbury), This Is Pop is satisfactory tour around different flavours of music, and the positives and pitfalls.
Adding to Netflix’s wide catalogue of docuseries, This Is Pop is a good effort to bring music fans a compiled history of how we got here.
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