base talk Why does America love synthpop but not dance pop?

[barbiegrande]

I like the way you kiss me and We can't be friends fall into the synth pop category and are doing well in the US. Synth pop has kind of dominated in US since 2014 (Style, Love me Harder, etc) Why do you think that is?

[shookspeare]

obesity

[PoisonedIvy]

I mean, this is sort of a nuanced question but, dance pop is usually more of a liberating, free genre to accompany activities outside of work. It's usually the kind of music you celebrate with on your vacations and, as an American… most people don't get to take holidays as frequently as Europeans do. Synthpop is a little more enjoyable no matter the conditions of your life 

Edited April 15 by PoisonedIvy

[Raphy23]

Because Taylor made it mainstream and it stuck. And American loves Taylor Swift. 

[Archetype]

Americans have loved synths in music since the 80's.  It was always popular here, but it's also considered a "cool" sound and is more palatable compared to a lot of dance pop tracks, which might come across as overtly feminine or even slightly "gay" to the average American.  

Edited April 15 by Archetype

[Dante Silva]

America's cultural relationship with the Dance/ Pop genre evolved from its precursor (Disco) in the 1970's.
 

Both genres (Disco and Dance) are at their core the same genre, only back then drum machines and electronic production were in their infancy so orchestras were (mostly) used instead.
 

Disco began in 1975 and for four years the U.S. was accepting of the genre. However, guitar loving, straight white Male Rock DJ's grew tired of their radio programming being cut short to accommodate the disco format which was so beloved of gay men and women of color.

 

At one point in 1979 one of those white male rock DJ's got so pissed with the popularity of Disco that he arranged something called "Disco Demolition Night" during a televised football game in Chicago.

 

 

People were invited to burn their Disco Vinyl in a bonfire in the middle of a sports stadium. This event was low-key racist and homophobic (as they were setting fire to the favored music of gay men/ black women). Within weeks of Disco Demolition Night, all Disco records disappeared without trace from the U.S. Billboard Hot 100.

 

The strength and dominance of Disco Demolition Night was held firmly in the U.S. for four years until 1983, by such time drum machine technology/ synthesisers had evolved to a point where they had become commercially affordable and became more practical than hiring orchestras for the purpose of creating syncopated music. 
 

This led to a resurgence in syncopated rhythms, but to avoid all past negative associations with the events of that fateful evening in Chicago in 1979, Disco had been re-branded as "Dance". The first song to re-emerge and break through in the U.S. was this one.

 

 

This was a phoenix rising from the ashes moment in the history of contemporary, syncopated U.S. music and pop culture as it reached a peak of No. 8 (thus others followed suite) and the dam began to break.
 

Within 24 months technology had moved on even further and underground Chicago House had evolved (coincidentally born in the same city that previously denigrated its elder sibling's identity).

 

 

Other regional sub genre's of Dance also evolved and proliferated, one being "Miami Freestyle" (particularly beloved of the gay market). This track being an archetype of that sub-genre and considered an all time gay dance classic.

 

Many of the 2024 executives who control Clear Channel were regional 'Jock' radio programmers in the late 70s (who followed the lead of their tribal brotherhood from Disco Demolition Night).

 

The 2024 crop of (mostly white straight male) Radio DJ's, were chosen by these executives because they hold the same musical and cultural values/ belief systems as their predecessors (i.e. they were selected to maintain the status quo) and control the national formatting of regional U.S radio playlists for each regional U.S radio station that comes under the control of Clear Channel (now re-branded as "I-Heart", the master company).

 

A certain contemporary and hugely influential YouTube critic (Melon) is an evolution of the straight white 1970's DJ brotherhood of Disco Demolition Night. He successfully hides in plain sight.
 

He begrudgingly likes just enough dance music to maintain the persona of being objective (generally conditional of him scoring an interview), however it's a mask. He does not support queer culture and he glosses over the Dance genre and otherwise denigrates it as "derivative" whenever he possibly can.

 

 

Edited April 15 by Dante Silva

[Dula Peep]

1 hour ago, Dante Silva said:

America's cultural relationship with the Dance/ Pop genre evolved from its precursor (Disco) in the 1970's.
 

Both genres (Disco and Dance) are at their core the same genre, only back then drum machines and electronic production were in their infancy so orchestras were (mostly) used instead.
 

Disco began in 1975 and for four years the U.S. was accepting of the genre. However, guitar loving, straight white Male Rock DJ's grew tired of their radio programming being cut short to accommodate the disco format which was so beloved of gay men and women of color.

 

At one point in 1979 one of those white male rock DJ's got so pissed with the popularity of Disco that he arranged something called "Disco Demolition Night" during a televised football game in Chicago.

 

 

People were invited to burn their Disco Vinyl in a bonfire in the middle of a sports stadium. This event was low-key racist and homophobic (as they were setting fire to the favored music of gay men/ black women). Within weeks of Disco Demolition Night, all Disco records disappeared without trace from the U.S. Billboard Hot 100.

 

The strength and dominance of Disco Demolition Night was held firmly in the U.S. for four years until 1983, by such time drum machine technology/ synthesisers had evolved to a point where they had become commercially affordable and became more practical than hiring orchestras for the purpose of creating syncopated music. 
 

This led to a resurgence in syncopated rhythms, but to avoid all past negative associations with the events of that fateful evening in Chicago in 1979, Disco had been re-branded as "Dance". The first song to re-emerge and break through in the U.S. was this one.

 

 

Within 24 months technology had moved on even further and Chicago House had evolved (coincidentally born in the same city that previously denigrated its elder sibling's identity).

 

 

Other regional sub genre's of Dance also evolved and proliferated, one being "Miami Freestyle" (particularly beloved of the gay market). This track being an archetype of that sub-genre and considered an all time gay dance classic.

 

Many of the 2024 executives who control Clear Channel were regional 'Jock' radio programmers in the late 70s (who tribally followed the lead of their tribal brotherhood from Disco Demolition Night).

 

The 2024 crop of (mostly white straight male) Radio DJ's, were chosen by these executives because they hold the same musical and cultural values/ belief systems as their predecessors (i.e. they were selected to maintain the status quo) and control the national formatting of regional U.S radio playlists for each regional U.S radio station that comes under the control of Clear Channel (now re-branded as 'I-Heart', the master company).

 

 

Wow, an actual intelligent post on ATRL. Bravo. 

[Pillz]

America is approx. 50% white trash, so I wouldn't expect them to have taste

[Twizzy]

America will love dance-pop once the nation enters an economic recession that grips everybody's pockets and then goes thru it, à la 2008 financial crisis. That solidified the impending wave of catchy upbeat pop which terrorized US radio until 2013 (the era that streaming & Lorde ended ) 

[Gladiator]

Dance pop is the gateway drug to homosexuality, which is a sin.

Edited April 15 by Gladiator

[tost1]

Half of that country voted for Trump...

[Raphy23]

8 hours ago, Twizzy said:

America will love dance-pop once the nation enters an economic recession that grips everybody's pockets and then goes thru it, à la 2008 financial crisis. That solidified the impending wave of catchy upbeat pop which terrorized US radio until 2013 (the era that streaming & Lorde ended ) 

We already had that from 2020 to early 2023 with the dance-disco/funk pop, due to covid. It's all about the stripped, raw, instruments now: Stick Season, End of the Beginning, Texas Hold Em, Beautiful Things, Too Sweet, etc.

[Gov Hooka]

19 hours ago, Dante Silva said:

America's cultural relationship with the Dance/ Pop genre evolved from its precursor (Disco) in the 1970's.
 

Both genres (Disco and Dance) are at their core the same genre, only back then drum machines and electronic production were in their infancy so orchestras were (mostly) used instead.
 

Disco began in 1975 and for four years the U.S. was accepting of the genre. However, guitar loving, straight white Male Rock DJ's grew tired of their radio programming being cut short to accommodate the disco format which was so beloved of gay men and women of color.

 

At one point in 1979 one of those white male rock DJ's got so pissed with the popularity of Disco that he arranged something called "Disco Demolition Night" during a televised football game in Chicago.

 

 

People were invited to burn their Disco Vinyl in a bonfire in the middle of a sports stadium. This event was low-key racist and homophobic (as they were setting fire to the favored music of gay men/ black women). Within weeks of Disco Demolition Night, all Disco records disappeared without trace from the U.S. Billboard Hot 100.

 

The strength and dominance of Disco Demolition Night was held firmly in the U.S. for four years until 1983, by such time drum machine technology/ synthesisers had evolved to a point where they had become commercially affordable and became more practical than hiring orchestras for the purpose of creating syncopated music. 
 

This led to a resurgence in syncopated rhythms, but to avoid all past negative associations with the events of that fateful evening in Chicago in 1979, Disco had been re-branded as "Dance". The first song to re-emerge and break through in the U.S. was this one.

 

 

This was a phoenix rising from the ashes moment in the history of contemporary, syncopated U.S. music and pop culture as it reached a peak of No. 8 (thus others followed suite) and the dam began to break.
 

Within 24 months technology had moved on even further and underground Chicago House had evolved (coincidentally born in the same city that previously denigrated its elder sibling's identity).

 

 

Other regional sub genre's of Dance also evolved and proliferated, one being "Miami Freestyle" (particularly beloved of the gay market). This track being an archetype of that sub-genre and considered an all time gay dance classic.

 

Many of the 2024 executives who control Clear Channel were regional 'Jock' radio programmers in the late 70s (who followed the lead of their tribal brotherhood from Disco Demolition Night).

 

The 2024 crop of (mostly white straight male) Radio DJ's, were chosen by these executives because they hold the same musical and cultural values/ belief systems as their predecessors (i.e. they were selected to maintain the status quo) and control the national formatting of regional U.S radio playlists for each regional U.S radio station that comes under the control of Clear Channel (now re-branded as "I-Heart", the master company).

 

A certain contemporary and hugely influential YouTube critic (Melon) is an evolution of the straight white 1970's DJ brotherhood of Disco Demolition Night. He successfully hides in plain sight.
 

He begrudgingly likes just enough dance music to maintain the persona of being objective (generally conditional of him scoring an interview), however it's a mask. He does not support queer culture and he glosses over the Dance genre and otherwise denigrates it as "derivative" whenever he possibly can.

 

 

I agree with some of your narrative about disco demolition night and the backlash to disco music but I firmly disagree that it suppressed dance (or the disco 'subgenre’) music in the way you have described it. It arguably accelerated the "mechanization" of disco music and facilitated the creation of dance/synth pop as we know it which became immensely popular almost immediately. In 1980 some of the biggest hits of the year were Funkytown (which ended up becoming one of the most memorable hits of the decade), Celebration-Kool &the Gang, Diana Ross-Upside Down, and I think saying Shannon's Let the Music Play being the "breakthrough hit" of dance pop is untrue. Dance was still incredibly enjoyed and represented on the pop charts leading up to the monumental success of Thriller. 
 

as for this thread I don't even agree (even with the examples OP gave) on what differentiates synthpop from dance pop and thus his argument about how they lead to different degrees of popularity in the US.