Song Genre

Pop rock is a music genre which mixes a catchy pop style and light lyrics in its (typically) guitar-based rock songs. There are varying definitions of the term, ranging from a slower and mellower form of rock music to a subgenre of pop music. Scholars have noted that pop and rock are usually depicted as opposites, the detractors of pop often deride it as a slick, commercial product, less authentic than rock music.

Pop rock has been described as an "upbeat variety of rock music represented by artists such as Elton John, Paul McCartney, Rod Stewart, Chicago, and Peter Frampton."In contrast, music reviewer George Starostin defines it as a subgenre of pop music that uses catchy pop songs that are mostly guitar-based. Starostin argues that most of what is traditionally called 'power pop' falls into the pop rock subgenre. He claims that the lyrical content of pop rock is "normally secondary to the music."

Here are some examples of some artists that fall under the genre of 'Pop Rock':

Maroon 5 - She Will Be Loved:



The Fray - Cable Car



Jason Mraz - I'm Yours

chosen song and artist/band details

My chosen song for my music promo video is 'cops and robbers' by the band 'The Hoosiers'.

The Hoosiers are an English pop/rock band, there are three members to the band who are:
 - Irwin Sparkes (lead vocals and lead guitar)
 - Martin Skarendahl (bass guitar and rythem guitar)
 - Alan Sharland (drums and percussion)

Their first single 'Worried About Ray' reached number 5 in the UK singles chart in July 2007. in the following October they released their debut album called 'The Trick to Life' which reached number 1 in the album charts. The band then went on to release another album on the 16th August 2010 which also came within the top ten album releases, this album was preceded by the lead single 'Choices' which was released not long before the album which was on the 1st August.

According to the bands self wrote biographies (which can be found on various websites and in the album sleeves) Sharland and Sparkes spent time in the USA which was encourages by their chemistry teacher 'Grant Serpell', who was part of the band 'Sailor' during their spell of fame in the 70's, this time was to broaden their horizons. The two of them won scholorships in football for the University of Indianapolis, despite the claim of being 'allergic to running', a claim which is backed up by Irwin sparkes' asthma.

Their time in Indiana inspired the name of the band 'The Hoosiers' as a citizen of Indiana is colloqially called a Hoosier. After Sparkes and Sharland compiled enough material together for an album they headed back to London where they met the Swiss keyboard player and sound engineer 'Duri Darms' and 'Martin Skarendahl', Martin was an Swedish ex-fireman who was working with Darms as a recording studio engineer and studying at the London music school. The original group did include two other members (Tony Byrne and Tom Easey) who had left the band by this point leaving only Sparkes and Sharland to replace them with the Swiss Martin Skarendahl.

The new trio then signed to RCA Records (part of Sony Music Entertainment) which they then went on to release their first album 'The Trick to Life' on 22nd October 2007. In February 2008 the band was labelled the 'Worst Band' at the annual NME awards. the band is produced by ex-member of 'Jamiroquai' Toby Smith and managed by Steve Morton.

The band's second single, 'Goodbye Mr A', appeared in the footbal video game FIFA 08, and the game can also be seen in the "Goodbye Mr A" music video. Lead singer Irwin Sparkes, who is from Reading, is playing on the game as Reading against Manchester UnitedThe song also appears in a trailer for the 2007 film 'Juno' Following the release of 'Worst Case Scenario', the next release from The Trick to Life was 'Cops and Robbers', as confirmed in a live webchat with The Hoosiers on GMTV. The video was broadcast on Channel 4 at 12:10pm on 22 March 2008.

In February 2011, the band announced via their official website that "Bumpy Ride" was to be their new single and would be released at the end of March. Their new deluxe album, also titled 'Bumpy Ride', was out in the April of the same year. The music video for 'Bumpy Ride' tells a story of how The Hoosiers travelled around the United States of America by various means of transport, and was possibly inspired by their earlier travels.

It was announced on April 1, 2011 that the band had departed from their record label Sony after a dispute over the promotion of their latest album The Illusion of Safety. Sparkes told Daily Record, "I don't think many people knew that the second album had been released, so we're having to reissue it to bring it to people's awareness."

At an intimate gig for Real Radio in Sheffield, the band announced that they were repackaging and re-releasing the album with a new title, Bumpy Ride, on April 11, 2011. The rerelease comes with 4 new album tracks, and a deluxe version comes with a DVD of live performances.

Coursework brief

For my A2 media coursework i have chosen to do: brief 1, which is:

A promotion package for the the release of an album, to include a music promo video, together with two of the following three options:
1. A website homepage for the band
2. A cover for its release as part of a digipak (CD/DVD package)
3. A magazine advertisment for the digipak (CD/DVD package)
I have chosen options 2 and 3 alongside the promo video.