Timeline: Mainstream music

Mainstream music is applied to the majority and is currently popular with most people. The majority of artists follow this genre.

Birth of mainstream music in the 50's 
-1950's ,pop music origanated from Britain,  the American "rock'n'roll influenced pop culture 
-1954
Elvis Presley records 'That's All Right Mama' at Sun Studios, Memphis

-1955
Chuck Berry's 'Maybellene' is released

-1960's, There was a divide between 'progressive' pop and mass/chart pop 

-The miracles, 'Shop Around' is released

- More African American artists are introduced 

- Pop Music is more upbeat

-1964
-The Beatles (already the most popular pop group in Europe) take America. "I 

wanna hold your hand" was one of the biggest songs at the time. 

-The Jackson 5 is formed 

- 1965 

-LSD hits the streets

-Bob Dylan releases 'Like a Rolling Stone'

-mid-1960's, Record labels began investing in artists, giving them freedom to experiment, and limited control over their content.

-1966The Beatles record 'Tomorrow Never Knows'

Brian Wilson makes Pet Sounds

1969 
Jimi Hendrix Plays 'The Star Spangled Banner' at the Woodstock Festival

-1970's, Urban African Americans began performing spoken lyrics ( now known as hip hop) 

-Birth of electronic dance music 

-1970

Black Sabbath release their first album

-1971 
-Marvin Gaye: What's Going On?

-King Tubby and Lee Perry create the template for modern dance music (Dub was born and found its most innovative producer in Lee Perry, Modern dance music as we know it begins here) 

-1972
David Bowie creates Ziggy Stardust

-1975 
Bob Marley & the Wailers: 'No Woman, No Cry' released

-1977 
-Saturday Night Fever goes on general release

-Bee gee's (one of the most popular pop music groups by the mid-70's) release " How deep is your love"

-1980's,  Disco fell out of fashion, in the late 1980s, glam metal became the largest, most commercially successful brand of music in the United States and worldwide. The most influential artists of this decade were: michael jackson, cyndi lauper, Madonna, Prince, David bowie ,Whitney houston, George michael and more. The overall decade created a series of classics and shaped how mainstream music would be in the future.

-1981
The launch of MTV, The pivotal moment when the pop video became as important as the pop single. The first television channel devoted totally to music, MTV has grown into a global brand as all-pervasive as Coca-Cola or Nike

-1982
-Michael Jackson: Thriller released, The biggest-selling pop record of all time, Thriller made Michael Jackson a global icon, then only 25.

-1985

-Madonnna's 'Material Girl' is released

The single that propelled Madonna beyond the mainstream and made her the most successful pop brand of modern times.

-1987

Prince's 'Sign 'O' the Times'

-1990's, saw the continuation of teen pop and dance-pop trends which had emerged in the 1970s and 1980s, in addition with a larger variety of new music genre/style (e.g. Grunge). Hip-hop and rap grew highly successful. Artists/Groups of that decade: Mariah carey, Whitney houston, Michael Jackson, TLC, Boyz II Men, Britney spears, Backstreet boys and more. 

-1992 
-Nirvana: 'Smells Like Teen Spirit', The single that catapulted Nirvana into the mainstream. A heady mix of metal and punk

-1997

-The spice girls 'wannabe' released 

-1998

-Britney spears "Hit me baby one more time" released

-2000s/Present day approching the late 2000's dubstep becomes mainstream. Following the 90's Rap, hip-hop and R'n'B continued to dominate the music industry in the early 2000's. Artists of the decades would be: Eminem