Teen pop is a subgenre of pop music that is marketed and oriented toward teenagers.[1][2] Teen pop covers genres and styles such as pop, dance-pop and urban.[2]
The 1960s was known as the "Golden Age" for pop teen idols, who included Paul Anka, Fabian and Frankie Avalon.[1] The first major wave of teen pop occurred in the mid to late 1980s, with artists such as Debbie Gibson, Tiffany and New Kids on the Block.[1][2] In the early 1990s, teen pop dominated the charts until grunge music crossed over into the mainstream in North America by 1992. Teen pop remained popular in the United Kingdom with the boy bandTake That during this period, until the mid 1990s when Britpop became the next major wave in the UK, eclipsing the style similar to how grunge did in North America.[2]
According to Gayle Wald, the demise of this late 1990s teen pop was due to: 1) promotional oversaturation of teen pop music in 2000 and 2001, 2) the public's changing attitude toward it deeming teen pop as unauthentic and corporate-produced, 3) the transition of the pre-teen and teenage fanbase of these teen pop artists during 1997–1999 to young adulthood (and the accompanying changes in musical interests), and 4) a growing young adult male base classifying the music, especially boy band music, as effeminate.[4] 1990s teen pop artists entered hiatuses and semi-retirements ('N Sync, Britney Spears) or changed their musical style (Backstreet Boys).[1] In 2005, teenaged singers such as Rihanna and Chris Brown achieved success, indicating new relevance of teen-oriented pop music.[1] One of the most popular teen pop bands of today are Tokio Hotel[5]