Change in Music from 1960s to 1990s

The major overarching change between music in the 60s and music in the 90s was the increase in sub-genres and sectionalization of almost every genre of music and the explosive growth of each of these genres. Although rock had already been split many times by now, a new genre further separated it from the rock of the 60s. This new genre was grunge. With Nirvana at the head of this movement, their drummer, Dave Grohl, also continued the movement into a post grunge sound with his band Foo Fighters. Increased interest in the subgenre alternative rock also led to an explosion of alternative bands in the 90s. Another genre that showed an incredible transformation in the 90s was punk. From its early roots in the 70s, Green Day and Blink-182 brought a completely different sound to punk. Instead of unintelligible, angry screaming, these 90s bands brought lyrics and mainstream sounds to the punk genre. Punk was even played on the radio which was unheard of for 70s punk. Pop also reached an all time high in the 90s. A change from the 60s was most definitely its increased popularity but also the prominence of breakthrough artists who became "the next big thing" for about a month and then were replaced by an artist even more popular. Girl groups were replaced by boy bands who were in turn replaced by attractive young female singers, each bringing a rush of popularity to the pop genre. Due to this incredible popularity of pop, country music turns to a more pop centered style and away from the sound and twang of lonely cowboy. Mariah Carey and Whitney Houston led the growth in R&B along with the Jackson siblings. A return to the earlier R&B occurred with the re-introduction of soul-based harmonies that complemented the R&B sound. Most of these changes that occurred from 60s to 90s represent the growing commercialization of the music industry and the increased popularity of musicians looking to gain massive wealth and fame from their popularity. This commercialization led to the boom in genres such as pop and country, everyone looking to become the "next big thing".