Electropop is a type of electronic pop music which features crackly synthesizers prominently in the mix. Electropop has become an increasingly common term for this music post-2000 whereas in earlier years, synthpop was probably the more common term for pop music using synthesizers.
When Kraftwerk first appeared in the mid-1970's, their music was described as electronic body music (ebm) in Germany, Krautrock in England, and technopop in Japan. The British synthesizer artists such as Depeche Mode and New Order who arose in the wake of Kraftwerk were most commonly known as new wave or synthpop. The word electropop may have been used for these acts, but it was not yet common.
Starting in the early 1980's, the word electro was used to describe artists such as Herbie Hancock, Afrika Bambaataa and Man Parrish who played funk-like music using synthesizers.
Starting around 1997, bands such as Fischerspooner and Ladytron revived 1980's-style synthpop with characteristic deadpan vocals, but the movement was marketed as electroclash. In 2002, Benny Benassi released 'Satisfaction,' and crackly synthesizer began to become a common feature of electro house, and the electropop music inspired by it. Electropop often has more emphasis on clear vocals than electroclash or electro house, but there is a good deal of common ground between these three genres.
Signature modern electropop songs include "Heartbeats" by The Knife and "Poker Face" by Lady Gaga.
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