Electro Pop

Electropop is a type of electronic-based pop music characterized by a distinctive low frequency synthesizer sound which might variously be described as crisp, crunchy, crackly, fuzzy, warm, distorted or dirty. The term is distinct with the cleaner sounding dance pop or the sparser sounding synth pop, though the lines between them are often blurred or non-existent in practice.

Despite first emerging as early as the mid-70s or so via artists such as Yellow Magic Orchestra, Telex, and Yello, the genre didn't break through commercially into the mid-80s about, with bands such as Kraftwerk getting major notice. And electropop only achieved significant mass market popularity during the 2000s, thanks in part to the renewed popularity of the electro sound in a mainstream dance music. The crossover style known as electro house has played a big role.

Signature modern electro pop songs include "Heartbeats" by The Knife and "Poker Face" by Lady Gaga. Though the terms 'electro pop' and 'synthpop' were once used interchangeably and still sometimes are, each genre now has its own distinctive sound in general. Synthpop is often described as smoother, easier, and more classically 'pop' influenced than the often more frenetic and dense sounding electropop; synthpop lyrics will often focus on dancing, having a good time, and relationships while the latter will often focus on dark, moody themes and science fiction.