Country pop

Country pop, with roots in both the countrypolitan sound and in soft rock, is a subgenre of country music that first emerged in the 1970s. Although the term first referred to country music songs and artists that crossed over to Top 40 radio, country pop acts are now more likely to cross over to adult contemporary. The joining of country and pop began in the 1950s when studio executives Chet Atkins and Owen Bradley wanted to create a new kind of music for the young adult crowd after “rockabilly stole away much of country music's youth audience”. According to Bill Ivey, this innovative genre originated in Nashville, Tennessee and thus became known as Nashville Sound. He believes that the “Nashville Sound often produced records that sounded more pop than country” after the removal of the fiddle and banjo. Patsy Cline, Jim Reeves, and Eddy Arnold were among the most popular artists during this time. This was intended to have country singers gain more success in pop music and sell more...