Genre Research

Israel Kamakawiwo'ole's genre of music is generally described as pop/easy listening.

History of Easy Listening

The name "Easy Listening" was coined in 1965 by Claude Hall, radio-tv editor of Billboard Magazine to describe the sound of WPIX-FM.

Easy listening is a broad style of popular music and radio format that emerged in the 1960s, evolving out of big band music, and related to MOR (middle-of-the-road) music as played on many AM radio stations. It encompasses the exotica, beautiful music, light music, lounge music, ambient music and space age pop genres.

Easy listening is broad and may include instrumental arrangements of popular music designed for playing in shopping centers, department stores, telephone systems (while the caller is on hold) cruise ships, airports, doctors' and dentists' offices, and elevators. The term is also frequently applied as a generic (and often derogatory) term for any form of easy listening smooth jazz, or middle of the road music.

History of Pop

Pop Music is a type of music genre. Pop music was developed in the mid 1950s as a softer option to Rock and Roll. The focal point of Pop Music was the Youth Market, through short and basic Love songs. Whilst these simple features of the genre have stayed constant, pop music started to emerge influences from different forms of popular music.
Mostly borrowing the development of Rock music and using the key technological conventions to produce new Variations of present Themes.