In the streaming era, documentaries have become more popular than ever, and though plenty of hip-hop and classic rock content has been coming through lately, it’s now time for pop to get its due. At least that’s what Netflix’s latest offering This Is Pop seeks to showcase. The eight-part docuseries brings together artists as disparate as Shania Twain, Babyface, and Abba. Premiering later this summer on June 22, a press release describes the series as seeking to “shine a light on racism, sexism, classism, queer politics and social injustice while also celebrating the levity and joy for which pop music has long been known.”
The series was created by Banger Films, the same team who produced music documentaries like Hip-Hop Evolution, ZZ Top: That Little Ol’ Band From Texas, and Rush: Beyond The Lighted Stage. “We started with the question “What is Pop?”, and found answers we never expected,” the series Producer Amanda Burt of Banger Films said. “It’s more than the charts or what floats out of a car radio. It’s a perfect time capsule of how people were living as it was made and how they danced, loved, and cried as it was heard.”
Below is a list of the eight episodes, and you can watch a trailer for the series above.
1. “The Boyz II Men Effect”
2. “When Country Goes Pop”
3. “Auto-Tune”
4. “Stockholm Syndrome”
5. “The Brill Building In 4 Songs”
6. “Festival Rising”
7. “Hail Britpop!”
8. “What Can A Song Do?”
