When Radiohead claimed in the last century that pop was dead, it was dead at all, but maybe it was just a prediction? Now I think most of the people agree that pop is dead already, or at least is not at its full swing as it was in the 90's.

I was more into the same assertion about the demise of the pop, but recently I took it with a grain of salt. Is pop really dead?

First pop is still an active genre of music. Britney Spears is a pop star and she is well alive. Maybe she is an exception, but let's face it. The fact that pop is dead merely is only commercially in some specific market like UK. As in US market, pop has morphed into a more subtle form. Would you say that Sara Bareilles is a pop artist?

After pondering the question for some time I believe that pop is not dead, but rather UK pop is deceased. Believe it or not, the latest idol band that UK has is Billiam, which is not a success, if not a total failure. Sugababes and Girls Aloud are the only two competitive pop groups in the market. McFly really is not doing that well as least during the critic circle, which has been questioned and ridiculed.

Now let's look at the big picture. What about other pop music from other countries, especially other European countries? It's undeniable that a lot of pop acts from those countries are doing quite well domestically and internationally. Examples do abound.

Danish pop band Alphabeat took UK by storm. Norwegian singer Annie is going to release her second album. Her first album was well accepted by the critics but not much by the general public. After listening to the sampler of the new album, I feel that Annie may have a chance this time around.

Germany dance pop sensation Cascada keeps churning out more dance pop hits. Even US5 is popular in some countries other than UK. Relative unknown band BWO got a hit in UK, only to be badly covered by a Taiwanese singer. Basshunter is now huge in UK. I think most people would agree with me that his music is a mixture of pop and dance and he is Swedish too. Robyn and September also benefit from this pop music boom in Sweden. No wonder the best pop music writers and producers are from Sweden as well. Can you believe that many of Kelly Clarkson's hits were penned by the man who wrote early hits of Britney Spears and Backstreet Boys?

If some did die, that is bubblegum pop. Nowadays we hardly see any success of that particular type of pop. So in that sense, pop has updated itself constantly too. Now the pop has a more electric twist. Indie bands are not shunning pop any more. Giving pop more element has become the revival of the pop.

On the other hand, in the US, those younger generation singers are also doing well among the juvenile audience. Miley Cyrus finally has a solo album. High school musical won't be away for long. Ashley Simpson just released, in my opinion, her best album in her career.

Pop has long been categorized as lack of substance, but maybe with the current music trend, pop will get rid of bad reputation of being manufactured and manipulated. However you cannot really pronounce the death of genre. It may go down, but it won't cease to exist. It just lingers there and come out from time to time.

It seems to me that as long as you are a non-UK pop artist, you do have a chance to succeed. I guess it's the musical globalization. Now UK is outsourcing its pop music. I hope those British pop artists won't complain that other countries steal their job. At the end they have their proud indie music.