It was pitched black in the Viejas Arena, everyone attempting to inch closer to the stage. The cheers were slowly getting louder and the anticipation was killing me inside. I couldn't believe that in less than one minute, one of my long time dreams were coming true. That one minute felt like an eternally, but once it passed, my mind felt like it was going to explode. The curtains dropped, and there they were, blink-182, starting off the concert with their classic hit "Feeling This." I couldn't help but smile throughout the entire concert. I was having the time of my life, singing along to all 26 songs played during the concert. It was my first very concert and I was left in awe. Once the concert ended, I walked away with a huge smile on my face, but with a huge question as well. I wanted new pop punk music to listen to, but started to realize that it's not as easy to find it. Of course,you could say why don't I just go back listen to well-known pop punk bands, such as Green Day, New Found Glory, and Sum 41. Don't get me wrong I totally would listen to them, if I haven't heard all their songs a hundred times. I wanted fresh music from the genre, but pop punk just doesn't make headlines like it used to, and I can't remember the last time I heard multiple pop punk songs on the radio at once. I thought for a moment, and then pondered the question, Is pop punk still relevant in the music industry?

Now, I'm sure many of you are wondering how I, an 18-year college student, who was only 1 and a half when blink-182's "Enema of the State" released and an emergence of pop punk was occurring, would know anything about pop punk. Of course, I can't really give a history lesson about the genre, simply because I was alive to see how it evolved. But I can give my own personal experience with the genre, and at least that's coming from my own heart. I will never forget in sitting in study hall in 7th grade, bored out of my mind. Since I finished all my homework, I was on a computer watching random skateboard videos. One of these videos, had music from pop punk bands Green Day and blink-182. After watching this video, I went to listen to more music from each band, and never looked back. I fell in love with the genre, and all I ever wanted to do was listen to more pop punk. But as time went on, I realized that pop punk isn't as popular as it was in the past. Many people I would talk to didn't really know anything about the genre, and would listen to a bunch of other genres, just not pop punk. I didn't know why many people didn't listen to pop punk, but then I kind of figure that maybe it just wasn't "in" at the very moment.

Like most people, my radio is always on when I'll driving. After the concert, I started to pay more attention to what was being played on the radio. I was realizing that in today's music, pop and hip-hop, with mega stars like Drake, Beyoncé, and Sia are dominating the radio airwaves with ease. Actually, many artists from those genres are not only played on the radio 24/7, but also dominate the charts as well. It honestly felt like radio stations would just play the top 10 songs from the charts, over and over again. I wondered why couldn't radio stations expand their horizons and appeal to a wider audience? Obviously, I'm not going to answer this question at the moment, because that's not what this article is about. But this brings up the point that pop punk isn't really seen much anymore. I remember when I was younger, I would hear pop punk songs like The All-American Rejects' "Gives You Hell" all the time on the radio. But as the years went on, the amount of pop punk played on the radio was decreasing, heavily. This made me see that the genre that I fell in love with in 7th grade was falling off.

Pop punk has slowly started to become less and less common on the radio stations. Pop punk bands aren't headlining concerts anymore and their albums weren't finding the success in the charts as they were in the past. If you're wondering why this decline has occurred, it's quite simple, Pop punk was just a phase. What is considered "mainstream" changes rapidly, not to mention that music is constantly evolving? Nowadays, people rather listen to upbeat sounds and catchy lyrics, rather than the fast tempos and lyrical themes within pop punk.

So, is pop punk still relevant in the music industry? Heck no, but even though it isn't relevant, doesn't mean that the genre is dead. Many pop punk bands have created loyal fan bases who will love their music until the end of time. So it doesn't really matter to most pop punk bands if they are in the mainstream anymore. A few well-known pop punk bands, such as All Time Low and blink-182, are still able to peak into the top 10 on the charts. Did they last long on the charts? Of course not, but just the fact that these bands, or in a deeper way pop punk, can still chart this high, really is a phenomenal sign of not only these bands legacy, but the genre as a whole.Though pop punk is not really talked about much anymore, it's still lives, thanks to the many die-hard fans of the genre. This shows that even though a genre might die in the mainstream, it will never be forgotten. All because of the fans.

Rock on.