Male baritone singing voices are an endangered species in the world of vocal pop. Where did they go?

The three primary registers of male singing voices, from lowest to highest in pitch, are bass, baritone, and tenor. The vast majority of male pop singers sing primarily in the tenor register. Basses are extremely rare and always have been; they are heard almost exclusively as harmony vocals. Baritones still exist in pop music, primarily as band frontmen, but rarely as solo artists. That pool is almost entirely filled by tenors. The few natural baritones who exist in this milieu often sing at the upper end of their range, up in the tenor register or even falsetto. Why is this?

If you’re still a little lost, let’s provide some examples. Barry White is the most notable solo bass in pop music – rich, deep, reverberating. Justin Timberlake, Akon, and Ne-Yo are examples of pop tenors – clear, high notes, often edging into falsetto. Baritones are in between. Some can go lower towards bass, like Matt Berninger of The National; others can go higher, like the late, great Chris Cornell of Soundgarden, and others stay right where they’re comfortable, like Eddie Vedder of Pearl Jam. Baritones who operate as solo vocalists are comparatively rare today. Classic crooners, such as Bing Crosby and Dean Martin, were baritones, as was Elvis Presley. In modern times, pop vocalists who are technically baritones often sing in a higher register, bridging the gap between baritone and tenor. David Bowie fit that description, as do Harry Styles and Hozier. Styles’ “Watermelon Sugar” and Hozier’s “Take Me To Church” are examples of what is commonly referred to as light or lyric baritone singing, where the voice is hitting notes near the upper part of the baritone range.

So why has pop music moved away from lower male voices? There are two main theories, one technical and one cultural. The less interesting one concerns how contemporary listeners consume pop music. Gone are the days when people would listen to an LP or a 45 on a home stereo system. Pop music began to be played on the radio, then moved to cassettes. Cheap headphones, and later, mobile phones, became listening devices. None of these is conducive to hearing the crispest or highest fidelity recordings. Pop music thus began to shift towards the center of vocal tones on both the male and female sides. Not only are there few baritones and no basses, but there are few true sopranos. Most female pop vocalists sing in the alto (Adele) or mezzo-soprano (Dua Lipa) ranges. True sopranos like Ariana Grande or Mariah Carey, who could hit the whistle register, the highest range of notes the human voice can reach, rarely flex this talent, and mostly use the lower or mid ranges of their voice. Tones from low tenor to mid soprano sound better (or at least “less bad”) when played over low-fidelity audio equipment.

The more interesting reason why there are no baritones has to do with marketability and masculinity. Male pop vocalists are marketed towards teenagers, teen girls in particular. A man who appears to be too macho can be seen (fairly or not) as threatening to this audience – call it the Elvis effect. There’s also a theory that teen girls want to see aspects of their ideal selves reflected in their pop idols. As such, pop singers will have little to no facial hair, androgynous stylings, and higher voices, presenting as more feminine than masculine. A deeper male voice can be heard as more mature, seductive, and thus potentially dangerous, whereas a higher male voice can be heard as more innocent. Modern deep-voiced singers like Michael Bublé are much more frequently marketed towards adult audiences rather than teens. Pop country is an exception to this trend, however. Baritones, such as Luke Bryan and Toby Keith, are much more common in this genre, where macho-ness and masculinity are part of the marketing and appeal to both teens and adults.

A melange of marketability, sexuality, audio fidelity, and industry assumptions has relegated baritones to the margins of modern pop music. It is possible for them to make a comeback, but a more likely path to success is to find some friends who can play guitar.

PHOTO: Lou Stejskal, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons