[7] The music conceived at the Brill Building was more sophisticated than other pop styles of the time, combining contemporary sounds with classic Tin Pan Alley songwriting.

[1] Productions often featured orchestras and bands with large rhythm and guitar sections,[2] while lyrics focused on idealized romance and adolescent anxieties, only rarely exploring more mature themes.

[8] The genre dominated the American charts in the period between Elvis Presley's Army enlistment in 1958 and the onset of the British Invasion in 1964.

[2][3] The genre introduced the concept of professional songwriters to traditional pop and early rock and roll,[3] and helped to inspire the girl group craze of the era.

[10] Other reasons for the style's decline was a tendency among writers and producers to duplicate earlier successes, resulting in many records that sounded the same, as well as the changing nature of society and consumer markets.