The theoretical basis for the application of scientific approaches to understanding Ukrainian pop songs in contemporary mass artistic culture are the theories of mass culture by M. Arnold, A. Babar, S. Johnson, L. Lowenthal, C. Mukherjee, A. Octai, P. Solmaz, J. Story, M. Shadson, and others; concepts and theories of artistic culture by T. Andrushchenko, Y. Afanasiev, P. Herchanivska, V. Darenskyi, V. Paterikina, S. Sadovenko, I. Yakovets; theories of modern variety studies by M. Mozgovyi, J. Levchuk, V. Oktkidach, V. Plakhotniuk, T. Riabukha, T. Samai, O. Sapozhnyk, V. Solodovnyk, V. Tormakhova, L. Cherkashyna, H. Shostak, O. Shevchenko; concepts of show business, imageology, mass music culture by Y. Levchuk, Z. Shymchyk, S. Sadovenko, M. Poplavskyi, V. Solodovnyk.
In the process of analyzing the Ukrainian pop song in the contemporary mass artistic culture, the methods of analysis and synthesis, systematization and verification, semiotic, structural and functional, systemic, typological and cultural analysis, etc. were used.
Artistic culture is seen as one of the “specialized spheres of culture, within which the tasks of intellectual and sensual reflection of existence in artistic images, as well as various aspects of ensuring this activity are solved” (according to P. Herchanivska), the structure of which is made up of super-elite foreign artistic culture, mass artistic culture, elite national artistic culture and folk artistic culture.
Ukrainian pop song has a stable morphology – from archaic and traditional to innovative elements with pronounced properties and characteristics of the world's mass culture – and, in its integrity, is a culture-reproducing, culture-transmitting and culture-generating phenomenon. It is shaped by the universal cultural values and meanings of the nation, which are transformed according to historical factors and the specifics of the socio-cultural space in the process of synthesizing the traditions of national musical culture, elements of mass artistic culture and innovative intercultural trends.
The peculiarities of the Ukrainian pop song as a product of mass artistic culture are a form of medium complexity; the possibility of purchasing for relatively little money; and openness to consumption through copyright, patent or property; the transmission is mediated by both technology and the medium; has a known producer or source; is offered as a standardized, multiplexed or modified segment; reflects cultural traditions and values in new formulas; there is a difference in social status between the people who produce and consume it; producers and suppliers are professionals; and is consumer-oriented.
As a result of extrapolating the structural-functional approach to the study of Ukrainian pop songs in the mass artistic culture of the twenty-first century, its functions are defined as the creation and ordering of images, meanings, and interpretations of reality expressed through Ukrainian pop songs as a product of creativity (signification); construction in Ukrainian pop song of social actions samples perceived as objects of personal references (referencing); construction of the contemporary Ukrainian culture face (socio-cultural identification); consolidation of Ukrainian pop song as a necessary cultural experience at the official level (attribute system); accumulation and preservation of relevant information and traditions
