Adult contemporary music

Adult contemporary music, frequently abbreviated to just AC, is a type of radio format that plays mainstream and pop music, without hip-hop or rap since, as per the name, it is geared more towards adults than teens. AC is generally divided into 2 groups; "Hot AC", also known as "Adult Top 40" or "Adult Alternative", and "Soft AC", also known as "Lite". Some radio stations play only Hot AC; some play only Soft AC, and some play both. It is not thus usually considered a specific genre of music, as it is merely an assembly of selected tracks of musicians of many different genres. On the other hand it is believed that many musicians will include a certain song on their album or release a certain single designed to "cross over" and get played on AC stations (such as Christina Aguilera's "Beautiful", Avril Lavigne's "Complicated" or Britney Spears' "Everytime", all three of which charted on the Hot and Soft AC charts).

Soft Adult Contemporary

Soft AC is also known as "lite" music, and many radio stations across North America that play Soft AC refer to themselves as "lite" stations. The format can be seen as a more contemporary successor to the Beautiful Music or Easy Listening format that was once common on FM radio. Sometimes, the margins blur between this genre and "soft rock". And a few "lite" stations, such as WLTW-FM in New York City, have actually started to mix in more "Hot AC" songs into their playlist as well.

Related Topics:
North America - Beautiful Music - Easy Listening - WLTW - New York City

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