Popular music

Popular music is music belonging to any of a number of musical styles that are accessible to the general public and mostly distributed commercially. It stands in contrast to classical music, which historically was the music of elites or the upper strata of society, and traditional folk music which was shared non-commercially. It is sometimes abbreviated to pop music, although pop music is more often used for a narrower branch of popular music.

Genres

Popular music dates at least as far back as the mid 19th century. Below is a list of genres.

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Different genres often appeal to different age groups. These often, but not always, are the people who were young when the music was new. Thus, for instance, Big band music continues to have a following, but it is probably a rather older group, on average, than the audience for rap. For a few of the genres listed below (for instance, Ragtime), the original target generation may have died out almost entirely.

Related Topics:
Big band - Rap - Ragtime

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• Acid house
• Acid rock
• Adult contemporary (AC)
• Alternative rock
• Bluegrass
• Big band
• Blues
• Blues rock
• Bubblegum pop
• Cantopop
• Chinese rock
• Contemporary Christian
• Country music
• Dancehall
• Desert rock
• Disco
• Easy listening
• Electro
• Electronic music
• Elevator music
• Emo
• Enka
• Folk, specifically in its popularized forms, as opposed to performed by traditional folk musicians
• Gospel
• Goth rock
• Grunge
• Hard rock
• Heavy metal
• Hip hop
• House music
• Industrial rock
• Indie rock
• Jazz
• J-pop
• J-rock
• Music hall
• New Age
• New Wave
• Pop music
• Pop standards
• Progressive rock
• Psychedelic music
• Punk rock
• Ragtime
• Reggae
• Rock and roll (rock)
• Rhythm and blues
• Rhythmic
• Show tunes
• Smooth jazz
• Southern rock
• Soul music
• Swing
• Tin Pan Alley music
• Trance
• Traditional pop music
• World music

Genres that are not popular music

Musical genres usually considered not to be popular music include:

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• Most classical music, including opera
• Folk music, as created by traditional performers
• Gregorian chant, hymns, and many other forms of religious music
• Military music
• National anthems and other patriotic music
• Children's songs (including nursery rhymes and jumprope songs)

As noted earlier, these have a distinct character from popular music: either they are transmitted by word of mouth rather than in organized fashion (children's songs, authentic folk music) or else they are produced to fill the needs of a particular social institution (church, aristocracy, the military, or the state).

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