Popular music Popular music, sometimes abbreviated the genre pop music, is music belonging to any of a number of musical styles that are (at least in their heyday) broadly popular. Broadly, any music that is a part of popular culture, including classical, folk, or other music that has entered popular culture. A narrower sense of the term, usually "pop music", covers mainstream music that does not fall into any more specialized style such as jazz or hip hop. In the broader sense, "popular music" means any sort of music intended for mass consumption and propagated over the radio and similar media. For the varieties of popular music in this sense, see the list below. Frans Birrer (1985, p.104) gives four conceptions or definitions of "popular" music: Normative definitions. Popular music is an inferior type. Negative definitions. Popular music is music that is not something else (usually 'folk' or art' music). Sociological definitions. Popular music is associated with (produced for or by) a particular social group. Technologico-economic definitions. Popular music is disseminated by mass media and/or in a mass market. All of which, according to Middleton (1990, p.4) "are interest-bound; none is satisfactory." According to Hall (1978, p.6-7), "The assumption...that you might know before you looked at cultural traditions in general what; at any particular time, was a part of the elite culture or of popular culture is untenable." Thus popular music must be comprehended in relation to the broader musical field (Middleton 1990, p.11). Bennett (1980, p.153-218) distinguishes between 'primary' and 'secondary' popular culture, the first being mass product and the second being local re-production. Musical examples of the latter include disco and hip hop DJing, raggae dub techniques, cover bands, boombox use, and other public uses (Middleton 1990, p.86). "While repetition is a feature of all music, of any sort, a high level of repetition may be a specific mark of 'the popular', enabling an inclusive rather than exclusive audience." (Middleton 1990, p.139) Popular music as a business enterprise A defining characteristic of popular music (in the broader sense) is that it is the product of the modern business enterprise, and is disseminated for the purpose of earning a profit. Executives and employees of popular music businesses try to select and cultivate the music that will have the greatest success with the public, and thus maximize the profits of their firm. In this respect, popular music differs from traditional folk music, which was created by ordinary people for their own enjoyment, and from classical music, which was originally created to serve the purposes of the Church or for the entertainment of the nobility. (Today classical music is often subsidized by governments and universities.) Although the controlling forces of popular music are business enterprises, young people who aspire to become popular musicians are certainly not always driven by the profit motive. Rather, they often want to find an outlet for their sense of expression and creativity, or simply to have fun. Historically, the conflicting motives of business people and musicians has been a source of tension in the popular music industry. Performance of popular music by amateurs Many people play popular music together with their friends, often in garages and basements, on a casual amateur basis. This activity is one of the most widespread forms of participatory music-making in modern societies. As participatory music, "garage bands" are in a sense a resurrection of the old tradition of folk music, which in premodern times was composed and performed by ordinary people and transmitted exclusively by word of mouth. The difference between the old folk music and modern amateur performance of popular music is that the participants in the latter genre are well acquainted with the expert performances that they hear on recordings, and often try to emulate them. The older folk music of a society often lives on in a popularized version, which is likewise performed by experts and commercially disseminated. Such updated versions of folk music often have heavy amateur participation. Performers A list of performers of popular music can be found at: List of popular music performers Genres Popular music dates at least as far back as the mid 19th century. Below is a list of genres. 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. Acid House Adult Contemporary (AC) Alternative Bluegrass Modern Blues Big Band Blues Rock Bubblegum Pop/Bubblegum Rock Cantopop Chinese Rock Country Music Dancehall Desert rock Disco Easy Listening Music Electro Electronic Music Elevator music Emo Folk music, specifically in its popularized forms, as opposed to performed by traditional folk musicians Goth rock Grunge Hip Hop music House Industrial rock Jazz J-POP Metal Music Hall New Age New Wave Music Pop Music Progressive Rock Punk Rock Ragtime Reggae Rock and Roll Rhythm and Blues Rhythmic Showtunes Smooth jazz Soul Music Swing Tin Pan Alley music Trance Traditional Pop Music World Music Genres that are not popular music Musical genres usually not considered popular music would include the following: Children's songs (including Nursery rhymes and Jumprope songs) 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 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). See also Music radio http://www.shadetunes.com for examples of current day genre favorites. Source Middleton, Richard (1990/2002). Studying Popular Music. Philadelphia: Open University Press. ISBN 0335152759. Bennett (1980). Birrer, Frans A. J. (1985). "Definitions and research orientation: do we need a definition of popular music?" in D. Horn, ed., Popular Music Perspectives, 2 (Gothenburge, Exeter, Ottawa and Reggio Emilia), p.99-105. Hall, S. (1978). "Popular culture, politics, and history", in Popular Culture Bulletin, 3, Open University duplicated paper. FAVORITE ARTICLES: History of the World    History of the United States    History of Europe    Ancient History    History    Military History    World War I    Bombing of Dresden    California    US Constitution    Frank Sinatra    Boston    Marbury v. 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