Pop music

This article is about a specific music genre. For popular music in general, see Popular music. For other uses, see Pop music (disambiguation).

"Pop song" redirects here. For other uses, see Pop Song.

Pop is a genre of popular music that originated in its modern form during the mid-1950s in the United States and the United Kingdom. The terms popular music and pop music are often used interchangeably, although the former describes all music that is popular and includes many disparate styles. During the 1950s and 1960s, pop music encompassed rock and roll and the youth-oriented styles it influenced. Rock and pop remained roughly synonymous until the late 1960s, after which pop became associated with music that was more commercial, ephemeral, and accessible.

Pop
Stylistic origins	Traditional pop rock and roll folk
Cultural origins	Mid-1950s, United States and United Kingdom
Derivative forms	Disco contemporary R&B
Subgenres
Art pop Brill Building bubblegum dance-pop experimental pop hypnagogic pop new wave operatic pop orchestral pop progressive pop sophisti-pop space age pop sunshine pop synth-pop teen pop
Fusion genres
Baroque pop country pop electropop folk-pop indie pop Latin pop noise pop pop punk pop-rap K-Pop C-Pop pop rock psychedelic pop reggae fusion smooth jazz smooth soul
Regional scenes
India Indonesia Hong Kong Italy Japan Malaysia Mexico Morocco Pakistan Philippines Russia Scandinavia Sweden Taiwan Thailand Turkey United Kingdom United States Vietnam Western Europe
Other topics
Avant-pop New Pop pop music automation poptimism rock music

Although much of the music that appears on record charts is seen as pop music, the genre is distinguished from chart music. Identifying factors usually include repeated choruses and hooks, short to medium-length songs written in a basic format (often the verse-chorus structure), and rhythms or tempos that can be easily danced to. Much pop music also borrows elements from other styles such as rock, urban, dance, Latin, and country.