Pop music

Pop music, pop, or popular music is a genre of music. Pop music refers to music created primarily for commercial purposes, spread to new listeners via recordings (such as vinyl albums, CDs, or MP3s), and which usually enjoys a short run of popularity. Rock music and country music are technically both sub-genres of popular music, although the term "pop music" is often used as a synonym for styles of popular music primarily marketed toward teenagers and pre-teens, rather than styles marketed toward adults like rock and country. Adult contemporary music, standards and oldies are subgenres of pop music that are targeted for adults.

Pop music is distinguished from folk music, which is music originating from local cultures with an oral tradition, created without commercial purposes in mind, with music styles and songs passed down from generation to generation, and with songs enjoying a long run of popularity; and from classical music, which is a form of fine art typified by music written and published by composers, usually involving multi-instrumentation or complex vocals, passed down in published form rather than by either oral tradition or recordings, which enjoys a long run of popularity over tens or hundreds of years.