Pop music is a kind of popular music that first appeared in its contemporary form in the United States and the United Kingdom around the mid-1950s. The phrases popular music and pop music are sometimes used interchangeably, despite the fact that the former refers to all music that is popular and comprises a wide range of musical forms while the latter refers to just one kind of music. The term "pop music" was used to refer to rock and roll and the forms that grew out of it throughout the 1950s and 1960s. From the late 1960s forward, rock and pop music were practically synonymous, with pop being associated with music that was more commercial, transitory, and accessible.
While a lot of the music that appears on record charts is categorised as pop music, the genre is distinct from the music that appears on the charts itself. Short to medium-length songs structured in a simple style (typically the verse-chorus structure) and rhythms or tempos that are easy to dance to are some of the distinguishing characteristics of pop music. A lot of pop music incorporates elements from various genres, such as rock, urban, dance, Latin, and country music, among others.