What is popular music?

There have been many theorists and experts in the music industry that have tried to define what popular or ‘pop’ music is. By definition itself, the word ‘popular’ denotes ‘Fit for, adapted to, or reflecting the taste of the people at large’, however we, as media consumers, have come to regard ‘popular music’ as a much wider way of describing a certain type of music – namely that which is regarded as music that the majority of music listeners and consumers buy, download and listen to. Having said this, there are niche markets and separate genres that divide this ‘popular music’. For example, at any given time in history, whether it is the 1950s or 2010, you will have popular artists in each genre of music, whether that is Top 40, Alternative, Hip Hop or Rock; and therefore each musical taste will have their own artists considered popular within that genre.