Pop music is a genre of popular music that originated in its modern form during the mid-1950s in the United States and the United Kingdom. During the 1950s and 1960s, pop music encompassed rock and roll and the youth-oriented styles it influenced. Rock and pop music remained roughly synonymous until the late 1960s, after which pop became associated with music that was more commercial, ephemeral, and accessible.
The Oxford Dictionary of Music states that the term "pop" refers to music performed by such artists as the Rolling Stones (pictured here in a 2006 performance).
Amr Diab, Egyptian pop star, named "El-Hadaba", for achieving high records sales in the Middle East and Africa for the last three decades
Bing Crosby was one of the first artists to be nicknamed "King of Pop" or "King of Popular Music".[verification needed]
The 1960s British Invasion marked a period when the US charts were inundated with British acts such as the Beatles (pictured 1964).
Popular music is music with wide appeal that is typically distributed to large audiences through the music industry. These forms and styles can be enjoyed and performed by people with little or no musical training. It stands in contrast to both art music and traditional or "folk" music. Art music was historically disseminated through the performances of written music, although since the beginning of the recording industry, it is also disseminated through recordings. Traditional music forms such as early blues songs or hymns were passed along orally, or to smaller, local audiences.
The 19th century singer Jenny Lind depicted performing La sonnambula
Since the 20th century, several music formats received dominance, from 7-inch vinyl, to 12-inch vinyl, to CDs.
Egyptian pop star Mohamed Mounir
Senegalese rapper Didier Awadi
![Bing Crosby was one of the first artists to be nicknamed "King of Pop" or "King of Popular Music".[verification needed]](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/4d/Bing_Crosby_1930s.jpg/480px-Bing_Crosby_1930s.jpg)
