Was pop music popular or not when it first came out?

Answer 1

The "Pop" in the term "Pop Music" is a shortening of the word Popular - pop music is just a "Groovy" way of saying popular music.

So your question is really "How did popular music become popular and when did it become popular?" which is kinda funny :)

But the term or phrase "Pop Music" became widely used in the 50s, largely linked to the growth of rock'n'roll, and "Pop Art", during a period of growing optimism following the depression.

Answer 2

Believe it or not, this is a complicated question, because it has to do with the meaning of "pop music." Today, we think of pop music as rock and roll, or dance music, or country-- songs that are hits, in other words. But there has always been pop music-- music that was popular, that large majorities of the public liked and enjoyed. Long before there was radio or records or the internet, millions of people had favorite songs. Sometimes, these songs were sung live in public places (what we today would call a "concert) by professional singers or performed by an orchestra. And sometimes, they were sung at home, around a piano (or whatever the popular musical instrument was).

In Bible times, there was popular music, and when you see in the Bible that something is referred to as a song-- like the Song of Songs, for example (that means "the greatest song"), it really was a song-- it was sung to people, many of whom could not read but they remembered the lyrics of songs. There were hit songs in Shakespeare's day, and in some parts of society, what we know as "Classical Music" was considered popular too. So, as I said, there has ALWAYS been pop music, under different names, in different styles, and in different eras. Music really is the universal language, and has been for thousands of years. Thus, it is difficult to say when it was the "most popular," since it seems to have been passed down to each new generation.

Answer 3

Of course! that's why it was called pop (popular)music

Answer 4

Pop is a shortcut of "popular music". It's the music which most of the people listen to. It was popular since the modern or post-modern music came out.