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Pop music is an ample and imprecise category of modern music not defined by artistic considerations but by its potential audience or prospective market. Pop is music composed with deliberate intent to appeal to the majority of its contemporaries.^[1][2][3]

In opposition to music that requires education or formation to appreciate, a defining characteristic of pop music is that anyone is able to enjoy it. Artistic concepts such as musical form and aesthetics are not a concern in the writing of pop songs, the primary objectives being audience enjoyment and commercial success.^[4]

Although pop music is produced with a desire to sell records and do well in the charts, it does not necessitate wide acclaim or commercial success: there are bad or failed pop songs.^[5]

Initially the term was an abbreviation of, and synonymous to, popular music, but evolved circa 1954 to describe a specific musical category.

The standard format of pop music is the song, customarily less than five minutes in duration, and with an instrumentation that can range from an orchestra to a lone singer. Despite this wide scope, a typical lineup in a pop band includes a lead guitarist, a bassist, a drummer (or an electronic drum machine), a keyboardist and one or more singers, ordinarily not themselves instrumentalists.

Pop songs are generally marked by a heavy rhythmic element, a mainstream style and traditional structure. The most common variant is strophic in form and focuses on melodies, catchy hooks and the appeal of the verse-chorus-verse arrangement, with the chorus sharply contrasting the verse melodically, rhythmically and harmonically.^[7]

Some of the most common themes in pop music are romantic love and feelings. Pop music often uses the technique of taking from other records producing a satirical or self-reflexive mixture of past styles. It also employs techniques of sampling and sequencing to introduce individuality and creativity.

In a similar vein to the previous decade, female singers had a big influence on the pop music in the noughties, with soulful ballads, hip hop pieces and dance tracks: "Music" (2000); "Fallin'", "All for You" and "Whenever, Wherever" (all 2001); "Foolish", "What about Us?", "Beautiful" (all 2002); "Crazy in Love" and "White Flag" (both 2003); "If I Ain't Got You", "1, 2 Step" and "Since U Been Gone" (all 2004); "Hips Don't Lie", "Hollaback Girl" , Hung Up and "We Belong Together" (all 2005); and "The Sweet Escape", "Umbrella" and "Gimme More" (all 2007).

Traditional rock and modern rock made forays into pop with consecrated artists and newcomers both introducing songs to the pop music: "Smooth", "Maria Maria" and "It's My Life" (all 2000), "Drops of Jupiter (Tell Me)" and "Stuck in a Moment You Can't Get Out Of" (both 2001), "This Love" (2003), and "Boulevard of Broken Dreams" (2005). Entirely digital productions integrated new technology and sounds, and as electronic dance music entered the mainstream, pop artists started using producers and remixers who contributed their styles to the genre: "Feel Good Inc." (2005) and "Crazy" (2006) are good examples.

Once more, African Americans contributed heartily to pop with diverse styles. Some hits were hip hop-based, such as "Hot in Herre" and "Dilemma" (both 2002), "In da Club" and "Ignition" (both 2003), "Yeah!" (2004), "Candy Shop" and "Don't Phunk with My Heart" (both 2005). Other chart-toppers were variations on reggae beats ("It Wasn't Me" (2000) and "Get Busy" (2003) or more traditional rap compositions such as "The Way You Move" (2003).

The international appeal of pop was evident in the new millennium, with artists from around the world influencing the genre and local variants merging with the mainstream. Russia made its breakthrough to the international charts with "All the Things She Said" (2002) which even topped the UK Singles Chart. Latin pop was successful with songs from Spain, "Hero" (late 2001/early 2002), "The Ketchup Song" (2002); and Colombia, "Whenever, Wherever" (2002) and "Hips Don't Lie" (2006). Canada entered the charts with "That's the Way It Is" (2000) and British artists did the same with "Feel" (2003); "You're Beautiful" (2005); "You Give Me Something" (2006) and "Rehab" (both 2006); "Smile" and "Tell Me 'Bout It" (both 2007) . Also, Romania hit the European charts with "Dragostea din Tei" (2003); "Despre tine" (2004); and "Kylie" (2005).