All About Britney Spears

What really determines if a piece of music is pop these days?

I just don't understand. What is pop? On my Ipod, i have tons of R&B/soul songs (Amy Winehouse, John Legend, ADELE19) labeld pop that i changed, but for my understanding, what really determines pop music? The popularity?

Public Comments

1. pop is short for popular. it merely means anything that is mainstream, although that has been as obscured as the meaning of "alternative" is. basically, dancable beats, catchy hooks and choruses, lyrics not to deep in meaning and often tending to use repetition. how record executives determine it is to load it into a program that tells them if it'd be an instant radio hit that they can then sign on and leech from the artist.
2. Is Amy Winehouse RnB/Soul??! Wtf? I always thought it was jazz. Anyway, if it's overproduced crap, soft or dancey music, that mostly hysterical teenagers like, it;s pop. There is also some good pop though. But it's REALLY REALLY hard to find.