Pop is a music genre that features a noticeable rhythmic element, melodies and hooks, a mainstream style, and conventional structure.

The definition of pop music is purposefully flexible as the music that is identified as pop is constantly changing. At any particular point in time it may be easiest to identify pop music as that which is successful on the pop music charts. For the past 50 years the most successful musical styles on the pop charts have continually changed and evolved.

The term "pop music" was first used in 1926 in the sense of "having popular appeal", but since the 1950s it has been used in the sense of a musical genre, originally characterized as a lighter alternative to rock and roll.

The standard format of pop music is the song, customarily less than five minutes in duration, with instrumentation that can range from an orchestra to a lone singer. Pop songs are generally marked by a consistent and noticeable rhythmic element, a mainstream style and traditional structure. Common variants are the verse-chorus form and the thirty-two-bar form, with a focus on melodies and catchy hooks, and a chorus that contrasts melodically, rhythmically and harmonically with the verse. Lyrics in pop music are frequently about love, relationships and life experiences. The primary objectives of the pop music genre are audience enjoyment and commercial success. This of course does not imply that those goals are achieved by every song in this genre.