The terms "folk music" and "pop music" also have more than one meaning. The folk music of a culture is the music that is passed down from one generation to the next, often without writing it down. It includes many different kinds of music: lullabies and children's singing games, tunes that everyone enjoys singing together or dancing to, songs for celebrations, ceremonies, and holidays. Folk music can gradually change as it gets passed along. Usually nobody remembers who originally wrote it, or who changed it, and there may be more than one version of any particular folk song. Since ancient times, folk music has been the music of ordinary people, not the ruling class or professional musicians. In every culture, children learned and remembered the music that everyone enjoyed the most, and the music that was important to their traditions.
The modern recording industry has changed things, though. In many cultures, pop music has largely replaced folk music as the music that everyone knows. Unlike folk music, it has usually been written recently and belongs to professional musicians, and new popular tunes quickly replace old ones. Even the types of music that are considered popular can change quickly. The term pop music can refer to a specific kind of popular music, as in "bubblegum pop". Popular music is also a general term for any type of music that is or has been a top seller. This includes most types of rock music and some kinds of jazz.
As the rise of recording pushed aside traditional music, some musicians made a point of recording traditional folk songs, so they would not be lost altogether. Some also wrote new songs in a "folk" style that enjoyed some popularity, particularly in the 1960's. Although these modern tunes do not fit the traditional definition, they are also called folk music.
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