What is Pop Music?

Originally I would have answered, without much thought, that pop music generally consists of commercially orientated and manufactured 'bands' and 'artists' such as Britney Spears and Hearsay. Realising that that is quite an ignorant definition I have toyed with many other ideas namely that pop music is mass produced and mass consumed and therefore must be the music and musical styles that are most accessible to the widest audience and not constricted to ant type of genre or style. It is completely flexible and depends on time, culture and social ambience - the free-spirited lyrics and rhythms of post war Rock 'n' Roll suited the feeling of celebration and victory - quite unlike the later more serious lyrics of John Lennon popular during the revolutions and anti war protests of the 1960s. Roy Shuker confirms this notion commenting '[pop music] is an economic product which is invested with ideological significance.' - Understanding Popular Music, (2001). p.7, Routledge.