22/01/10 Lecture: What is "Popular Music"?

So, I must admit, I'm one of those people who's of the elitist view that "popular music" almost exclusively covers over-produced, fully commercialised artists such as Britney Spears, and the Vengaboys, and other such travesties to the latter portion of the phrase people bestow upon it, ("Music," that is.) However, upon being exposed to various quotes from multiple sources - and after a brief delve into the etymological history of the world "popular" - I have come to realise that it actually serves as a blanket term for almost any and all music. One definition considers "popular music" to be anything created "by the people", while another speculates that it's any piece of music ever played with an instrument, which is a shame for a'capella groups, but I don't think they really needed anybody to tell them that they're not popular... All in all, there's no true definition; it's everything.