The understanding of the word 'popular' has changed many times over the last few hundred years. Raymond Williams notes that in the "16th century it originally stood for something which belonged to the common people and was pronounced, popularis." It was also seen as base and vulgar. This meaning however soon developed, the 18th century saw 'popular' as something which was widely favored, and the 19th as an adjective for something thats good. Anahid Kassabian noted that "popular stood for a homemade product which as not always the art and culture of the people." Our understanding today on the other hand, as Robert Burnett states is that popular is commercially orientated with profit as its primary aim. Music could in many respects represent this through examples such as Simon Cowell; developing a something which is "seen as being good," "liked by a lot of people" and therefore invested in.
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This is not bad but there are a few conflations of meanings from different sources which you should be careful of in the future.
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