Adult contemporary

Adult contemporary music, frequently abbreviated AC, is a type of radio format that plays mainstream contemporary pop music, excluding hip h

Adult contemporary music, frequently abbreviated AC, is a type of radio format that plays mainstream contemporary pop music, excluding hip hop and hard rock, and which is intended more for adults than teens. AC is generally divided into 3 groups; "Hot AC", also known as "Adult Top 40", "Soft AC", also known as "Lite", and "Urban AC", also known as "Urban Contemporary". Some radio stations play only Hot AC; some play only Soft AC, and some play both. It is not thus usually considered a specific genre of music, as it is merely an assembly of selected tracks of musicians of many different genres.

Adult Top 40 was an American radio format which was reminiscent of pre-1995 Top 40 radio before rap music became a staple on playlists. Adult Top 40 radio was created to appeal to a demographic that liked pop music without the rap. Softer rock bands with melodic hooks and singer/songwriters thrive on adult top 40 radio. Artists played ranged from matchbox twenty to Cindy Nelson to Sheryl Crow to Madonna. It evolved into what is now called Hot Adult Contemporary or Hot AC.