A variety of records show that the idea of popular music resonating with a broad cross-section of people began with minstrel shows in postcolonial America around the 1840s. Initially, these shows had racist overtones: black-faced white performers imitated and exaggerated the sounds and styles of African American songs and dances. These shows had large audiences and grew in popularity in the northern parts of the country.
During and after the Civil War period, African Americans also created their own minstrel shows for their black communities. One of the features of these black minstrel shows was a dance segment called a “cakewalk” where the couple with the most outstanding dance moves would receive a cake for their efforts. These cakewalk shows later evolved into a style of music called ragtime.
In tandem with ballads and patriotic songs handed down from European descendants, as well as folk songs created by country folk, the American music scene slowly began to take shape. Soon, several artists made a name for themselves on the US mainland. Tin Pan Alley, founded in the 1880s, became a center where music creators of the time could sell their songs as sheet music. “Pocket singers” also helped spread the music they created by giving more ears to tunes created for specific bands and demographics.
Music that had been limited to their respective ethnic groups – minstrel shows for whites and blacks, country songs for southern audiences, etc. – could now be distributed to the general population to be enjoyed by everyone, regardless of race or background.
For example, “My Wild Irish Rose,” an Irish ballad written in 1899, became popular among nonIrish people who also sang the song. Jazz and blues, products of the African-American community, also became popular among white Americans, who not only listened to such songs but also began to perform and create works in these genres themselves.
The growth of the music industry in the second half of the 19th century and early 1900s was explosive with the advent of radio and television, as well as the invention of the gramophone. The creation of ASCAP and a number of other music regulatory bodies provided a framework for songwriters to be paid for their work, encouraging more and more Americans from all walks of life to embrace music as a way to make a living.
But American music was not just about people writing songs; it was about innovation, about constant attempts to create a new sound. Songwriters and artists borrowed and modified sounds and styles from other genres. Soon, artists such as Elvis Presley were performing songs that were considered to have an African-American sound, while Ray Charles, a black singer with a blues background, managed to create hits that contained balladry (“Georgia On My Mind”) and country music (“You Are My Sunshine” originated).