The most common categories of origin are:
- Tin Pan Alley*
- Broadway musicals and Hollywood movies
- Jazz composers
In the broadest sense of the definition one might also include: - Traditional (folk, church, Christmas)
- Rock and roll
- International popular and folk music
* “Tin Pan Alley” may need some explanation. In the first half of the twentieth century many popular compositions were written by the composers and lyricists who worked for publishing houses on West 28th Street in Manhattan. Originally “Tin Pan Alley” referred to a segment of that street. Later it became a generic term for all publishers of American sheet music. |
