Adult Standards
tagStarted 1940Peak 1950-1965Last big hit still active
Located in 2 routes
The radio-format and catalog name for timeless songbook pop aimed at grown-up listeners: orchestral ballads and swing standards, smooth vocals, no rock backbeat. Lush, mellow and nostalgic, built for easy adult listening. The repertoire that became 'oldies for adults' and the backbone of standards and supper-club programming.
History
Crystallized as a programming and marketing category from the 1940s-50s songbook canon, the term anchored mid-century radio formats serving adult audiences after rock split the youth market. It peaked through the early 1960s and persisted as a durable format and reissue label, keeping the standards catalog in steady rotation and continued recording for decades.
Defining artists
Essential listening
Sources
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adult_standards
- https://www.allmusic.com/style/traditional-pop-ma0000002613
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Traditional_pop