J-Pop

J-pop (ジェイポップ?, also J-POP), an abbreviation for Japanese pop, is a loosely defined musical genre that entered the musical mainstream of Japan in the 1990s. Modern J-pop has its roots in 1960s music such as The Beatles and replaced kayōkyoku (Japanese pop music until 1980s) in the Japanese music scene. It was coined by the Japanese media to distinguish Japanese music from foreign music and now refers to most of Japanese popular music. According to the data of 2006 from the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry, Japan has the second largest market for recorded music in the world, behind the United States.