Post- Modernism:

The Term "post modern" is used to refer to the period of music history that followed the modern period. Historians argue about when the post modern period originated with some saying it was in the 1930's, Whilst, others argue that it was the 1960's. Post-Modernism in music is a period of time in which a variety of new and creative music emerged into the industry which changed peoples perception of this expressive form of art.

In the 1980's the postmodernism period centred around image as artists wore more extravagant  and bold clothes in order to adhere to their image. Post-modernism was brought into the public eye by 

In the 1980’s postmodernism became a radical movement; everything became a statement with image being everything. This phases of post modernism included music and magazines as the post-punk subculture used cutting edge graphics in music videos. Music brought post-modernism to the public as celebrities such as Grace Jones and David Byrne used exaggeration to fashion their public identities. Grace Jones’ maternity dress created by Jean-Paul Goude and Antonio Lopez celebrated postmodernism with its angular fluorescent design. Other celebrities such as Boy George and Madonna also took ideas from postmodernism.

Postmodern music can be classed as different things such as music of the postmodern era, or music that follows aesthetic and philosophical trends of postmodernism. Postmodernism formed in reaction to the ideals and thoughts of modernism. Because of this, postmodern music is mostly defined in opposition to modernist music. One of the biggest examples of postmodern influence was in classical music in the 1960’s this came along with the advent of musical minimalism. Composers such as Terry Riley, Krzysztof Penderecki, György Ligeti, Henryk Górecki, Bradley Joseph, John Adams, George Crumb, Steve Reich, Philip Glass, Michael Nyman, and Lou Harrison reacted to the perceived elitism. By producing music with simple textures and relatively consonant harmonies, whilst others, most notably John Cage challenged the narratives of beauty and objectivity common to Modernism. Another significant emergence of postmodern music in popular music occurred in the late 1960s with influences in psychedelic rock and one or more of the later Beatles albums.

Many postmodern pieces of music borrow artistic elements from a multitude of sources. Some musicians can even have goals of redefining the criteria for initially assigning music its artistic value. One piece of postmodern music can be written in several styles from contrasting cultures. It can also have changing major and minor keys as well as unusual lyrics or sound effects. Instruments used for this music genre are quite varied, and postmodern musicians often embrace technology as a medium for their work.

Although postmodernism music generally refers to classical music, it also has shown major influences in popular music and other genres, such artists that show these influences are:

-David Bowie         -Sex Pistols    -Talking Heads     -Jimi Hendrix
-Michael Jackson   -Madonna       -The Beatles