- Punk Rock and its anti-government/anti-establishment movement of the 1970s gave way to synthesizer-driven New Wave and "synthpop" in the early 80s. The electronics-heavy dance music popularized by bands like Devo, the Pet Shop Boys and Flock of Seagulls was the dominant pop sound for the early part of the decade.
- Rock music was still primarily two guitars, bass and drums throughout the 80s, but the look and attitude varied enough that new terms emerged to describe it. Some bands like Poison took on wild "big" hair, spandex attire and mascara and got tagged as glam rock. Other bands like Metallica, Megadeth and Slayer had a more serious attitude, usually dressed in black, and got called head bangers. Melodic arena rock didn't die out either as hit bands from the 1970s, such as Aerosmith, made comebacks in the 1980s.
- Kenny Rogers, Dolly Parton, Willie Nelson and other country music artists enjoyed crossover success in the '70s and that continued into the mid 80s until pop radio started to reject its polished sound. The last half of the 1980s saw the emergence of so-called "new country" that often wed rock elements to traditional country song structures. Clint Black, the Judds and most notably Garth Brooks were key figures in this trend.
- Hip-hop and rap started the 1980s as mostly party music but evolved to what rapper Chuck D. of Public Enemy called a kind of "CNN for the ghetto." The first major new wave of rap was all musical as Run-DMC broke through to rock radio formats with a rap version of Aerosmith's "Walk this Way." Run-DMC's popularity made audiences seek out other rap, and that exposed more socially conscious (and usually controversial) rap acts like Ice T, Public Enemy and N.W.A. By the end of the decade, rap and hip hop had performers covering everything from politics to comedy.
- Perhaps no one element drove popular music and trends in the 80s more than MTV (Music Television). It premiered on the then still new cable television in August 1981 and played short performance films by music artists 24 hours a day. Through MTV, audiences that were used to hearing only one kind of music got to hear (and see) many more. MTV got some criticism for encouraging acts to emphasize looks over music, but artists that figured out how to use the visual medium soared to popularity faster than they ever could have by radio alone. Leading the way were acts like Madonna, Duran Duran and most of all, Michael Jackson.
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