20th century

===Music===
{{main|20th-century music}}
[[File:Elvis Presley first national television appearance 1956.jpg|thumb|[[Elvis Presley]] in 1956, a leading figure of [[rock and roll]] and [[rockabilly]].]]
The invention of music recording technologies such as the [[phonograph record]], and dissemination technologies such as [[radio broadcasting]], massively expanded the audience for music. Prior to the 20th century, music was generally only experienced in [[concert|live performances]]. Many new genres of music were established during the 20th century.
* [[Igor Stravinsky]] revolutionized classical composition.
* In the 1920s, [[Arnold Schoenberg]] developed the [[twelve-tone technique]], which became widely influential on 20th-century composers.
* In classical music, [[Musical composition|composition]] branched out into many completely new domains, including [[dodecaphony]], [[aleatoric music|aleatoric]] (chance) music, and [[minimalism]].
* [[Argentine tango|Tango]] was created in Argentina and became extremely popular in the rest of the Americas and Europe.
* [[Blues]] and [[jazz]] music became popularized during the 1910s, 1920s and 1930s in the United States. [[Bebop]] develops as a form of jazz in the 1940s.
* [[Country music]] develops in the 1920s and 1930s in the United States.
* Blues and country went on to influence [[rock and roll]] in the 1950s, which along with [[American folk music revival|folk music]], increased in popularity with the [[British Invasion]] of the mid-to-late 1960s.
* Rock soon branched into many different genres, including [[folk rock]], [[Heavy metal music|heavy metal]], [[punk rock]], and [[alternative rock]] and became the dominant genre of [[popular music]].
* This was challenged with the rise of [[hip hop music|hip hop]] in the 1980s and 1990s.
* Other genres such as [[House music|house]], [[techno]], [[reggae]], and [[soul music|soul]] all developed during the latter half of the century and went through various periods of popularity.
* Synthesizers began to be employed widely in music and crossed over into the mainstream with [[new wave music]] in the 1980s. [[Electronic instruments]] have been widely deployed in all manners of popular music and has led to the development of such genres as [[house music|house]], [[synthpop|synth-pop]], [[electronic dance music]], and [[industrial music|industrial]].