Contemporary hit radio (also known as
CHR,
contemporary hits,
hit list,
current hits,
hit music,
top 40, or
pop radio) is a
radio format that is common in the
United States,
United Kingdom,
Ireland,
Canada,
New Zealand and
Australia that focuses on playing current and recurrent popular music as determined by the
top 40 music charts. There are several subcategories, dominantly focusing on
rock,
pop, or
urban music. Used alone,
CHR most often refers to the CHR-pop format. The term
contemporary hit radio was coined in the early 1980s by
Radio & Records magazine to designate
top 40 stations which continued to play hits from all musical genres as pop music splintered into
adult contemporary,
urban contemporary and other formats.