Adult Alternative Pop/Rock

Adult album alternative (also referred to as triple-A, AAA, or adult alternative) is a radio format broadcast mostly on FM. A spinoff from the album-oriented rock format, its roots may have been established some time during the 1960s from what was called freeform and later progressive. The radio format has a broader, more diverse playlist than most other formats and tends to appeal more to adults than to teenagers. Less-played tracks are also common.

Musical selection tends to be on the fringe of mainstream pop and rock, as well as many other music genres such as alternative rock, alternative country, jazz, folk, world music and blues. The musical selections tend to shy away from hard rock and rap music. Some triple-A stations bill themselves under such slogans as "World Class Rock," "Quality Rock," or "Finest Rock." Music selection also includes tracks from albums that are not singles, which leads to the enhanced and larger playlist.

Triple-A songs sometimes do manage to chart on the Adult Top 40, modern rock or an adult contemporary chart, since they may be the first to play a first breakout on AAA. Additionally, Radio and Records, a news magazine devoted to radio and the music industry, charts stations in various formats including triple-A. Its sister publication, Billboard, also began a Triple-A chart using Radio and Records' information on July 10, 2008.

This description is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses materials from the Wikipedia article "Adult album alternative".