This article reviews studies that examine internationally circulating music which has reached the upper echelon of all-genre single charts in the 21st century. The examinations will be used as examples for the analysis of sonic aesthetics that are embedded in a particular frame of cultural debate, which the article conceptualises as ‘mainstream popular music’. The research field is then mapped and discussed with regard to prevailing objectives, methods and findings, including elaborations on how future research might advance understanding of the aesthetics within the discourses of mainstream popular music and, thus, of contemporary culture at large. The literature review focuses on music- and listener-based analytical directions and critically reflects on the frequent absence of theoretically well-founded and empirically underpinned, context-sensitive music examinations, particularly with regard to quantitative and audience research. The concluding section calls for a more integrated perspective on mainstream popular music as a discourse and praxis formation.

本文回顾了对国际流行音乐的研究，这些音乐在 21 世纪已达到全流派单曲榜的上层。这些考试将用作分析嵌入特定文化辩论框架中的声音美学的示例，本文将其概念化为“主流流行音乐”。然后根据主流目标、方法和发现对研究领域进行映射和讨论，包括阐述未来的研究如何促进对主流流行音乐话语中的美学的理解，从而促进对整个当代文化的理解。文献回顾侧重于基于音乐和听众的分析方向，并批判性地反映了经常缺乏有充分理论根据和经验支持的情况，上下文相关的音乐考试，特别是在定量和听众研究方面。结论部分呼吁对主流流行音乐作为一种话语和实践形式进行更综合的视角。