Exotica and Lounge were two of the prime styles of easy listening music in the '50s and '60s -- so symbolic of the sound of their era that they seemed to define easy listening in the minds of many listeners, particularly those that came upon the genre in its '90s revival. Exotica draws upon world music, but it doesn't aim for authentic replication.

Exotica and Lounge were two of the prime styles of easy listening music in the '50s and '60s -- so symbolic of the sound of their era that they seemed to define easy listening in the minds of many listeners, particularly those that came upon the genre in its '90s revival. Exotica draws upon world music, but it doesn't aim for authentic replication. Instead, exotica's primary concern is lightweight entertainment, gathering readily identifiable ethnic sounds into a smooth, easily digested pop form. The music typically conjures up images of exotic foreign tourist destinations geared toward white Americans, and in that sense, it's sort of the equivalent of a pre-packaged resort vacation -- fun, inauthentic, and safely familiar. Exotica is usually arranged for standard orchestras, with instrumentation added according to the location being evoked (ethnic percussion, string instruments, etc.); some exotica also borrows the weird, otherworldly sound effects that define the space-age pop style. Even in its '50s/early-'60s heyday, exotica was often derided as cheesy and contrived, but its '90s revival among alternative music fans embraced those very qualities (albeit ironically), and also brought a sincere reassessment of the music's inventive production techniques. The Pacific, the Caribbean, Latin America, Brazil, and Africa are among exotica's most popular regional musical sources; major exotica artists include Les Baxter, Martin Denny, Esquivel, and Yma Sumac.

Lounge was based on the lush styles of latter-day swing and big band music. Lounge scaled these back, borrowing ideas from the worldbeat exploration of exotica, as well as the futuristic aspirations of space age pop. Lounge wasn't as adventurous as either form, yet it wasn't as watered down as Muzak -- instead, it occupied the middle ground, appealing to fans of traditional pop as well as space-age pop.