American Decades documents and analyzes periods of contemporary American social history. Each volume begins with an overview and chronology covering the entire decade. Subject chapters follow, each including an explanatory background overview; subject-specific timeline; and alphabetically arranged entries discussing the people, events and ideas important to that subject during the period. Included are biographies; explanations of concepts; terms and events; quotations; charts; sidebars covering high-interest topics; and much more.

This program provides an overview of musical genres, including forms of classical music, rock and pop, musical theater, 20th- and 21st-century film music, heavy metal, and rap.