Hey there. I'm doing some research on the history of classical music, and I'm wondering, what did people in Europe listen to that wasn't classical music back in the olden days? As I understand it, western music has its roots in the church, and, eventually, the courts. A bit later in history after a couple of revolutions, the composers were no longer employees of the church/court but became famous artists in their own right, then music publishing became common, and music became a bit more of a thing people could consume en-masse, outside of churches, at least if they could play an instrument, or had friends who did.

But, let's say we are in Vienna during the time of Mozart/Haydn/Beethoven/etc. Are composers like that all that people listened to, or did they also have folk music, songwriters, other stuff that was available? I'm not finding much of an answer to this on the internet.

Basically, the question is, has classical music always been unpopular? Was it more or less always for a certain elite? Or was it simply the only music available at the time?

Thanks and love!