Abstract: From the point of view of sociology,Adorno takes popular music as the centre of his aesthetic re- search.He believes that with the development of cultural industry,music art has changed qualitatively,lost its individuality and independence.According to Marx’s analysis of the Fetishism of the Commodity,Adorno fierce- ly criticized the American mass culture of that time.His critical idea is still of positive influence on Chinese pop music,which always warns people that mass media and culture should be dealt with rationally in the times of market economy.

Key words: Adorno, culturalindustry, popularmusic