Conservatism (Latin: conservare, "to preserve") is a political and social philosophy that promotes the maintenance of traditional institutions and supports, at the most, minimal and gradual change in society. Some conservatives seek to preserve things as they are, emphasizing stability and continuity, while others oppose modernism and seek a return to the way things were. The first established use of the term in a political context was by François-René de Chateaubriand in 1819, following the French Revolution. The term has since been used to describe a wide range of views.

Seymour Martin Lipset wrote that liberals and conservatives "typically do not take alternative positions on issues of equality and freedom. Instead, each side appeals to one or the other core values, as liberals stress egalitarianism‘s primacy and the social injustice that flows from unfettered individualism, while conservatives enshrine individual freedom and the social need for mobility and achievement as values "endangered" by the collectivism inherent in liberal nostrums."

This tag is specifically used to identify two things in Last.fm:

1)Non-music podcasts, commentary, and/or news programming in which people express conservative socio-political views– such as a Rush Limbaugh podcast.

2)Songs that express conservative viewpoints such as support for open free-market capitalism, traditional views of religious faith and/or morality, skepticism towards social government programs. Some examples are "Gloria" by U2 (with respect to religion), "Have You Forgotten?" by Darryl Worley (with respect to war), and "The Trees" by Rush (with respect to gov't).