Space age pop is a general and loosely based term for a music genre associated with certain Mexican and American composers and songwriters in the Space Age of the 1950s and 1960s. It is also called bachelor pad music or lounge music. Space age pop was inspired by the zeitgeist of those times, an optimism based on the strong post-war economy and technology boom, and excitement about mankind's early forrays into space. Although there is no specific album, date, or year when the genre was born, producer Irwin Chusid identifies its heyday as "roughly 1954 to 1964—from the dawn of high-fidelity (hi-fi) to the arrival of the Beatles."

The music is not limited to a single style, and it is not always easily categorized. There are several styles that can be recognized as an influence: classical composers like Ravel and Debussy; the big bands of the 1940s; and different exotic styles, such as samba, latin, and calypso jazz. Space Age pop is related to the genres of lounge music, exotica, or beautiful music and may be regarded as a precursor to the musical genre of space music.