MuPop à Montluçon, Popular music museum in Montluçon, France

MuPop is a popular music museum in Montluçon with more than 150 listening stations displaying instruments, memorabilia, and records from the 18th century through the 1990s. The collection is organized along thematic paths that guide visitors through different genres and musical traditions.

The museum grew out of the Musée de la vielle, developed in Montluçon in the 1960s and 1970s. Its scope widened from hurdy-gurdies to bagpipes, then to electric guitars and popular music, traditional and contemporary. This required a larger exhibition setting and a more engaging museography, realised when the MuPop opened on 21 June 2013, the Fête de la Musique.

The museum grew out of a hurdy-gurdy museum founded in Montluçon in the 1960s and 1970s, then widened its scope to bagpipes, electric guitars and popular music of all kinds. Its temporary exhibitions have been devoted to French disco, Michel Polnareff, the drum kit in France and summer hits of 1960-2000.

The entrance sits in the modern concrete extension linking the two historic townhouses, so start there before moving into the Charnisay and Méchain hotels. The documentation centre and reserves are housed separately in the former château des ducs de Bourbon and are open to researchers and specialists.

The museum's documentation centre and reserves are housed in the former château des ducs de Bourbon, separate from the exhibition buildings, and are open to researchers and specialists. The entrance linking the two historic hôtels is a modern concrete extension. The faceted metal-clad exterior of the newer part carries the silver lowercase letters "muPop".