demusic1-7, Exercise 1: The Schlager

Model answer (check the details):

Definition: the Schlager is a popular song, usually in German, with an easy tune and a sentimental or cheerful text about love, holidays, home or longing, meant to be a "hit" on the radio and television.

Two reasons it is left out of "serious" histories:
1. Critics have judged it escapist, formulaic and commercial, and histories of music have often been written around composers and innovations, not around mass taste.
2. After 1945 many cultural commentators saw it as a way of avoiding the recent past, so it carried a reputation for avoidance, whether or not that was fair (check).

Why the omission is a problem: it was heard by huge numbers of people, and a history that leaves it out misses much of what Germans actually listened to. The answer is to include it and describe it fairly.