See also authenticity (philosophy) and authentication (which deals only with computer security).

In the arts, history, archaeology, the study of antiques, and similar fields involving unique or scarce artifacts from the past, and, with regard to documents in law, authenticity (Greek: αυθεντικός, from 'authentes'='author') is the truthfulness of origins, attributions, commitments, sincerity, and intentions; not a copy or forgery. See also provenance.

Webster's 1913 dictionary defines authenticity as

1. the quality of being authentic or of established authority for truth and correctness.
2. Genuineness; the quality of being genuine or not corrupted from the original.

In later writers, especially those on the evidences of Christianity, authenticity is often restricted in its use to the first of the above meanings, and distinguished from genuineness.

Simon Frith (2004, p.28) argues that the evaluation of authenticity in music is incoherent. "'Inauthentic,'...is a term which may be applied evaluatively within genres which are straight-forwardly, cynically, commercial," such as Eurodisco or "TV pop idols...It's as if people expect music to mean what it says, however cynical that meaning, and music can be heard as being false to its own premises." As examples he gives Madonna and Eminem.

Source

• Washburne, Christopher J. and Derno, Maiken (eds.) (2004). Bad Music: The Music We Love to Hate. New York: Routledge. ISBN 0415943663.
  • Frith, Simon. "What is Bad Music".