Active rock is a radio format used by many commercial radio stations in Canada and the United States. While many current artists are played on both active rock and modern rock stations, an active rock station also plays popular classic rock songs from the past two decades. (For example, an active rock station might include some older songs by Aerosmith in its playlist, whereas a modern rock station would not.) A radio format or programming format describes the overall content broadcast on a radio station. ... A radio station is a sound broadcasting service. ... Modern rock is a phrase commonly used by radio stations to describe rock music styles that are commonly found on mainstream radio stations. ... Classic rock was originally conceived as a radio station broadcasting format which evolved from the album oriented rock (AOR) format in the mid-1980s. ... Aerosmith is a long-running hard rock band, originally forming in Boston, Massachusetts in the early 1970s, and enjoying a later resurgence in popularity in the late 1980s. ...