Post-punk is a heterogeneous type of rock music that emerged in the wake of the punk movement of the 1970s. Drawing inspiration from elements of punk rock while departing from its musical conventions and wider cultural affiliations, post-punk music was marked by varied, experimentalist sensibilities and its "conceptual assault" on rock tradition. Artists embraced electronic music, black dance styles and the avant-garde, as well as novel recording technology and production techniques. The movement also saw the frequent intersection of music with art and politics, as artists liberally drew on sources such as critical theory, cinema, performance art and modernist literature. Accompanying these musical developments were subcultures that produced visual art, multimedia performances, independent record labels and fanzines in conjunction with the music. 

The term "post-punk" was first used by journalists in the late 1970s to describe groups moving beyond punk's sonic template into disparate areas. Many of these artists, initially inspired by punk's DIY ethic and energy, ultimately became disillusioned with the style and movement, feeling that it had fallen into commercial formula, rock convention and self-parody. They repudiated its populist claims to accessibility and raw simplicity, instead seeing an opportunity to break with musical tradition, subvert commonplaces and challenge audiences. Artists moved beyonds punk's focus on the concerns of a largely white, male, working class population and abandoned its continued reliance on established rock and roll tropes, such as three-chord progressions and Chuck Berry-based guitar riffs. These artists instead defined punk as "an imperative to constant change", believing that "radical content demands radical form".
What was it marked by?
marked by varied, experimentalist sensibilities and its "conceptual assault" on rock tradition