The first time a large group of Americans heard ragtime music was in 1893, at the Chicago World's Fair. More than 20 million people attended the fair, experiencing the work of ragtime musicians such as Scott Joplin, Jesse Pickett and Shep Edmonds. In 1896, the song "All Coons Look Alike To Me," was the first sheet music labeled as ragtime.
Syncopation, or an offbeat sound, was an important part of African American music, influenced by the rhythms of Africa. The music of the slaves retained similar traits and evolved into banjo dances, plantation songs and "ragged" rhythms, which in turn helped to shape ragtime music.
The sound of ragtime, found through the syncopation, was unlike anything pop culture had previously experienced. Instead, the offbeat tracks sounded to people like the kind of music they heard emanating from brothels and bars, with a kind of loose structure. According to the Library of Congress "History of Ragtime," some publications and groups denounced the style, even at its most popular, as unmusical rot and as eroding mores.
Although not the creator of ragtime music, composer Scott Joplin was one of the movement's most important contributors. After playing at the World's Fair, he moved to Missouri in 1896, at that time known as the "Cradle of Classic Ragtime," where he taught others the style and published his own work. During his lifetime, he composed ragtime operas, along with other ragtime piano compositions such as "The Entertainer." The latter featured on the soundtrack of the 1974 movie "The Sting," and was part of the ragtime revival of the period.
John Stark, a veteran of the Civil War, was the most important publisher of ragtime music. After moving to Missouri in 1886, he opened a music store, where he met Scott Joplin in 1899. Joplin was looking for someone to publish his work "Maple Leaf Rag," and when Stark eventually agreed, the record sold successfully. Stark went on to publish a number of other important ragtime composers, including Joseph Lamb, Artie Mathews, J. Russell Robinson and James Scott. He also developed the term "classic rags," in reference to the style that evolved from the ragtime composers living and working in Missouri.