Direct answer: Modern tar is a loose phrase that can refer to contemporary tar products, tar-derived industrial materials, or everyday black sealants that people still call tar.
The modern tar landscape is more regulated and more specialised than the historical one. Coal tar is mostly an industrial feedstock. Creosote is controlled in many uses. Road surfaces usually rely on asphalt and bitumen. Craft users may still buy pine tar, but it is sold as a labelled product with instructions and safety information.
Modern tar appears in roofing, industrial chemistry, heritage wood treatment, sports products, soaps, equestrian supplies, and specialist coatings. Many of these products are not the same chemically, even when packaging or conversation uses similar words.
The phrase “modern tar” is rarely precise. A modern can labelled pine tar, a coal-tar pitch industrial product, a roof mastic, and a road bitumen are different materials with different regulations.
In short: A broad contemporary phrase rather than one material. Can include wood tar, coal-tar products, or bituminous sealants. Modern products are often regulated and labelled by use. Exact identification matters for safety and performance.