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Indian pop
Euphoria performing at the Red Bull SoundClash concert in Dubai, November 2014
Other names	Indi-pop • I-pop
Stylistic origins	Bollywood music Filmi Indian music Tamil music Telugu music
Cultural origins	1960s—1990s, India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, United Kingdom
Subgenres
Asian Underground Bhangra Bhangragga Bollywood reprise Hindi dance music Indian rock

Indian pop music, also known as I-pop or Indi-pop, refers to pop music produced in India that is independent from filmi soundtracks for Indian cinema. Indian pop is closely linked to Bollywood, Tollywood, Pollywood, Kollywood and the Asian Underground scene of the United Kingdom. The variety of South Asian music from different countries are generally known as Desi music.

History

Pop music originated in the South Asian region with the playback singer Ahmed Rushdi's song "Ko Ko Korina" in 1966 and has since then been adopted in India, Bangladesh, and lately Sri Lanka, and Nepal as a pioneering influence in their respective pop cultures. Following Rushdi's success, Christian bands specialising in jazz started performing at various night clubs and hotel lobbies in various Southeast Asian cities. They would usually sing either famous American jazz hits or cover Rushdi's songs.

Pop music began gaining popularity across the Indian subcontinent in the early 1980s, with Pakistani singers Nazia and Zoheb Hassan forming a sibling duo whose records, produced by Biddu, sold as many as 60 million copies. Biddu himself previously had success in the Western world, where he was one of the first successful disco producers in the early 1970s, with hits such as the hugely popular "Kung Fu Fighting" (1974).

The term Indipop was first used by the British-Indian fusion band Monsoon in their 1981 EP release on Steve Coe's Indipop Records. Charanjit Singh's Synthesizing: Ten Ragas to a Disco Beat (1982) anticipated the sound of acid house music, years before the genre arose in the Chicago house scene of the late 1980s, using the Roland TR-808 drum machine, TB-303 bass synthesizer, and Jupiter-8 synthesizer.

In the late 2000s, Indi-pop music faced increasing competition from filmi music. Major pop singers stopped releasing albums and started singing for movies. Recently, Indian pop has taken an interesting turn with the "remixing" of songs from past Indian movie songs, new beats being added to them.

In 2022, Jaimin Rajani, an Indian singer-songwriter, fused the sitar's Indian classical sound with Western rock sensibilities in "Something Here to Stay," a track from his debut album Cutting Loose.

I-pop is a new and emerging music genre in India, blending Indian sounds with global pop influences. It features a mix of Hindi, regional languages, and English lyrics, with themes ranging from romance to social issues. The term I-pop was first coined by Indian music producer and singer Shankar Mahadevan. Gaining popularity among youth, I-pop reflects a shift from traditional Bollywood music, driven by independent artists and digital platforms. Key contributors to the genre include groups like W.i.S.H. and First5.

Lists

Best-selling albums

Music video streams

References

1. Bora, Pranab (15 November 1996). "Channel V and MTV create never-before market for global music". India Today.
2. Paracha, Nadeem F (December 13, 2004). "Socio-political History of Modern Pop Music in Pakistan". Chowk. Archived from the original on 2010-06-18. Retrieved 2008-06-27.
3. "29th death anniversary of Ahmed Rushdi today". Duniya News. April 11, 2012. Archived from the original on Jan 14, 2016. Retrieved 2011-03-04.
4. "Remembering Ahmed Rushdi". The Express Tribune. 12 April 2010. Archived from the original on 27 April 2010. Retrieved 28 December 2012.
5. Banerjee, Indrajit; Logan, Stephen (2008). Asian Communication Handbook 2008. AMIC. p. 389. ISBN 978-981-4136-10-5.
6. "NRI TV presenter gets Nazia Hassan Award". The Times of India. 18 November 2005. Archived from the original on 8 March 2012. Retrieved 2011-03-04. With her brother Zoheb Hassan, Nazia sold a staggering 60 million records and became an international name at the tender age of 13.
7. Ellis, James (27 October 2009). "Biddu". Metro. Archived from the original on Sep 2, 2011. Retrieved 2011-04-17.
8. The Listener, Volumes 100–101. BBC. 1978. p. 216. Retrieved 21 June 2011. Tony Palmer knocked off a film account of someone called Biddu (LWT), who appears to have been mad enough to invent disco music. {{cite book}}: |work= ignored (help)
9. Shapiro, Peter (2006). Turn the Beat Around: The Secret History of Disco. Macmillan Publishers. p. 55. ISBN 0-86547-952-6. Retrieved 7 June 2011.
10. Ladyslipper Music - Monsoon Featuring Sheila Chandra
11. "Discography". Sheila Chandra. Archived from the original on 2011-02-01. Retrieved 2010-03-07.
12. Rauscher, William (12 May 2010). "Charanjit Singh – Synthesizing: Ten Ragas to a Disco Beat". Resident Advisor. Retrieved 3 June 2011. In 1982, armed with a now-iconic trio of Roland gear, the Jupiter 8, TB-303 and TR-808, Singh set out to update the entrancing drone and whirling scales of classical Indian music.
13. Geeta Dayal (6 April 2010). "Further thoughts on '10 Ragas to a Disco Beat'". The Original Soundtrack. Archived from the original on 2 September 2010. Retrieved 3 June 2011.
14. Manga, Dhiren (2024-03-23). "Indian Girl Group W.i.S.H. aspire to take over Global Charts". DESIblitz. Retrieved 2024-12-14.
15. Bharat, E. T. V. (2024-10-25). "Krishnakumar Kunnath KK: The Unsung Pioneer of I-pop Music". ETV Bharat News. Retrieved 2024-12-14.
16. VoI, Team (2024-03-07). "Mikey McCleary Launches All-Girl Pop Group W.i.S.H to Revitalize Indian Pop Scene". Vibes Of India. Retrieved 2024-12-14.
17. Poorvaja, S. (2024-12-17). "Meet India's new next-gen boy pop group, First5". The Hindu. ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved 2024-12-28.
18. "Young Tarang". Rediff. Archived from the original on 1 December 2017. Retrieved 28 November 2017. The video album was sold in 40 million number which is the record of most selling video album.
19. Sheikh, M. A. (2012). Who's Who: Music in Pakistan. Xlibris Corporation. p. 192. ISBN 9781469191591.
20. "Daler Mehndi". In.com. Archived from the original on 2012-06-14. Retrieved 2014-02-22. Daler Mehndi eventually switched from classical music to pop, and in 1995 his first album Bolo Ta Ra Ra, with tunes based on those given to him by his mother, sold half a million copies in four months and 20 million copies total, making him the best selling non-soundtrack album in Indian music history.
21. Booth, Gregory D.; Shope, Bradley (2014). More Than Bollywood: Studies in Indian Popular Music. Oxford University Press. p. 151. ISBN 9780199928835.
22. ^ "Statistics". Abrar-ul-Haq Official Website. Archived from the original on 26 March 2009. Retrieved 26 March 2009.
23. Lodhi, Adnan (29 April 2016). "Abrar Ul Haq is back with a bangra". The Express Tribune. Abrar formally stepped into the limelight in 1995 with the release of his first album, Billo De Gar, which sold over 16 million copies nationwide.
24. Tunda, Franz (19 September 2010). ""Disco Deewane", Nazia Hassan with Biddu and His Orchestra". La Pelanga. Disco Deewane (recorded with legendary producer Biddu, who has given up music to be a writer, of all things…) went on to sell some 14 million copies worldwide, and the title track was a number one hit in Brazil.
25. Wartofsky, Alona (13 July 2003). "Rap's Fresh Heir". The Washington Post. Retrieved 23 May 2012.
26. Ansari, Shahab (5 July 2017). "Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan's 'lost tape recordings' found". The News International. The album sold 6 million units worldwide and broke his sound into World music stations across the US.
27. Raj, Radhika; Khanna, Shubhda (2 October 2010). "Pop no more". Hindustan Times.
28. Jeffries, Stan (2003). Encyclopedia of World Pop Music, 1980-2001. Greenwood Press. p. 35. ISBN 9780313315473. All of Chinai's previous success was eclipsed with the 1995 release of Made in India. A series of uptempo songs indebted to traditional Indian music but revealing a definite Western influence, the album reached #1 in the Indian charts and stayed there for over a year as it sold over 5 million copies.
29. Limca Book of Records. Bisleri Beverages Limited. 1999.
30. Sabharwal, Gopa (2017). India Since 1947: The Independent Years. Penguin Group. p. 304. ISBN 9789352140893.
31. ^ Kumar, Raj (2003). Essays on Indian Music. Discovery Publishing House. p. 18. ISBN 9788171417193.
32. Mathai, Kamini (2009). A. R. Rahman: The Musical Storm. Penguin Group. p. 160. ISBN 9788184758238.
33. Bill Lamb. "Jay Sean". About.com. Archived from the original on 2009-09-24. Retrieved 2009-12-14.
34. Khatib, Salma (22 September 2000). "Indi-pop: Down but Not Out". Screen. Archived from the original on 2 March 2008. Retrieved 5 October 2013.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
35. "Punjabi pop hits the jackpot!". The Tribune. 19 February 2000.
36. Aditya Music India (Feb 25, 2020). "#AlaVaikunthapurramuloo - ButtaBomma Full Video Song (4K) | Allu Arjun | Thaman S | Armaan Malik - YouTube". YouTube. Retrieved 2021-02-22.
37. Brown Munde - Ap Dhillon | Gurinder Gill | Shinda Kahlon | Gminxr on YouTube
38. Maari 2 - Rowdy Baby (Video Song) | Dhanush, Sai Pallavi | Yuvan Shankar Raja | Balaji Mohan, retrieved 2021-02-22
39. Jai Deva Ganesha | Abhay Jain | New Ganpati Song | Ganpati DJ Song on YouTube
40. ^ "T-Series". YouTube. T-Series. Retrieved 19 April 2019.
41. Bom Diggy | Zack Knight | Jasmin Walia (Official Music Video) on YouTube
42. Bom Diggy Diggy (VIDEO) | Zack Knight | Jasmin Walia | Sonu Ke Titu Ki Sweety on YouTube
43. Bom Diggy Diggy (Video Song/Lyric Video) on YouTube
44. Guru Randhawa: High Rated Gabru Official Song | DirectorGifty | Bhushan Kumar | T-Series on YouTube
45. Rahat Fateh Ali Khan - Zaroori Tha on YouTube
46. Jackson, Joe (2011-11-30). "Nonsensical, Semi-English Music Video Goes Viral in India". Time. ISSN 0040-781X. Retrieved 2021-05-10.
47. Singh, Renu (Dec 10, 2011). "B-schools hit by the Dhanush's Kolaveri di attack - Times of India". The Times of India. Retrieved 2021-05-10.

• Indian pop
• Music of India
• Indian styles of music
• Performing arts in India
• Music of South Asia
• Entertainment in India
• Pop music by country