Western Popular Music and Indian Modernity

By: Biswarup Sen (Editor)

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Hardcover | 18 March 2026 | Edition Number 1

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Hardcover
192 Pages

Dimensions(cm)
24.41 x 16.99 x 1.27

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From the beginning of the colonial period, western musical forms and practices have travelled to the subcontinent, interacted with domestic sound cultures, and played a significant role in the making of Indian modernity. As the contributions in the volume show, it would be popular western styles like ragtime, jazz and rock n' roll that had the greatest impact on Indian culture and social life. Thus, in the nineteen thirties and forties, American jazz served as a powerful catalyst for local musicians who would create Bollywood film music. After Independence, contemporary western music played a big role in the formation of urban youth culture, a process that consisted of regular pop programming on All India Radio, music festivals at the IITs and other colleges, the rise of clubs, discos and local rock bands, and widespread coverage in English-language magazines like The Junior Statesman and Youth Times. Today, western popular music forms like electronic music and rap continue to fertilize India's musical milieu, but do so within the larger context of globalization and digital culture.

This book will appeal to students, researchers and scholars of ethnomusicology, cultural studies, postcolonial studies, and South Asian studies, as well as anyone interested in the intersection of music, culture, and modernity.

The chapters in this book were originally published as a special issue of South Asian History and Culture.

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