ABSTRACT
For half a century, mass-mediated popular music in India has been dominated by the sounds of cinema. While regional diversity and considerable class differences prohibit a single, national popular music to supersede all other local and subcultural styles, the Hindi/Urdu songs of Bombay’s commercial film industry (known around the world as ‘Bollywood’) hold an indisputable position as the musical mainstream in North India and beyond. During the 1990s, however, a new type of national popular music emerged in tandem with the liberalization of India’s economy, the expansion of the consuming middle class and the growth of satellite television. Though known by several names, such as Hindi Pop and private album music, there is growing consensus among artists and executives in Bombay to call this non-film music ‘Indipop’.
