Punjabi music is the music belonging to Punjab. Though the basic roots and basic instruments of the Punjabi folk music is the same as those of Rajasthan, Gujarat, Haryana and other parts of north western India Punjabi music retains a certain beat and rhythm which is unique to it. The music is also influenced by the neighboring country of Pakistan. Traditional Punjabi songs were forgotten for some years when pop style music arrived suddenly but now the pop fever is over and the artists and peopel are returning back to their traditional music.Today the one of biggest trait of Punjab is music, Punjabi music. Punjabi folk music is highly rhythmic and very diverse. The contemporary Punjabi music not just enriched by mixing up new tunes and beats of foreign music to Punjabi music but it is extremely enriched by its origin.As history tells, large number of invaders was greedy for Punjab, Northern-Western Planes of Indian continent, they came and brought new tunes of music and thus Punjab became a region in the world which has a diverse style of music. With the arrival of Central Asian and European people, folk Punjab music had been merged with this Central Asian and European music. And Now Punjabi music turned into a brand new universal music. Punjabi people are exceeding fond of music that can be seen by just a single visit to Punjab. Punjabi music touched so heights from folk music to world music. Today, Everyone those who loves music easily recognise the Punjabi beats.
The pre history of Bhangra music dates back to the late 1960s and early 1970s, several Punjabi bands from the United Kingdom set the stage for bhangra to become a form of music instead of being just a dance. Some of the earliest bands were The Shots/The black mist (1967), The Jambo boys (1968), Kalapreet (1969) and The Saathies (1970). The success of many bands based in the United Kingdom created a fanbase, inspired new artists, and found large amounts of support in both Pakistani and Indian Punjab where bhangra music imports from the UK created an alternative to Punjabi folk singers in the rural areas and hindi film music in the cities. These artists, some of whom are still active today, include, Heera Group, Alaap band, Apna Sangeet and The new pardesi music machine. This period of bhangra prosperity lasted until 1994 when the introduction of the folk dhol drum and electronic dj looped sampling caused most bands to either dissolve or morph into punjabi folk singers albeit keeping the band name.
