Traditional music has been highly renowned as the ‘official music’ of Myanmar’s military regime. However, the present time has witness an ever-increasing popularity of Western music which is estimated to start widespread throughout Burma from the 1930s. Here are some significant features of Burmese music in certain periods.
– Despite being under the intervention of the government, Burmese music was still heavily influenced the Western one. During this period, the common type of music that can be easily identified includes Western songs that were rendered in Burmese and some pop songs that were similar to the Asian pop tunes. Under the British occupation, there also existed classical music.
– Pop music in the 1970s: This type of music was common throughout the country during 1970s. However, it was later banned by state-run radio stations. Still, there were a great number of artists who produced albums in their private studios and launched music products in music production shops.
– 888 Uprising: this period, the ban from government loosened, which allowed artists and musicians to start their career with freedom and democracy.
– After 1970: this period saw a musical innovation as the a great attempt had been made to protect the traditional culture image.