In the last decade, and until a few years ago, the underground music market in Iran was very small, and among the multitude of unlicensed singers, some gained popularity and fame, while others left the field of competition. The following report deals with the history of underground music in Iran and tells about singers who came from the underground to the stage and became popular.
Underground music exists in most societies and the reasons for that are different. Political laws and frameworks, cultural issues and customs of different nations are just some of the reasons for the creation of so-called underground music. Undoubtedly, underground music more or less influences the process of producing musical works and sometimes gives birth to artists who later become among the lasting ones of their era
Underground music has a long history in European and American countries, and perhaps the reason for that is the existence and occurrence of many political and social events that have affected the lives of the people of each country and, whether they like it or not, have affected the process of producing their artistic and musical works.
Of course, the creation of underground music in countries like the United States, which do not have specific and limited laws in the field of producing artistic works, has reasons other than censorship. Usually, the underground activity of artists in Western countries is due to their opposition to the rules and regulations of the companies that are active in the field of producing musical works. These groups, which usually have a lot of fans, do not hold official concerts and perform in informal venues and places, which is what happened to some unlicensed Iranian singers in Moqti and still exists.
Of course, this is not the only reason for creating underground groups in Western countries, and if we look at the history of music in Western countries, we will see that there are more reasons for creating illegal or underground organizations. Among these, we can mention the music of black people in America, which gave birth to a style called rap. Black Americans used rap music to fight against racial discrimination and produced various works illegally to escape existing laws. But the formation of underground music in Iran has other reasons besides the existence of legal restrictions, and at some point it had become a common and widespread phenomenon
After the Islamic revolution, that is, from 1357 to the mid-seventies, pop music and other genres practically did not exist in Iran, and no other works were produced and presented except epic and hymn-like pieces that were produced according to various occasions. After that, the Music Center of the Broadcasting Organization used music professors to obsessively select different applicants, and the Ministry of Guidance carefully evaluated the quality of the work of emerging singers and issued licenses after that.
Of course, it should be noted that traditional music continued to exist in the same closed space in the years after the revolution, and due to the existing support, it never turned its path towards underground and informal places, but the existence of prohibitions and many ups and downs, along with the discussion The multi-voice of the music officials in how to establish related policies and laws in the previous decades, underground music was formed with the approach of pop and other types of music other than traditional, and it became popular, and with its continued existence, it more or less influenced the country’s music body.
Apart from the usual limitations in the production and presentation of musical works, one of the important reasons for the creation of underground music in Iran is the existence of tools and computer programs and software. Iranian singers and musicians who until recently used to get permission for their activities and went to official studios to produce their works, in such conditions, could record their works at home or any other closed place and publish them on the Internet within a few minutes. In this regard, after the popularity of the Internet and the ease of production of various works, it reached a point where many singers were born in a short period of time, and this abundance of works caused the Music Office of the Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance and other related institutions to easily grant permission. not to export and the singers also preferred to use their personal facilities to produce different works and all these events led to the creation of organizations known as underground music. On the other hand, Sedavsima, which had a music and anthem center at one point, was successful in selecting singers of the pop arena, but was left behind by the ignorance of technology to the extent that serious audiences considered the so-called broadcast music to be unserious, and with the rapid growth of singers over time He lost his fans in a short time. In the 80s, it was possible to listen to famous foreign works with the help of the Internet, which is another reason for the increase in readers. At that time, many singers imitated and copied foreign works with Iranian atmosphere and Persian language, and copying melodies or taking inspiration from them led to easy and convenient production of various works
Most of the works that were produced in the underground during those years were included in the pop and rock genres, and the biggest achievement of these organizations was the birth of the rap style in Iran; A type that had no meaning and concept until the early eighties and the audience did not know much about it.. One of the reasons why artists in the music field addressed rap was its protest aspect, which had gained more expression during the presidency of Ahmadinejad and the atmosphere of the eighties. In that decade, holding concerts was not common and rappers imitating American rappers performed underground shows in unofficial places, among which some rappers were arrested and detained after being identified.