being smuggled across the border or released by Melodiya as part of what essentially was state-run media piracy, with The Beatles taking a firm place in Soviet popular culture, and artists such as The Rolling Stones and Deep Purple completing a somewhat distorted picture of Western music. The late 1960s and 1970s: Formation of the movement The beat music movement developed in the provinces. The first Russian rock and roll magazine "Bit-Echo" was released in 1965. On December 18, 1966 the first rock festival in the USSR was held in Kamensk-Uralsky, Sverdlovsk region. In May, 1969, the festival later known as "Woodstock-na-Donu" was held in Rostov-na-Donu. However, the musicians of independent bands faced two problems that limited their activities. The first was the unavailability of recording studios (then sole record label, Melodiya, would later forge a partnership with international label EMI in the 70s). The second problem was that after completing higher education, musicians had to make a choice: to leave to work in their specialty or join a professional band (VIA - vocal and instrumental ensemble). Guitar-driven bands evolved during this time, including Leningrad-based Pojuschie Gitary () and Belarusian Pesnyary. These bands started the VIA () movement, and were followed by others, such as Tsvety, Ariel, , and Sinyaya Ptitsa. Some Soviet composers — David Tukhmanov, Yury Antonov — tried to combine the traditions of Soviet estrada with modern musical ideas, including those coming from Western rock music. At the same time, Mashina Vremeni in Moscow and Aquarium in Leningrad started as nominally amateur bands and soon became popular, performing underground concerts. In the early 1970s, Yuri Morozov invented a kind of Russian psychedelic rock, using elements of progressive rock and ethnic Russian music. His sound influenced DDT, Aquarium, Chizh & Co, and many others, while he worked with them as a sound engineer. Morozov, as well as "Scythians", "Sadko" and "Tin Soldiers", released the earliest Russian rock recordings through samizdat. Another notable artist who started his activity at the same time is Alexander Gradsky, who fused bard music with Western rock. As successful composer and singer, he was able to release some of his recordings through "Melodiya" since 1973. In 1970 and 1971, the first All-Soviet rock festival "Silver Strings" was held. In 1971-72, the "Pop Federation" organization was engaged in underground rock concerts. Moscow Power Engineering Institute was the most famous venue for rock bands of the