1930s-1950s film songs dominated the recordings of popular music in Punjab. These songs were accompanied by Indian instruments and Western instrumentation. Many of the most famous actor-singers in India came from Punjab, including Kundan Lal Saigal, Noor Jahan, and Shamshad Begum. In the 1950s, commercial recordings of folk-style Punjabi music began. Lal Chand “Yamla Jatt” was among the prominent voices of these recordings. While his stage name suggested he belonged to the Jat ethnicity, Lal Chand was belonged to the Chamar community, which was marginalized as opposed to mainstream, like the Jat ethnicity. He also developed the tūmbī, a one-stringed instrument that is now iconic for Punjabi “folk” singers. In the 1960s, a new type of popular “folk song” began to be recorded. The majority of these songs were not orally transmitted, anonymous compositions, and many were composed by contemporary songwriters, in a parallel to the folk movement in the UK and the United States. The songs themselves were considered “folk” because they were simple and in Punjabi language, but the accompaniments and musical settings mimicked film-song instead of rural music. An example of a singer in this style would be Singh Mastana, who really emphasized Punjabi identity. Another famous example is Surinder Kaur, who was born into a Sikh, Jat family that did not approve of singing, but who had a very successful career. By the 1980s, the introduction of affordable cassette players made it possible for independent music labels to flourish in Punjab. These independent labels had lower operating costs, so they were able to offer more regional music. In contrast to previous music that only had explicitly Punjabi content in the songs in order to make the music Punjabi, this new music had a Punjabi instrumentation and rustic vocal tone to make the music sound Punjabi. Some examples of artists who made this style of music include K.S. Narula and Charanjit Ahuja. A popular format in the genre were duets recorded by artists like Chamkila and Amarjot. Bhangra evolution from folk to pop Bhangra describes dance-oriented popular music with Punjabi rhythms. The name refers to one of the traditional and folkloric Punjabi dances. Thus in bhangra music the emphasis is usually on the music (i.e. rhythm for dancing) and less on the singer and the lyrics. Shift from folk instruments to pop started to happen since the 1980s, since then Bhangra dance music developed into a popular