Iranian music has a rich history under its belt. In the archaeological evidence of Elam, it is seen that the tradition of Iranian music dates back to the Neolithic age. The Elam is considered as one of the earliest world civilizations. The study of music in Iran has always been considered as a branch of high regards. But any experimentation with the Iranian music has faced harsh criticism from the religious authorities of Iran. Few of these Iranian music performances that have entangled the society include Tarab, Tasneef, Navakhteh or Taraneh. The most recent revolution happening in Iranian music is Muzik.
The Persian classical music is always honored throughout the world for its richness in quality and experimentation. The music legends like Barbod who performed during the era of Sassanid are the pride of the Iranian music. Till the 20th century musiqi-e assil held a status of culture at the royal courts of monarchy. But gradually with the passage of time, the musiqi-e assil reached the common households of Iran. The Iranian music has been enriched with the introduction of the singing stars like Gholam Hossein Banan. Before 1979, the instrumentalists who were honored worldwide were Ahmad Ebadi, Abolhasan Saba, Faramarz Payvar, Hossein Tehrani, Hassan Kassai.
The year of 1979 brought a change in the Iranian music. The national singing stars of the class of Jamshid Andalibi, Parviz Meshkatian, Jamshid Andalibi, Mohammad Reza Lotfi, Mohammad-Reza Shajarian emerged since then. But the clashes between the Islam and the Iranian music continued. The women were restricted from performing solo programs before public though they were allowed to accompany a lead singer.
