Music in Serbia

Hi,

Music is said to be a universal language. Indeed it helps to discover and better understand the culture of a country.

What are the most popular music genres in Serbia? How about traditional music and instruments?

Who are the local artists you would recommend?

Where can you listen to them: are there any concerts or music festival held regularly?

Thank you in advance for participating,

Kenjee

The commentator above lives in the area where Turkish/Muslim heritage/influence is still strong so her opinion could be right for that area only (Sandak/Raka oblast).

So, lets start with festivals:

EXIT Festival (with Sea Dance Festival in Montenegro) - encompassing various music styles spread over several stages, it attracts around 600000 festival goers in recent times

Guča Trumpet Festival - held for over half a century, the greatest gathering of trumpet players and festival goers on Earth - about 600000 people come into a 2000 people strong town for several days of brass band music

Belgrade Beer Fest - between 600000 and 900000 people visit it for cheep beer and some mainstream music (rock,  reggae, pop, hip-hop...)

Gitarijada - Guitar fest, held for almost half a century in Zaječar, hosting young and unaffirmed bands, as well as proper rock bands from Balkans and Europe (dunno about audience numbers)

Nišville Jazz Fest - held for 20-30 years, where traditional and ''assimilated'' jazz is performed, attracting players and audience from everywhere.

To sum it up: Electronic, Rock and Jazz are played on the best festivals held in Serbia

Beside aforementioned genres, the also popular ones are: Pop, Hip-hop, Turbo-folk (from the comment above), Pop-folk. There is also traditional/folk music, still strong, played at celebrations of various kinds, as well as in old school kafanas - rural (izvorna) and urban (starogradska).

Traditional instruments still in use: trumpet, frula, accordion, tamburica, violin...

Check the rest here

There are lots of popular genres, and the previous comment with lots of festivals recommendations is spot on, as this is the best way to spend summer in Serbia enjoying music. Here is one new local artist I would recommend (the video also shows Belgrade streets):youtube.com/watch?v=rg2OpJyRak4