Music of Azerbaijan - Mugam

The classical music of Azerbaijan is called mugam (more accurately spelled muğam), and draws on the music of the Iranian-Arab-Turkish maqam. It is usually a suite with poetry and instrumental interludes. The sung poetry sometimes includes tahrir segments, which use a form of singing similar to yodelling. The poetry is typically about divine love and is most often linked to Sufi Islam.Mugam created in ancient Iran territory and developed in Azerbaijan republic and Iran Azerbaijan provinces since Safavid(The most branch of mugam which called by bayat(like bayat-e-kurd,bayate-shiraz, bayat-e-turk...)created by an Azerbaijani tradition(Bayat which have music talents)in different provinces of Iran like kurdisatn, shiraz, isfahan. The most of royal musicians in palaces of ancient Iran kings in provinces were Bayat and there is no relation between Persian and mugam because of different morality and life philosophy between Persians and ancient Iran traditions.

Azerbaijan has a wide range of music and music styles but the most popular is pop music. In 2011, Azerbaijan won the Eurovision song contest with an all-out pop ballad, which was written by a Swede, the writer of most of their entries, many of which are western inspired. Aside from winning duet Eldar and Nigar, national heroes in Azerbaijan, as soloists and in their duet, better known as Ell and Nikki, Westernised Azerbaijani pop includes Emin Agalarov, the son in law of president Ilham Aliyev. In contrast to the mugam traditions of Central Asian countries, Azeri mugam is more free-form and less rigid; it is often compared to the improvised field of pop.

UNESCO proclaimed the Azerbaijani mugam tradition a Masterpiece of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity on November 7, 2003.