Folk music includes both traditional music and the genre that evolved from it during the 20th century folk revival. The term originated in the 19th century but is often applied to music that is older than that. Certain types of folk music are also called world music.

Traditional folk music has been defined in several ways: as music transmitted by mouth, as music of the lower classes, and as music with unknown composers. It has been contrasted with commercial and classical styles. One meaning often given is that of old songs, with no known composers; another is music that has been transmitted and evolved by a process of oral transmission or performed by custom over a long period of time.

Starting in the mid-20th century a new form of popular folk music evolved from traditional folk music. This process and period is called the (second) folk revival and reached a zenith in the 1960s. This form of music is sometimes called contemporary folk music or folk revival music to distinguish it from earlier folk forms. This type of folk music also includes fusion genres such as folk rock, folk metal, electric folk, and others. While contemporary folk music is a genre generally distinct from traditional folk music, in English it shares the same name, and it often shares the same performers and venues as traditional folk music. Even individual songs may be a blend of the two.

Anupam Roy (Bengali: অনুপম রায়) is a Bengali lyricist, composer, singer and a guitarist. He is best known for his song Amake amar moto thakte dao (আমাকে আমার মত থাকতে দাও ), which appeared on the soundtrack to the 2010 film Autograph. He is also known for the songs "Ekbar Bol", "Gobhire Jao", "Tistaan" and "Beche Thakar Gaan" among others. Anupam has written and composed more than 150 Bengali songs.^{[citation needed]}

Born and brought up in Calcutta ( Ancestral Home in Berhampore, West Bengal ), Anupam completed his schooling from St. Paul's Boarding & Day School, Kidderpore(Class X) and MP Birla Foundation, Behala (Class XII). He did his graduation in Electronics and Telecommunication Engineering from Jadavpur University, Kolkata. He was the gold medalist of his batch. He used to work for Texas Instruments India, Bangalore as an analog circuit design engineer from 2004 (July) to 2011 (March).

Anupam has been writing songs from his childhood. His biggest break was having two of his songs featured in the Bengali film, Autograph (2010) by Srijit Mukherji. Anupam wrote and composed Bneche Thakaar Gaan (বেঁচে থাকার গান), sung by Rupam Islam and Amake Amar Moto Thakte Dao (আমাকে আমার মত থাকতে দাও ), which he sung himself. This song, though sung very off key, has a pathos in his voice, went on to become one of the biggest hits of recent times and fetched him numerous awards. Anupam, subsequently debuted as music director for the Bengali movie "Chalo Paltai" (2011). In the same year movies like Baishe Srabon, Rang Milanti released where he continued his work as a music director, lyricist & vocalist. The songs "Gobhire Jao", "Ekbar Bol", "Ei Shrabon", "Je Kota Din" from the film Baishe Srabon have become very popular. He recently released "Durbine Chokh Rakhbona", his first solo album which contains the hit "Tistaan" and also the original version of "Beche Thakar Gaan".