The history of Tamil music dates back to the 1920s, with the advent of gramophone records and radio. During this period, Tamil musicians began to experiment with various genres, including Carnatic music, folk, and classical. The 1930s and 1940s saw the rise of legendary musicians like S. Satyamurthy, P. U. Chinnaswamy, and M. S. Viswanathan, who would later become iconic figures in Tamil cinema.