The dawn of modern Nepali music came in 1952, the year after the fall of the Ranas, when Radio Nepal was established; only a year later, Dharma Raj Thapa made recording history, selling 3000 copies of a novelty song about the conquest of Everest by Hillary and Tenzing Norgay.

A homegrown recording industry took root under King Mahendra (1955-72), himself something of a patron of the arts, and with it came Nepal's first wave of recording stars . Still the best loved of these, though he died in 1991, is Narayan Gopal, whose songs are praised for their poignant sukha-dukha (happiness-sadness); the late Aruna Lama is also remembered for her renditions of sad and sentimental songs. Kumar Basnet remains popular for his folk songs, while Meera Rana is still in her prime, belting out classical, folk and even pop tunes. Several of Nepal's foremost composers also came out of this era, including Amber Gurung, Nati Kazi and the late Gopal Yonjan.

Ram Krishna Dhakal is one of the most talented singers of Nepal. He is currently one of the most popular singers, known for heartly and realistic modern songs. Today, its rare to find modern song singers as most of the singers are influenced by western music - called POP SONGS. Lately, in recogination of his talent His Majesty the King decorated him with the Prabal Gorkha Dakshin Bahu.