Romanian rock is a genre of popular music in Romania. It was influenced by changes in Romanian politics to such an extreme, that both the themes and styles of musicians, and the tastes and interests of listeners, changed dramatically with every major event in Romania's internal politics.[citation needed]
As a result, the rock music that is currently performed in Romania features a politically influenced profile that equipoised censorship policies in communist Romania (before 1990) and reacted promptly to social issues that followed during the economic transition.
However, the strict government regulations practised in Romania during the Nicolae Ceauşescu era determined a very specific sound in popular music, partly favourable for its originality. Music and new technologies from abroad reached Romanian listeners and artists with difficulty – this was a moderate handicap to music production and sometimes produced slightly unfashionable records (when compared to Western interests). These conditions continued to have a strong influence even on music produced for many years afterward.