In an age dominated by digital streaming and downloads, music lovers flocked to The Daily Star art gallery to witness the Record Store Day.
The day-long event, organised by the Bangladesh Audiofile Society for the second time in Bangladesh, was inaugurated by renowned singer Khurshid Alam. Noted folk singer Farida Parveen was also present at the event.
The event featured six stalls, selling more than 1200 gramophone records, including Lata Mangeshkar, Manna Dey, and Pannalal Bhattacharya鈥檚 songs, Rabindra and Nazrul Sangeet, and many other foreign artists鈥� vinyl records
A number of visitors crowded at a stall, where Syed Abdul Quabi showcased a 150-year-old antique phonogram that he collected 20 years back from the United States.
鈥業 enjoy collecting antique and vintage pieces including phonograms, cameras and watches. I started collecting these in the early 1980鈥檚,鈥� Quabi shared.
Vinyl record collector Rafiq Ahmed said that it was a positive step for the record industry in Bangladesh.
鈥楾his event is also a celebration of community and culture,鈥� said Rafiq, who has been collecting records from 1989.
He also said that he had a total of 17,000 vinyl records in his collections.
Vinyl records offered a nostalgic and unique experience that could not be replicated and the audio quality of gramophone records were far better than music on digital platforms, he added.
鈥業 used to buy records using the money, I save from my tiffin allowance, when I was young. At that time, each record cost Tk 100,鈥� said another collector Monir Hossain.
Syed Danik, director of Universal Music, came to the event with his collection of 800 records. He shared that he had been in the industry for 40 years.
鈥楶eople stopped making these gramophone records in our country. We have to preserve the classic songs through these records,鈥� he added.
Record Store Day is an annual event, inaugurated in 2007 in the United States to celebrate the culture of the independently owned record store.
It is held on the third Saturday in April every year, bringing together fans, artists, and thousands of independent record stores around the world.
