Staying The Path: How Bangladesh’s Music Scene is Evolving with the Help of Dedicated Grassroots Movements
Image of Embers In Snow by Siam
If you’re looking for an institution that can help you trace the evolution of Dhaka’s independent music scene, look no further than Rainbow. Founded in 1982 by Abdul Kabir Murad, the small store served as a space for young musicians and fans to access catalogues of international and local artists, promote local shows, and according to one report in The Daily Star, get married to their significant others as well. In a state of flux post the Bangladesh Liberation War in 1971 and with a population hungry to embark on their own cultural journey, Rainbow, and music stores like it, played a pivotal role in the evolution of the city’s music scene – helping introduce their customers to a wide range of western music genres that inevitably influenced young musicians alongside iconic local bands such as Uccharon, LRB, Naga Baul (fka Feelings) and others who were a part of the first wave of independent musicians in the country.
The Evolving Role Of Labels In South Asia
Image of Sunara playing at Pettah Interchange in Colombo. Image credit Malaka MP
Old-timey incarnations of record labels — glitz, glamour, big money and big exploitation — are great to watch in movies, but their relevance has diminished over the past two decades. The music industry, internationally, is in a perpetual state of rebuild. And so new ways forward emerge from time to time.
In South Asia, the young, independent, non-film music communities — the ones with roots in traditional western sounds — remain on the fringes of the mainstream, if at all. They’ve grown almost as countercultures, gradually finding some footing in the culture space of the region over the past decade or so, through dedicated ground work by artists and industry-persons. In such an environment, record labels no longer play traditional roles. Instead, there’s a coexistence of multiple bespoke approaches. What we get, really, are collectives — organisations that, depending on their scale and the interests of the people involved — work within loosely defined capacities within the industry. …
