Bangladesh to launch digital archive of Rezwana Choudhury Bannya's songs

The government is planning to launch a website featuring almost 5,000 songs sung by celebrated Rabindra Sangeet singer Rezwana Choudhury Bannya after Eid-ul-Fitr.

The Ministry of Cultural Affairs took the initiative in a bid to preserve her music catalogue.

The website is being developed under the supervision of the Bangladesh Copyright Office.

“The site will feature about 5,000 songs, a biography and rare photographs of Bannya,” Registrar of Copyright Zafar Raza Chowdhury said on Wednesday.

“This is the first time the government is archiving the works of any Rabindra Sangeet singer. We hope that similar initiatives will be taken in future.”

The website will be launched officially after Eid, according to ZooEL Morshed, a Bangladeshi singer and audio engineer who is working to implement the digital archive project.

Listeners can access a plethora of Bannya's Rabindra Sangeet renditions on the website for a small fee. The singer will receive royalties and other ‘related rights’ under copyright law.

Asked about the initiative, Bannya said, “I know very little about the digital archiving of songs. I have no idea about modern technologies. But I think it is good for me as the government has taken the initiative. I hope they will archive works of other older artists.”

The government had previously launched websites featuring songs of late ‘Baul Samrat’ Shah Abdul Karim and rock legend Ayub Bachchu.