‘Musicians should make use of AI if they have the opportunity’

Yesterday, 2 October, marks the birthday of Mahfuz Anam James . To mark the occasion, the celebrated Bangladeshi musician met a group of journalists at Purbachal Club in the capital on Thursday afternoon. Nazmul Haque was among them. What do you feel about your birthday at this stage of your life? I do not have any particular plans or formalities surrounding my birthday. To be honest, I have never been someone who celebrates birthdays in a grand way. My fans, however, celebrate it, and I watch. I enjoy seeing their love and the way they organise celebrations. Do you see any difference between the James of the 1990s and the James we see today? As an artist, I do not really see any difference in myself. I still think about creating and performing music in much the same way as I did before.

If someone wants to see a change from the outside, perhaps they will notice that I do not have as much hair as I used to—I have lost some of it (laughs). That is about the only difference! There has been no major change in my core identity or the way I think. There was a time when band music and new albums were flourishing everywhere. How do you assess the current state of the music industry and its future? When I try to explain the current state of the music industry, I like to use photography as an example. Back when photography depended on film, being a photographer carried a certain significance. But now, in the age of digital platforms and smartphones, everyone has a phone in their hands and considers themselves a photographer. As a result, the field has become oversaturated. Our music industry has gone through a similar transition—from analogue formats to digital platforms and now to streaming services. People no longer have to buy music; they can access it for free on platforms…