Music speaks what cannot be expressed, soothes the mind and gives it rest, it calms the soul and takes you to another place away from everything! 

A two day event to celebrate music, Lahore Music Meet was held at Alhamra Arts Council Mall Road, on 2nd and 3rd April 2016. The event was dedicated to the celebration and critique of music in Pakistan. It aimed to bring together enthusiasts, artisans, artists, patrons, industry representatives and academics to initiate dialogue on the developments in music and their shortcomings.

The event featured workshops and conversations with many renowned artists like Tina Sani, Noori, Ali Zafar, Ali Sethi, Zoe Viccaji, Rachel Viccaji, Haroon, Jamal Rehman, Ali Gul Pir, Mooroo, Meekal Hassan Band and many more! 

It also featured performances by Quadrum, Zoe Viccaji, Sikander ka Mandir, Naseer & Shahab, Shorbanoor, Tollcrane, Takatak, TMPST, Ali Shuail, Keeray Makoray, Aaishay Haque, Natasha Beyg, Xarb, Alien Panda Jury and alot more!  

But the mesmerizing performances by classical folk singer Mai Dhai, eminent folk singer Attaullah Khan Esakhelvi, contemporary fusion orchestra Sounds of Kolachi and indie-rock band Red Blood Cat stole the show!

The main purpose of LMM was to provide a platform for all activities pertaining to music performance, enterprise, education and academia to take place with the ultimate goal of encouraging talents and fostering relationships between individuals within the music fraternity. By providing such a platform, they hoped to revitalize the reputation and perception of music within the country and abroad.  

This two day event was braced by EMI Pakistan as official festival partner.

EMI Pakistan previously known as the Gramophone Company of Pakistan is the oldest and the largest music company of Pakistan. It owns the unique gems of the golden era of Pakistan's music dating back to 1939. With over 55,000 tracks and 3,400 contracted artists and an impressive collection of 6000 hours of subcontinent music, by volume it is the largest single repertoire of music in the industry. It is also the first music label in the region to digitize archives from non-digital platforms. 

From 1948 - 1996, EMI Pakistan had the largest distribution network for the traditional formats and currently, it had the largest electronic/digital distribution platform in Pakistan and internationally. Its rich library boasts a range of genres, from pure and light classical, sufi music, prose recitals, instrumentals to film soundtracks and pop. Some of the greatest names of Pakistani music including Madam Noor Jehan. Mehdi Hassan, Ustadh Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, Ghulam Ali, Iqbal Bano, Farida Khannum, Ghulam Farid Sabri, Alam Lohar and many others are associated with the company. It wouldn't be wrong if I say that they are the custodians of Pakistan's musical heritage. 

EMI Pakistan made a comeback after being closed for 16 years and made its first big physical reappearance after about 10 years of reopening. 

EMI Pakistan came up with a distinctive idea of setting up a music lounge at LMM. 

The purpose of this lounge was to provide a comfortable sitting area for music lovers to relax and rejoice the music of their choice. The sitting area was well set up with leather sofas and walls with posters of movies and musicians from yesteryear. Visitors were requesting their favourite songs to be played at the lounge. I being a music lover also requested to play Dekha Na Tha by Alamgir. Listening to my favourtite songs while chilling on the sofa felt like home to me =D!  

They had also set up a stall with huge collections of audio CDs of legendary music artists like Ustadh Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, Madam Noor Jehan, Tina Sani, Mehdi Hassan, Abida Parveen, Alamgir and many more. They also had their merchandise like calendars, mugs, bookmarks, etc featuring the legendary musicians. The visitors of their stall showed keen interest in both the CDs and the merchandise.

A listening booth was also set up in addition to the lounge where the visitors could listen to their favourite tunes in isolation. The listening booth consisted of four genres of Pakistani music Qawali, Ghazal, Evergreen and Romantic.

All in all it was an amazing event I really loved every bit of it the talks, the performances, the lounge, everything !!!  And every single person I talked to had the same opinion as I. They were really enjoying it and appreciating it.

I hope more events like these happen in Pakistan so that the individuals related to music in any way can exhibit their talent and also get inspiration and encouragement they need to polish their talent and music enthusiasts like me can enjoy and cherish some quality time with quality music!