World Music Day is celebrated on June 21 every year. The day cherishes the spirit of music, at a time when music has been commodified to a degree never seen before.
World Music Day was first celebrated as ‘Fete de la Musique,’ by then French Minister of Art and Culture, Jack Lang, and a French composer, Maurice Fleuret, in France in the year 1982.
Significance Of World Music Day
World Music Day was started to make music more relatable and consumable as Jack Lange and Maurice Fleuret observed that the music of the times was not representative of the youth.
So they conducted a concert in the public spaces of Paris with the help of architect-scenographer Christian Dupavillon that celebrated the presence of both professional and amateur musicians from all over France.
This eventually ended up becoming an annual celebration.
In 1985, other nations adopted this annual concert to celebrate music and music artists.
In 1997, a charter was signed at the European Festival of Music in Budapest, which internationally recognized the day as World Music Day.
World Music Day Today
Music artists around the globe organize concerts on World Music Day globally. The day is marked by 120 countries, including India, Italy, Greece, Russia, Australia, Peru, Brazil, Ecuador, Mexico, Canada, the United States, the UK, Japan, China and Malaysia.
World Music Day sees promotional offers from music labels, sound system companies, streaming services and artists looking to release a new record.