15 years ago a small music shop opened in Sofia, becoming a venue for lovers of good music. Benchmark-setting independent publishers like ECM, ACT, Dreyfus, Nuevos Medios, Karonte, and Putumayo found representatives in a country that was previously considered a pirate’s paradise. World stars such as Jan Garbarek, Stanley Clark, Estrella Morente, Anouar Brahem and Richard Galliano made Bulgarian fans happy thanks to the Jazz + festival created by those same Bulgarian enthusiasts. On the eve of April 19 – Record Store Day, the founder of music shop Dukyan Meloman, Yavor Ganchev, told Radio Binar and Radio Bulgaria more:

"For 15 years we can confidently say that the market for non-commercial music in Bulgaria is also non-commercial, but still our shop has a central presence on it, which is fun. Although the market of independent music in Bulgaria has a boutique character, this allows us to pay special attention to our customers. "

What are the names of artists in the past 15 years that you remember with the greatest professional satisfaction?

"These are normally independent musicians mostly from Europe. Some of them have become regular guests to the Bulgarian music scene such as guitarist Antonio Forcione, singer Susana Baca and many others. A concert is often the beginning of a lasting friendship," Mr. Ganchev says

It seems recently there are no big Bulgarian performers with world success. Is that true?

“This is not the case. There are always Bulgarian musicians who are very successful outside Bulgaria and fit very well into the context of international music. The first example that comes to my mind is Theodossii Spassov, or Gueorgui Kornazov, who recently released a great album in France."

What about the younger generation of musicians?

"We can say that the younger generation of musicians should be better promoted. Also Bulgaria continues to fail to catch up and keep up with current European and world trends in art, not just in music. In my opinion this is due to the fact that many Bulgarian artists do not pay attention to global developments. I think this will be overcome as markets are not national anymore and the music stage has become global.”

Much of the playlist of the Duende stream of Radio Binar can be found in Dukyan Meloman, while some of the mentioned musicians above are part of Bulgarian- Spanish project Estruna, which is to take part in a number of festivals in Spain this summer.

English version: Alexander Markov