On one end of Calcutta’s Dharmatala Street, J.F. Madan once built his film empire. On the other end, the late Vernon Thomas spent decades writing children’s books in a city that never quite got around to celebrating him. Somewhere in the middle are the secondhand vinyl record sellers.

A few minutes of friendly bargaining over a largely forgotten 1974 Neil Diamond LP Serenade, and Mohammad Murtuza quickly unpacks another crate, a selection of Indian classical music. Out comes Ananda Shankar’s eponymous 1970 LP. The 56-year-old secondhand record seller knows his customers well; he has been doing this for over three decades for nothing.

“There are plenty of takers for anything by R.D. Burman, Kishore Kumar and Bappi Lahiri. Then there are those who stop by for soundtracks like Kashmir Ki Kali. Yet, overall, there has been a dip in business, at least on the secondhand side of things,” he tells The Telegraph.

Vasudeo Jagwani

The handful of record sellers on Free School Street have something he does not — easy access to tourists. They are more likely than not to pick up a few titles and without haggling too hard.

Murtuza and his ilk might be struggling, but the vinyl resurgence story globally is unfolding in billions of dollars. Earlier this year, the Recording Industry Association of America published a report showing that for the first time in over four decades, US vinyl sales exceeded one billion dollars in annual revenue. This is the 19th consecutive year of growth for a format once considered a niche curiosity in the West and stuff for the kabadiwala in many old homes of Calcutta.

Mohammad Iqbal Mathures Paul

Vasudeo Jagwani, the man who runs Harmonie Audio, an audio solutions company in New Alipore, knows what younger buyers are looking for. He stocks new LPs imported from Europe, US and other markets — meaning, Ed Sheeran and Sabrina Carpenter sit comfortably alongside the Beatles and Pink Floyd on his shelves. One of the leading sellers of new LPs, CDs and high-end audio equipment in the city, he believes the vinyl resurgence will continue.

“All over India, the vinyl scene is growing. Twenty-somethings buy one or two titles a month. The orders I receive every month span eras and genres. There is as much demand for Eminem as there is for The Beatles, Pink Floyd and Taylor Swift,” says Jagwani. His reach extends well beyond Calcutta. “I get orders from Delhi, Bangalore, Pune, Mumbai and, lately, even from smaller cities like Raipur.”

Mohammad Nasim Mathures Paul

The used market, Jagwani says, is strong on Hindi and Bengali LPs, Boney M, ABBA and The Beatles. “But you won’t find much Jethro Tull or Grateful Dead,” he adds.

Mashooq Jamal corroborates this. He says that stocking new records makes sense. Jamal, like Murtuza, works out of Kamalalaya Centre. He says, “I have a new three-LP set of Kishore Kumar songs. Then there are a few Bengali ones, like Dear Maa. New Hindi and Bengali records are not released frequently, but they exist. These are digital pressings, as the original analogue tapes are no longer available,” he adds.

Jamal started selling records in 1992. He says, “The condition of secondhand records has also deteriorated. But the good thing about records is that if preserved well, they will work decades down the line. That is not the case with cassettes. What has largely disappeared are the 78 rpms.”

Mashooq Jamal Mathures Paul

In Calcutta, vinyl enthusiasts are plentiful — musicians, collectors, curious young listeners. There are regular vinyl listening sessions held across the city. But record prices are steep and getting steeper.”

Mohammad Nasim’s secondhand record stall is bang in the middle of all the honking and pollution that Dharmatala offers. In the trade for 10 to 12 years, he keeps getting customers asking for records from films like Dil To Pagal Hai and Kuch Kuch Hota Hai, alongside the usual sonic staples of the 1970s.

Mohammad Iqbal is the oldest of the Dharmatala pack and possibly the most optimistic. While the others lament the poor earnings and the lack of interest of the next generation, he says, “I never thought in the 1980s that selling records would be enough to make a living.” The 68-year-old is passionate about finding titles like Dil Padosi Hai, Samundar and Ijaazat. He is looking for the Super 7 (seven-inch vinyl) release of Hifazat.

Mohammad Murtuza Mathures Paul

Jagwani’s advice to anyone sitting on boxes of old LPs is unambiguous, “Hold on to them. Don’t sell in the open market; you’d be selling a treasure trove. These are entirely analogue recordings, possibly first or second pressings. Store them somewhere dust-free and leave them alone.”

It is, perhaps, the same advice these sellers might give about their own trade: hold on. The resurgence is real, even if it hasn’t quite reached everyone yet.

OF THE RECORD

• In 2025, in its 19th consecutive year of growth, vinyl sales surpassed $1 billion in the US

• Vinyl sales in the US grossed 46.8 million units, a rise of 7.9 per cent from 43.4 million in 2024

• Other physical formats too are alive and kicking. CD sales brought in $312.4 million last year, while cassettes contributed a further $25.8 million

• The resurgence is most visible in the demand for albums by the likes of Taylor Swift. The Life of a Showgirl was last year’s bestselling vinyl title, 1.6 million copies were sold

• Other vinyl albums that did brisk business in 2025 are Sabrina Carpenter’s Man’s Best Friend (2,92,000 copies), Kendrick Lamar’s GNX (2,79,000 copies), Carpenter’s Short n’ Sweet (2,62,000 copies), Billie Eilish’s Hit Me Hard and Soft (1,92,000 copies), Fleetwood Mac’s Rumours (1,90,000 copies), Michael Jackson’s Thriller (1,82,000 copies), The Weeknd’s Hurry Up Tomorrow (1,78,000 copies), Swift’s Lover Live From Paris (1,66,000 copies) and Tyler, the Creator’s Igor (1,66,000 copies).

Sources: Recording Industry Association of America report from March 2026; and Luminate, a provider of music and entertainment data