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World Music
World music is a catch-all term for all traditional or popular music that
doesn’t fall into the U.S. and British pop or folk traditions. Music from diverse
geographical and cultural regions – which may include non-Western/ foreign
language pop music, traditional ethnic, African folk, Celtic music, songs from
the Caribbean, Asia, Middle East, Africa, and Europe – can all fall under the
world music genre. While it is impossible to pinpoint style elements that would
distinguish world music from any other genre, it can be said that any musical
form that borrows styles, sounds, and instrumentation from indigenous sources can
be considered “world”. Top world music artists today include Dead Can Dance,
Enya, Celtic Woman, The Corrs, Bob Marley, [Celtic
Thunder], Fiji, and Buena Vista Social Club, but of course there is a
very broad range of traditional indigenous music and recordings from around the
world.
What is World Music?A tough question to answer, since world music has perhaps the broadest and most
diverse categories among all musical genres. However, world music often features
the use of distinctive ethnic styles, scales, instruments, and musical
inflections, all of which are guided by indigenous music from the region of the
music’s origin. To be more precise: it is “local music by someone else”. Among
the more popular forms of world music are non-European classical (such as those
found in Japan, India, and Tibet), Eastern European folk, and forms from tribes
and folks in the Middle East, Africa, Asia, Oceania, and Central and South
America. Modern and traditional styles include Caribbean music, Celtic, European
and Judaica music, African music, and Asian and Middle Eastern music.
History of World Music as a GenreWorld music emerged originally in 1987, during the World Music campaign, as a
genre marketing and responding to an increasingly wider audience’s enthusiasm for
non-western music. The campaign arose out of the record companies’ collective
need to make more available and visible the music of non-western artists in
record stores and music shops. But trying to reach a definition for the genre
provoked a very lengthy discussion, until it was finally agreed that world music
was music that “is not, at present, catered for by its own category.” Certain
styles such as Jamaican reggae and Latin pop, however, grew big enough
to be classified as their own genre.
World Music Artists and World Music BandsIf you want to get acquainted with world music but find yourself overwhelmed with
where to start, then you might first want to try out a list of some of the most
popular world music artists and world music bands who brought to light their own
indigenous musical traditions. This doesn’t mean, however, that their styles
would be definitive of the genre. They would, however, provide a good
introduction – as long as you are up for anything that comes along.
Classic world music artists and bands who brought the genre to the big stage
include reggae ambassador Bob Marley, as well as Creole music fiddler [Canray
Fontenot], gypsy virtuoso Django Reinhardt, French singer Edith Piaf, multi-
instrumentalist Fela Kuti, and reggae legend Lee “Scratch” Perry.
World music artists and bands, meanwhile, who fused indigenous traditions with
various modern musical styles include Afro-pop innovators Amadou & Mariam,
Balkan Beat Box(from Eastern Europe), experimental guitarist Manu Chao, [Ska
Cubano], and the blues-inspired Tinariwen. Many world musicians have also
crossed over to the Top 40 charts, and among them are multilingual singer
Angelique Kidjo, the traditional Irish ensemble Celtic Woman, Enya,
Ladysmith Black Mambazo(who had inspired Paul Simon’s Graceland), and
Celtic music-inspired Loreena McKennitt.
World Music Record LabelsRecord labels that are commonly associated with the world music genre include
Folkways, which boasts of world music records by Carlos Montoya and
Michael Gorman; ARC Music, which includes world music albums by [Enrique
Ugarte] and Aryeh Frankfurter; and Manhattan Records, which cover works
by world music artists such as Celtic Woman and Lisa Kelly.
World Music Records and World Music CDsDiscover a whole new world of music out there. At MusicStack/, we have a
wide selection of world music available online. Dead Can Dance CDs, ["Edith
Piaf" CDs], Enya CDs, Celtic Woman CDs, The Corrs CDs, ["Django
Reinhardt" CDs], Balkan Beat Box CDs, Bob Marley CDs, ["Ladysmith Black
Mambazo" CDs], Celtic Thunder CDs, Fiji CDs, and ["Buena Vista Social
Club"
CDs], among other world music records and world music CDs featuring world music
artists and bands from each nook and corner, are all available, as are world
music
vinyl LPs.
Popular World Artists
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