World Music

World Music on 5mbs

World music is an English phrase for styles of music from non-Western countries, including quasi-traditional, intercultural, and traditional music.

World music’s inclusive nature and elasticity as a musical category pose obstacles to a universal definition, but its ethic of interest in the culturally exotic is encapsulated in Roots magazine’s description of the genre as “local music from out there”.

This music that does not follow “North American or British pop and folk traditions” was given the term “world music” by music industries in Europe and North America.

The term was popularized in the 1980s as a marketing category for non-Western traditional music and it has grown to include subgenres such as ethnic fusion and worldbeat.

Ian Newbery leads our World Music programming.

World Music on 5mbs | Photo by Monis Yousafzai on Unsplash

World Music Programs

Below is a playlist of recently broadcast World Music programs. Click on the  button in the box below for more information about each episode.

World Music Articles

The 5mbs handy guide to rumba
Article

The 5MBS Handy Guide To Rumba

Rumba music is a vibrant genre that has captured the hearts of people around the world, which is why it features prominently in world music programming here on radio 5MBS. Behind the rich fusion of African rhythms and Cuban culture, Rumba has a fascinating history, which we’ll explore here before

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World Music Presenters

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