World Music is an internationally accepted term that describes a series of musical genres found across the globe. The category includes any form of traditional or contemporary folk music from any country in the world.

According to American musician Matthew Montfort, the term “world music” was coined by ethnomusicologist Robert E. Brown in the early 1960s at Wesleyan University in Connecticut. He used the term solely for the traditional music of the world, so it wasn't a genre, but rather a set of traditions.

Before the 1980s, world music was not clearly identified as a category of music. Some of the names used included International Music, Ethnic Music, or Folk. It is not clear who used the term world music first, but there are accounts from 1984. A CD review published on December 27 of 1984 in a German publication from Hannover reproduces a quote from German record company Exil Musik, which defined Dissidenten's music as ”a milestone on the road to a world-music.” At around the same time, another review published in Germany's Frankenpost describes Dissidenten's music as ”…a compact new world music.”

The term world music became widely used as marketing tool in 1987. According to fRoots founder, Ian Anderson, British record label executives Roger Armstrong (Ace Records) and Ben Mandelson (GlobeStyle) called a meeting in the UK in 1987 to discuss the creation of a new musical category. The meeting was attended by some of the key figures in the British world music industry. There are historical records of that meeting because Ian Anderson kept a copy of the minutes. Read the full article that is available at fRoots.

The term world music was translated to various languages. In Spanish it is called músicas del mundo. Germans call it weltmusik and French speakers use the term musiques du monde.

• The 1950s
• The 1960s
• The 1970s
• The 1980s
• The 1990s
• The 2000s

• Artist biographies. World Music Central's extensive world music artist database.
• Booking agents. A directory of booking agents that work primarily with world music artists.
• Managers. A directory of booking agents that work primarily with world music artists.
• Music competitions. Information about international music contests and competitions which are of special interest to artists who perform world music or other forms of roots music.
• Musicians Unions. Labor or trade unions that support musicians.
• Showcases. International showcases of special interest to the world music community.

• Book publishers. A directory of book publishers that specialize in world music, ethnomusicology, and similar subjects.
• Ethnomusicology. Resources for ethnomusicologists and researchers.
• Music schools. Directory of music schools.
• Workshops

• World Music Genres. Glossary of musical genres.

• Instrument makers. Directory of musical instrument makers.
• Musical Instruments. Glossary of musical instruments and resources connected with each instrument.

• Presenters. Directory of music presenters who produce world music concerts at various venues.
• World Music Festivals. Directory of music festivals with world music content.
• World Music Venues. Directory of music venues that present world music concerts.

Awards which contain world music or roots music categories.

• Aria awards
• BBC World Music Awards
• CARA awards
• Folk Alliance Awards
• Grammy Awards
• Latin Grammy Awards
• Nammy Awards

• Music Museums. A list of museums specialized in music or with large musical instrument collections.

• World Music Mailing Lists. A collection of mailing lists or list serves that are connected with world music.

• World Music Photographers. Directory of photographers who specialize in world music photography

• World Music Press. Directory of print, radio, TV and online world music information and music sources

• CD Filing. Details the filing guidelines that were implemented by independent world music labels for distribution and retail purposes

• World Music Publicists. Directory of publicity companies and independent publicists that work with world music

Music Organizations. Organizations involved with ethnomusicology and/or world music.

• Distributors
• Music industry trade shows
• Record companies. Directory of record companies that work with world music.

• Book stores
• Record stores

• Countries. Search about world music by country.
• Travel guides. These international travel guides focus on the musical and cultural aspects of specific cities throughout the globe. The guides include information about record stores, venues, festivals, instrument stores, instrument makers, and much more.

Marlon Klein (Dissidenten), Ian Anderson (fRoots), Angel Romero (World Music Central)