Every country whose music has a list here, continent by continent: a few of its records across the genres. Each country's page has the records in full, three photographs, a map of where the music comes from, and the list to download.
Africa
Gambia
30 albums · 1969–2025 · Music of the Gambia
A walk through the Gambia's popular music from the kora of Alhaji Bai Konte and Jali Nyama Suso to the Super Eagles, Ifang Bondi, Jaliba Kuyateh, Sona Jobarteh and the afrobeats of Jizzle.
Nigeria
55 albums · 1961–2024 · Music of Nigeria
A walk through Nigeria's music from apala, highlife and jùjú to Fela's Afrobeat, the afro rock of the seventies, fuji, Sunny Adé, Majek Fashek's reggae, the Afrobeats of Wizkid, Burna Boy and Tems, alté and the highlife of the Cavemen.
Senegal
53 albums · 1972–2022 · Music of Senegal
A walk through Senegal's popular music from the Star Band and Orchestra Baobab to the mbalax of Youssou N'Dour, Baaba Maal's Fouta, the kora, the sabar, Daara J's rap and the bands of today.
The Americas
Argentina
55 albums · 1935–2021 · Music of Argentina
A walk through Argentina's popular music from Gardel and Piazzolla to Mercedes Sosa, rock nacional, Soda Stereo, cuarteto, cumbia and the trap of today.
Bolivia
45 albums · 1961–2025 · Music of Bolivia
A walk through Bolivia's popular music from the charango of Cavour and Los Jairas to Los Kjarkas, Luzmila Carpio, the morenadas of Oruro, the cueca of Tarija, the rock of La Paz and Chila Jatun.
Brazil
55 albums · 1959–2023 · Music of Brazil
A walk through Brazil's popular music from Pixinguinha and João Gilberto to Tropicália, Clube da Esquina, the rock of the eighties, mangue beat, Racionais and Anitta.
Canada
55 albums · 1956–2023 · Music of Canada
A walk through Canada's popular music from Félix Leclerc and Leonard Cohen to the chanson of Québec, Rush, Arcade Fire, Céline Dion, Drake and the song of the North.
Chile
55 albums · 1958–2023 · Music of Chile
A walk through Chile's popular music from the cueca and Violeta Parra to the Nueva Canción, Los Jaivas, Los Prisioneros, Los Tres, Ana Tijoux and Mon Laferte.
Colombia
55 albums · 1954–2025 · Music of Colombia
A walk through Colombia's popular music from Lucho Bermúdez's cumbia and the vallenato of Valledupar to salsa, Aterciopelados, Shakira, Bomba Estéreo and today's reggaeton.
Costa Rica
39 albums · 1960–2025 · Music of Costa Rica
A walk through Costa Rica's popular music from the marimba of Guanacaste and the calypso of Limón to Café con Leche, Malpaís, Editus, Debi Nova and the bands of today.
Cuba
55 albums · 1930–2023 · Music of Cuba
A walk through Cuba's music from the son of Trío Matamoros and Arsenio Rodríguez, Beny Moré, the mambo, the cha-cha-chá and the rumba of Matanzas to nueva trova, Irakere, Los Van Van, timba, Buena Vista Social Club and the rap and jazz of today.
Ecuador
48 albums · 1963–2024 · Music of Ecuador
A walk through Ecuador's popular music from Julio Jaramillo and the pasillo to the sanjuanito, the marimba of Esmeraldas, tecnocumbia, the rock of Quito, Nicola Cruz and today.
Greenland
34 albums · 1973–2025 · Music of Greenland
A walk through Greenland's popular music from Sumé and Rasmus Lyberth through the ULO years to Nanook, the Nuuk choirs, the kalattuut and rap.
Guatemala
44 albums · 1964–2025 · Music of Guatemala
A walk through Guatemala's popular music from the marimba orchestras and Alux Nahual to Ricardo Arjona, Gaby Moreno, the Garifuna drums of Livingston, Sara Curruchich, Rebeca Lane and the bands of today.
Haiti
49 albums · 1962–2024 · Music of Haiti
A walk through Haiti's popular music from Nemours Jean-Baptiste's konpa and the mini-jazz of Tabou Combo to Boukman Eksperyans, the rara and vodou drums, Emeline Michel and the konpa of today.
Honduras
25 albums · 1970–2022 · Music of Honduras
A walk through Honduras's popular music from the paranda and the punta of the north coast to Guillermo Anderson, Aurelio Martínez, Diablos Negros, Polache and reggaeton.
Mexico
55 albums · 1953–2023 · Music of Mexico
A walk through Mexico's popular music from Pedro Infante and the bolero to Los Tigres del Norte, Café Tacvba, Natalia Lafourcade and the corridos tumbados.
Nicaragua
38 albums · 1968–2025 · Music of Nicaragua
A walk through Nicaragua's popular music from Camilo Zapata and the marimba of Masaya to the Mejía Godoy brothers, Guardabarranco, Luis Enrique, Perrozompopo and La Cuneta Son Machín.
Panama
44 albums · 1966–2020 · Music of Panama
A walk through Panama's popular music from the típico of Azuero and the combos nacionales to Rubén Blades, El General's reggae en español, Danilo Pérez, Los Rabanes, Sech and Boza.
Paraguay
40 albums · 1945–2025 · Music of Paraguay
A walk through Paraguay's popular music from the harp of Pérez Cardozo and Los Paraguayos to Berta Rojas, Flou, Kchiporros and Purahéi Soul.
Peru
55 albums · 1950–2021 · Music of Peru
A walk through Peru's popular music from Chabuca Granda and the huayno to chicha, Los Saicos, Susana Baca, the rock of the eighties and today's Lima.
United States
55 albums · 1925–2015 · Music of the United States
A walk through the United States' popular music from the Delta blues and the Hot Fives to Nashville, Motown, Detroit techno, the Bronx and Kendrick Lamar.
Uruguay
55 albums · 1935–2017 · Music of Uruguay
A walk through Uruguay's popular music from Gardel and Zitarrosa to candombe, Los Shakers, Jaime Roos, the rock of the nineties, murga, Drexler and today.
Venezuela
55 albums · 1955–2023 · Music of Venezuela
A walk through Venezuela's popular music from Simón Díaz and the joropo to the gaita, Oscar D'León, Franco De Vita, Los Amigos Invisibles, Rawayana and Danny Ocean.
Asia
Afghanistan
43 albums · 1970–2025 · Music of Afghanistan
A walk through Afghanistan's music from the ustads of the Kharabat and Radio Kabul to Ahmad Zahir, Mahwash, the rubab of Homayun Sakhi, the dambura of Dawood Sarkhosh and the singers abroad, some of its records across the traditions.
China
55 albums · 1937–2020 · Music of China
A walk through China's popular music from Zhou Xuan and Cui Jian to Cantopop, the Beijing rock of the nineties, folk, indie, hip hop and the players of today.
India
55 albums · 1956–2025 · Music of India
A walk through India's popular and classical music from Ravi Shankar and the film songs of Lata Mangeshkar to Rahman, the Indipop of the nineties, indie, Sufi pop and rap.
Iran
55 albums · 1955–2023 · Music of Iran
A walk through Iran's music from the radif of Shajarian, Lotfi and Kalhor and the Golha singers to Googoosh, Kourosh Yaghmaei, the pop of Los Angeles, Mohsen Namjoo, Kiosk, rap and Sevdaliza.
Iraq
47 albums · 1940–2025 · Music of Iraq
A walk through Iraq's music from the maqam of Baghdad and the oud of Munir Bashir and Naseer Shamma to Kadim Al Sahir, the Kurdish and Assyrian song, today's pop and hip hop.
Israel
55 albums · 1960–2025 · Music of Israel
A walk through Israel's popular music from the Hebrew song of Shoshana Damari and Arik Einstein to Kaveret, the Mizrahi song of Zohar Argov and Ofra Haza, Mashina, Idan Raichel and A-WA.
Japan
54 albums · 1971–2022 · Music of Japan
A walk through Japan's popular music from Hibari Misora and Happy End to YMO, city pop, Shibuya-kei, J-pop, noise and today's hits.
Jordan
38 albums · 2001–2026 · Music of Jordan
A walk through Jordan's popular music from Omar Al-Abdallat and the bedouin song to Diana Karazon, Jadal, Autostrad, El Morabba3, The Synaptik and 47Soul.
Laos
27 albums · 1962–2025 · Music of Laos
A walk through Laos's popular music from the khene and the lam of Savannakhet and Saravane to the court music of Luang Prabang, the singers of the Lao song, Cells, L.O.G., Aluna and the pop of Vientiane.
Lebanon
55 albums · 1965–2019 · Music of Lebanon
A walk through Lebanon's popular music from Fairuz and the Rahbanis to Ziad, Marcel Khalife, Nancy Ajram, Elissa, Mashrou' Leila and Yasmine Hamdan.
Myanmar
35 albums · 1985–2019 · Music of Myanmar
A walk through Myanmar's popular music from the saung and the hsaing waing to the stereo singers, Lay Phyu, Myo Gyi, Big Bag, Sai Sai and today's pop.
Nepal
45 albums · 1986–2025 · Music of Nepal
A walk through Nepal's popular music from Narayan Gopal and the adhunik song of Radio Nepal to 1974 AD, Nepathya, Kutumba, Ani Choying Drolma, hip hop and today's singer-songwriters.
Philippines
55 albums · 1962–2022 · Music of the Philippines
A walk through the Philippines' popular music from the kundiman and Pilita Corrales to Pinoy rock, the Manila sound, the Eraserheads, OPM, rap and SB19.
Singapore
50 albums · 1964–2025 · Music of Singapore
A walk through Singapore's popular music from the Quests and Sweet Charity to Dick Lee, xinyao, Stefanie Sun, JJ Lin, the indie of Baybeats and today's pop and rap.
South Korea
55 albums · 1969–2025 · Music of South Korea
A walk through South Korea's popular music from Shin Joong-hyun and Cho Yong-pil to the ballad singers, Seo Taiji, hip hop, K-pop and the indie of Hongdae.
Syria
44 albums · 1944–2026 · Music of Syria
A walk through Syria's popular music from the muwashshah and qudud of Aleppo, Sabah Fakhri and Asmahan to George Wassouf, Assala, Omar Souleyman's dabke, Lena Chamamyan, Kinan Azmeh and the rap and rock of today.
Taiwan
55 albums · 1979–2020 · Music of Taiwan
A walk through Taiwan's popular music from Teresa Teng and the campus folk to Jay Chou, Sodagreen, the Megaport bands and the singers of Taitung.
Thailand
55 albums · 1962–2022 · Music of Thailand
A walk through Thailand's popular music from luk thung and morlam to Carabao, Bird Thongchai, Moderndog, Bodyslam, the Bakery indie, hip hop and the bands of today.
Turkey
55 albums · 1970–2017 · Music of Turkey
A walk through Turkey's popular music from Zeki Müren and Aşık Veysel to Anadolu rock, arabesk, Sezen Aksu, Tarkan, Mor ve Ötesi and Ezhel.
Turkmenistan
25 albums · 1980–2025 · Music of Turkmenistan
A walk through Turkmenistan's music from the bagshy and the dutar to Halmammedov, Gunesh, Ashkhabad and the singers of today.
Vietnam
53 albums · 1968–2026 · Music of Vietnam
A walk through Vietnam's popular music from the ca trù of Quách Thị Hồ and the Saigon tapes of Thái Thanh and Khánh Ly to bolero, the divas of Hanoi, V-pop, rock, indie, hip hop and Sơn Tùng M-TP.
Europe
Austria
55 albums · 1963–2022 · Music of Austria
A walk through Austria's popular music from Austropop and Falco to the Wienerlied, the Alps, the electronica of Vienna and the bands of today.
Bulgaria
55 albums · 1957–2022 · Music of Bulgaria
A walk through Bulgaria's popular music from the choirs and Ivo Papasov to estrada, Shturcite, chalga, hip hop and the bands of today.
Croatia
49 albums · 1956–2025 · Music of Croatia
A walk through Croatia's popular music from Ivo Robić and the Split festival to klapa, the new wave of Zagreb, Gibonni, Severina, hip hop and Baby Lasagna.
Denmark
55 albums · 1967–2022 · Music of Denmark
A walk through Denmark's popular music from Steppeulvene and Gasolin' to Kim Larsen, Mercyful Fate, hip hop, Mew, Volbeat and MØ.
Finland
55 albums · 1949–2021 · Music of Finland
A walk through Finland's popular music from Olavi Virta's tango and the Suomirock of Eppu Normaali and Juice Leskinen to Nightwish, HIM, Darude and Käärijä.
France
54 albums · 1946–2023 · Music of France
A walk through France's popular music from Trenet and Piaf to chanson, yé-yé, rock, the French touch and rap.
Greece
55 albums · 1938–2022 · Music of Greece
A walk through Greece's music from rebetiko and Tsitsanis to Theodorakis, Hadjidakis, the Cretan lyra and the clarinet of Epirus, laïko, Aphrodite's Child, Vangelis, Lena Platonos, the rock and rap of Athens and Thessaloniki, black metal and Marina Satti.
Iceland
50 albums · 1958–2023 · Music of Iceland
A walk through Iceland's popular music from Haukur Morthens and Megas to the Sugarcubes, Björk, Sigur Rós, Of Monsters and Men and Laufey.
Ireland
55 albums · 1959–2024 · Music of Ireland
A walk through Ireland's music from the Clancys, Ó Riada and Planxty to Van Morrison, Thin Lizzy, U2, Sinéad O'Connor, Enya, Lankum, Fontaines D.C. and Kneecap.
Italy
53 albums · 1958–2021 · Music of Italy
A walk through Italy's popular music from Modugno and Mina to the cantautori, prog, rock, rap and Måneskin.
Lithuania
50 albums · 1977–2026 · Music of Lithuania
A walk through Lithuania's popular music from Kernagis, Antis and Foje to the folk revival, the jazz of Vilnius, Jurga, Alina Orlova, The Roop and Monika Liu.
Norway
55 albums · 1946–2021 · Music of Norway
A walk through Norway's popular music from Prøysen and Garbarek to a-ha, the black metal of the nineties, Röyksopp, Mari Boine and the pop of today.
Poland
55 albums · 1966–2021 · Music of Poland
A walk through Poland's popular music from Niemen and Komeda to the new wave of Jarocin, Kult, Myslovitz, hip hop, Brodka and Podsiadło.
Portugal
55 albums · 1961–2024 · Music of Portugal
A walk through Portugal's music from the fado of Marceneiro, Amália and Carlos Paredes's guitar to Zeca Afonso, the rock of Lisbon and Porto, Madredeus, Mariza, the rap and kuduro of the Lisbon suburbs and Ana Moura.
Russia
53 albums · 1960–2019 · Music of Russia
A walk through Russia's popular music from the bards and Pugacheva to the Leningrad rock club, Kino, Zemfira, Oxxxymiron and the electronic scene of today.
Serbia
50 albums · 1974–2023 · Music of Serbia
A walk through Serbia's popular music from the Belgrade new wave of the Yugoslav years and the trumpets of Guča to pop-folk, dub, hip hop and the bands of today.
Spain
53 albums · 1942–2024 · Music of Spain
A walk through Spain's popular music from Concha Piquer and Serrat to the Movida, Camarón, Héroes del Silencio, Los Planetas and Rosalía.
Sweden
55 albums · 1962–2022 · Music of Sweden
A walk through Sweden's popular music from Taube and Jazz på svenska to ABBA, Kent, Gothenburg's indie, metal, Robyn and Avicii.
Ukraine
54 albums · 1972–2022 · Music of Ukraine
A walk through Ukraine's popular music from Ivasyuk's songs and Okean Elzy to DakhaBrakha, Jamala, Kalush and today's indie.
Oceania
Australia
55 albums · 1960–2023 · Music of Australia
A walk through Australia's popular music from Slim Dusty and the Easybeats to AC/DC, pub rock, the Go-Betweens, Nick Cave, Kylie, Tame Impala and today.
New Zealand
55 albums · 1962–2021 · Music of New Zealand
A walk through New Zealand's popular music from the Howard Morrison Quartet and Split Enz to the Dunedin sound, Poi E, Fat Freddy's Drop, Lorde, Aldous Harding and today.