world music

English dictionary entry

Meanings

noun
  1. Traditional music, as opposed to popular music or classical music.
  2. Music that combines elements from traditional styles from the non-Western world along with modern, popular elements, in order to create something marketed towards Western audiences.

Word forms

world music world musics

Etymology

Attributed to ethnomusicologist Robert E. Brown (1960s), later primarily used as a marketing term.

Related words

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