After 1987: WOMAD and Beyond
One origin of the term was the initiation of World Music Day (Fête de la Musique) in 1982 in France. World Music Day has been celebrated on 21 June every year since then. On 29 June 1987 a meeting of interested parties gathered to capitalize on the marketing of this genre. Arguably popular interest was sparked with the release in 1986 of Paul Simon's Graceland album. The concept behind the album was to express his own sensibilities using the sounds he had fallen in love with while listening to artists from Southern Africa, including Ladysmith Black Mambazo and Savuka. This project and the work of Peter Gabriel and Johnny Clegg among others had, to some degree, introduced non-Western music to a wider audience. They saw this as an opportunity which should not be ignored.
Before 1987, world music had a following but it was still difficult for interested parties to sell their music to the larger music stores. Although specialist music stores had been important in developing the genre over many years, the record companies, broadcasters and journalists had been finding it difficult to build a following because the music, itself, seemed too scarce. However, they were aware that the jazz and classical markets had developed a crossover audience and decided that the best way forward would be to have a collective strategy in order to bring the music to a wider audience.
At around this time, Cultural Co-operation started the Music Village Festival. A regular series of free world music festivals which are running to this day. A network of world music artists was also created to help promote their work.
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