The Song Planner

Global / Regional

Music rooted in regions and traditions worldwide — African, Middle Eastern, South/East/Southeast Asian, European-regional, Caribbean, Oceanian, Indigenous, and global-fusion. A portal that gathers from Latin, Reggae, Folk, Pop and Electronic.

14 families108 sub-genres
Click a family to fan out its sub-genres · dashed = cross-listed
HighlifeAfrobeatAfrobeatsJùjúFujiPalm-WineMakossaCoupé-Décalé1Soukous / Congolese RumbaNdomboloMbube / IsicathamiyaMbaqangaKwaitoAmapianoMaskandiTownship Jive2TaarabBongo FlavaBengaGengeEthio-JazzEthiopian PopChimurenga3RaïChaabiGnawaAndalusian Classical (Gharnati)Berber / AmazighMalouf4Arabic PopKhaleejiDabkeMizrahiPersian PopPersian Classical (Dastgah)Turkish PopArabeskTarab / Classical Arabic5Filmi / BollywoodBhangraIndian Classical (Hindustani)Indian Classical (Carnatic)GhazalQawwaliIndipopIndian FolkPunjabi Pop6MandopopCantopopChinese Traditional (Guoyue)EnkaCity PopMin'yōTrotKorean Traditional (Gugak)Mongolian / Throat-Singing7DangdutLuk ThungMor LamOPM (Filipino Pop)KroncongCambodian RockVietnamese Pop (V-Pop)Gamelan8SocaCalypsoZoukKompa / CompasChutneyDancehallBouyonCadence-lypso9Andean / Música AndinaHuaynoNative AmericanThroat / Overtone (Americas)Nueva CanciónIndigenous Fusion10Celtic / Irish TradNordic / Scandi FolkBalkan BrassTurbo-FolkFlamencoFadoRebetiko / GreekKlezmerPolkaSchlager / VolksmusikSlavic / Russian FolkSámi / Joik11Aboriginal AustralianMāori / WaiataPacific Island ReggaeHawaiianIsland PopSlack-Key Guitar12WorldbeatEthnic ElectronicaGlobal BassDesert Blues / TishoumarenAfro-FusionWorld FusionEthno-Jazz13UK Asian UndergroundReggaeton-adjacent GlobalAfro-Swing / AfrobashmentLatinx Diaspora FusionBalkan-Beats14GlobalRegional

1West African

Highlife, Afrobeat and the Sahel — guitar bands, brass and griot tradition.

West African

Highlife, Afrobeat and the Sahel — guitar bands, brass and griot tradition.

Central & Southern African

Congolese rumba, South African choral and township sounds.

East African

Swahili coast and Horn of Africa traditions.

North African / Maghreb

Berber, Arab-Andalusian and trance traditions of the Maghreb.

Middle Eastern / Arabic

Mashriq, Gulf, Levant, Persian and Turkish popular and classical music.

South Asian / Indian

Film music, classical traditions and the diaspora dancefloor.

East Asian

Chinese, Korean and Japanese popular, traditional and regional forms.

Southeast Asian

The pop and folk traditions of maritime and mainland SE Asia.

Caribbean (non-Reggae)

Soca, calypso and the French/Spanish Caribbean — Reggae has its own tree.

Andean & Indigenous Americas

Highland and Indigenous traditions distinct from the Latin-pop tree.

European Regional & Folk

Celtic, Nordic, Balkan, Mediterranean and Slavic regional traditions.

Oceanian & Pacific

Aboriginal, Māori, Pacific Islander and Hawaiian musics.

Global Fusion & Worldbeat

Cross-cultural hybrids and the global-bass dancefloor.

Diaspora & Crossover

Immigrant-scene hybrids that reshaped Western charts.