Billed as "a cross between a record label and a museum," Smithsonian Folkways Recordings is a time capsule for the history of music. From 1948 to 1986, the record label Folkways Recordings released over 2,000 titles. Users can browse for recordings by genre, geography, artist, and label, as well as search with a query bar located at the top right. There are also numerous playlists, videos, podcasts, and articles that visitors can filter by genre, country, artist, or instrument (all accessible under the Explore tab). Educators may also want to check out the Learn section, where they will find more than 100 free lesson plans for a wide range of grades, all downloadable in PDF form. Since acquiring the label in 1987, the Smithsonian Institution Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage (featured in the 11-30-1999 Scout Report) has expanded Folkways into a multimedia company. Their Smithsonian Folkways Magazine (also accessible via the Explore section) highlights artists from around the world, offering articles and audio. The magazine is published one to four times annually and focuses on themes such as migration and education. Readers can access issues of the magazine dating back to April 2009 under a dropdown menu at the bottom of the section.
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