Real World Records is a British

record label A record label, or record company, is a brand or trademark of music recordings and music videos, or the company that owns it. Sometimes, a record label is also a publishing company that manages such brands and trademarks, coordinates the produ ...

specializing in world music. It was founded in 1989 by English musician Peter Gabriel and original members of

WOMAD WOMAD ( ; World of Music, Arts and Dance) is an international arts festival. The central aim of WOMAD is to celebrate the world's many forms of music, arts and dance. History WOMAD was founded in 1980 by English rock musician Peter Gabriel, w ...

. A majority of the works released on Real World Records feature music recorded at

Real World Studios Real World Studios is a residential recording studio complex founded by Peter Gabriel and situated in the village of Box, Wiltshire, England, near to the city of Bath. It is closely associated with the Real World Records record label, Real ...

, in Box, Wiltshire,

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

History

In 1999, the label had sold over 3 million records worldwide and released 90 albums. In 2015, it had reached the mark of over 200 albums.

Artists

* Afro Celt Sound System * Ashkhabad *

Ayub Ogada Job Seda (1956 – 1 February 2019), better known as Ayub Ogada, was a Kenyan singer. He was a singer favoring the nyatiti (an eight-stringed lyre with its origins credited to the Luo, a tribe in Nyanza Kenya) as his characteristic instrument. ...

Bernard Kabanda Bernard Kabanda Sslongo (1959 – 4 September 1999) was an Ugandan guitarist. He had just realised fame in the world music circuit through his appearances at WOMAD in the US and the UK in 1999 before he died of AIDS less than two months after his ...

* Big Blue Ball * Charlie Winston * Creole Choir of Cuba * Dengue Fever *

Farafina Farafina is a music and dance group from Burkina Faso, established in 1978. The eight-member group is Burkina Faso's best known musical group, and one of Africa's most internationally prominent musical groups. History The group was founded ...

* Fatala *

Geoffrey Oryema Geoffrey Oryema (16 April 1953 – 22 June 2018) was a Ugandan musician. In 1977 after the murder of his father, Erinayo Wilson Oryema, who was a cabinet minister in the government of Idi Amin, he began his life in exile. At the age of 24, and a ...

Guo Brothers Guo Yue (; born 1958) is a virtuoso of the '' dizi'' (Chinese bamboo flute) and '' bawu'' (Chinese free reed pipe). He was born in Beijing, China during the period of the Cultural Revolution. He plays a wide range of the bamboo flute and currentl ...

Hoba Hoba Spirit Hoba Hoba Spirit is a musical fusion band based in Casablanca, Morocco that was formed in 1998. It is composed of Adil Hanine (drummer), Anouar Zehouani (guitarist), Saâd Bouidi (Bass guitar), Reda Allali - (vocalist and guitarist) and Othmane H ...

Johnny Kalsi Johnny Kalsi is a British Indian ''dhol'' drum performer residing in London. He rose to prominence as a former member of Transglobal Underground and the founder of the Dhol Foundation. He also is a member of the Afro Celt Sound System and The Im ...

* Joi *

Joseph Arthur Joseph Arthur (born September 28, 1971) is an American singer-songwriter and artist from Akron, Ohio. He is best known for his solo material, and as a member of Fistful of Mercy and RNDM. Arthur has built his reputation over the years through ...

Les Amazones d'Afrique ''Les Amazones d'Afrique'' is a contemporary world music supergroup formed in Mali in 2015 featuring Kandia Kouyaté, Angélique Kidjo, Mamani Keita, Rokia Koné, Mariam Doumbia (of Amadou & Mariam), Nneka, Mariam Koné, Massan Coulibaly, ...

Little Axe Skip McDonald (born Bernard Alexander, September 1949)Allmusic biography/ref> is an American musician who also performs under the stage name Little Axe. Career Early career Grounded in blues music learned from his father, a steel worker who ...

* Mamer *

Maryam Mursal Maryam Mursal ( so, Maryan Mursal, ar, مريم مرسل) (born 1 January 1950) is a Somali composer and vocalist. Biography Mursal grew up in Somalia in a Muslim family with four daughters. Mursal's family was originally from Somaliland, and i ...

Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan Ustad Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan ( pa, ; born Pervez Fateh Ali Khan; 13 October 1948 – 16 August 1997) was a Pakistani singer, songwriter, and music director. He was primarily a singer of qawwali — a form of Sufi devotional music. Sometimes ...

Ozomatli Ozomatli is an American rock band, formed in 1995 in Los Angeles. They are known both for their vocal activist viewpoints and incorporating a wide array of musical styles – including salsa, jazz, funk, reggae, hip hop, and others. The group ...

* Paban Das Baul * Pan-African Orchestra * Papa Wemba * Peter Gabriel * Portico Quartet *

Rupert Hine Rupert Neville Hine (21 September 1947 – 4 June 2020) was an English musician, songwriter and record producer. He produced albums for artists including Rush, Kevin Ayers, Tina Turner, Howard Jones, Saga, the Fixx, Bob Geldof, Thompson Twins ...

* Samuel Yirga * Sheila Chandra *

Sevara Nazarkhan Sevara Nazarkhan ( uz, Sevara Nazarxon, Севара Назархон) is an Uzbek singer, songwriter, and musician. Her musical style incorporates Uzbek folk and contemporary music. Nazarkhan has achieved worldwide fame and has collaborated wi ...

* Spiro *

The Blind Boys of Alabama The Blind Boys of Alabama, also billed as The Five Blind Boys of Alabama, and Clarence Fountain and the Blind Boys of Alabama, is an American Gospel music, gospel group. The group was founded in 1939 in Talladega, Alabama, and has featured a ch ...

The Imagined Village The Imagined Village is a folk music project founded by Simon Emmerson of Afro Celt Sound System. It is intended to produce modern folk music that represented modern multiculturalism in the United Kingdom and as such, featured musicians from a ...

* U. Srinivas * Värttinä * Yungchen Lhamo

Partial discography

*''ABoneCroneDrone'', Sheila Chandra, 1996 *'' Among Brothers'',

Abderrahmane Abdelli Abderrahmane Abdelli (born April 2, 1958) is a Berber author, composer, and singer songwriter known for mixing the traditional North African music of his homeland with modern sounds. Biography Abdelli was born in Mechta Behalil, a hamlet in the ...

, 2003 *''

Atom Bomb A nuclear weapon is an explosive device that derives its destructive force from nuclear reactions, either fission (fission bomb) or a combination of fission and fusion reactions (thermonuclear bomb), producing a nuclear explosion. Both bomb ...

'',

, 2005 *'' Beat the Border'',

, 1993 *'' Big Blue Ball'', various artists, 2008 (recorded 1991, 1992, 1995) *'' Big City Secrets'',

, 1997 *''Black Rock'', Djivan Gasparyan &

Michael Brook Michael Brook (born 1951) is a Canadian guitarist, inventor, music producer, and film music composer. He plays in many genres, including rock, electronica, world music, minimalism and film scores. His collaborations with musicians around the worl ...

, 1998 *''Coming Home'', Yungchen Lhamo, 1998 *''Djabote'', Doudou Ndiaye Rose, 1992 *''

Emotion Emotions are mental states brought on by neurophysiology, neurophysiological changes, variously associated with thoughts, feelings, behavioral responses, and a degree of pleasure or suffering, displeasure. There is currently no scientific ...

'', Papa Wemba, 1995 *''En Mana Kuoyo'',

, 1993 *''Espace'', Tama, 2002 *''Higher Ground'', The Blind Boys of Alabama, with

Robert Randolph and the Family Band Robert Randolph and the Family Band is an American gospel band led by pedal steel guitarist Robert Randolph (Robert Jermaine Randolph, born August 8, 1977, Irvington, New Jersey). NPR has described the band as one with an "irresistible rock ' ...

, and special guest

Ben Harper Benjamin Chase Harper (born October 28, 1969) is an American singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist. Harper plays an eclectic mix of blues, folk, soul, reggae, and rock music and is known for his guitar-playing skills, vocals, live perfo ...

, 2002 *''In Your Hands'', Charlie Winston, 2009 *''Le Voyageur'', Papa Wemba *''My Songs and a Poem'',

Estrella Morente Estrella Morente (Estrella de la Aurora Morente Carbonell) is a Spanish flamenco singer. She was born on 14 August 1980 in Las Gabias, Granada in southern Spain. She is the daughter of flamenco singer Enrique Morente and dancer Aurora Carbonel ...

, 2001 *'' Mustt Mustt'', Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan & Michael Brook, 1990 *'' Night Song'', Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan & Michael Brook, 1995 *''Night to Night'', Geoffrey Oryema, 1996 *'' Pod'', Afro Celt Sound System, 2004 *''Plus from US'', 1993 *''Quick Look'',

Pina Pina may refer to: People * Pina (name), a list of people with the given name, nickname, surname or stage name Places * Pina, Nepal, a village development committee * Pina, Mallorca, Spain, a town * Pina de Ebro, a municipality of the provin ...

, 2002 *''Rama Sreerama'', U. Srinivas, 1994 *''Real Sugar'', Paban Das Baul & Sam Mills, 1997 *''Sampradaya'',

Pandit Shiv Kumar Sharma Pandit Shivkumar Sharma (13 January 1938 – 10 May 2022) was an Indian classical musician and santoor player who is credited with adapting the santoor for Indian classical music. As a music composer, he collaborated with Indian flautist Har ...

, with Rahul Sharma, Shafaat Ahmed Khan & Manorama Sharma, 1999 *''Serious Tam'', Telek, 2000 *''Sezoni'',

Mara! Mara! is an Australian world music quintet. They have won 2 ARIA Awards for Best World Music Album in 1996 (''Ruino Vino'') and 2001 (''Live in Europe'') and they were also nominated in 2006 (''Sorella'') and along with the Martenitsa Choir in 19 ...

with Martenitsa Choir, 1999 (original release on Rufus Records, 1997) *'' Songs for the Poor Man'',

Remmy Ongala Ramazani "Remmy" Mtoro Ongala (10 February 1947 – 13 December 2010) was a Tanzanian guitarist and singer. Ongala was born in Kindu near the Tanzanian border, in what was the Belgian Congo at the time, and now is the Democratic Republic of the C ...

, 1989 *''The Journey'', Maryam Mursal, 1998 *''The Last Prophet'', Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan & Party, 1994 *''The Truth (Ny Marina)'', The Justin Vali Trio, 1995 *''The Zen Kiss'', Sheila Chandra, 1994 *''Tibet, Tibet'', Yungchen Lhamo, 1996 *''

Trance Trance is a state of semi-consciousness in which a person is not self-aware and is either altogether unresponsive to external stimuli (but nevertheless capable of pursuing and realizing an aim) or is selectively responsive in following the dir ...

'',

Hassan Hakmoun Hassan Hakmoun ( ar, حسن حكمون) (born 16 September 1963) is a Moroccan musician who specializes in the Gnawa style. Early life Hakmoun was born to a family of musicians

and Zahar, 1993 *''Untold Things'', Jocelyn Pook, 2001 *'' Volume 2: Release'', Afro Celt Sound System, 1999 *'' Volume 3: Further in Time'', Afro Celt Sound System, 2001 *''Weaving My Ancestor's Voices'' Sheila Chandra, 1992 *''Yo‘l Bo‘lsin'',

, 2003

References

1989 establishments in England Record labels established in 1989 British record labels World music record labels Peter Gabriel Virgin Records {{UK-record-label-stub de:Real World