- 21-25 OCT 2026
- Gran Canaria, Las Palmas de Gran Canaria
The World Music Charts 2026:
20 TOP LABELS OF THE YEAR
WOMEX first introduced the Top Label Award in 2006, making this year the 20th anniversary edition — two decades of albums from across the planet reaching the ears of music lovers through the endless hard work of labels and everyone in that chain: artists, engineers, producers, label and release staff, legal, marketing and on and on. At the time of that first list in 2006, Spotify was yet to be formed, and the industry was in a state of flux, still heavily dependent on physical media but anticipating a shift to something new.
Twenty years later, it's hard to quantify the changes that have taken place, and many of the new challenges that have come with them have unfortunately fallen at the feet of artists and independent labels and operators. This makes it even more important to create space to celebrate the achievements of this independently minded ecosystem — a world that WOMEX and our partners Transglobal World Music Chart and World Music Charts Europe strive to represent and uplift.
In that spirit, we present this year's Top 20 Labels. The list reflects releases from August 2025 to July 2026.
Listen to a curated playlist featuring a track from each album.
How do we decide?
Our partners Transglobal World Music Chart (opens in a new tab) and World Music Charts Europe (opens in a new tab) prepare their own lists of the most important albums of the year, voted for by their network of journalists, tastemakers and experts. WOMEX gathers those lists and combines them into the Top 20 Labels list below. We track the work of independent labels and their A&R teams. If several labels operate under one company, their results are combined. But when teams run independently in different places, each gets its own recognition.
CONGRATULATIONS TO:
(Labels listed alphabetically, with their most significant album of the year)
- ACT Music
Unspoken
Mahan Mirarab - ARC Music
Desi – The Soul Of Punjab
Kuljit Bhamra - Asphalt Tango Records
We Were Made For These Times
The Klezmatics - BackingTrack Production
Souad Massi
Zagate - Bendigedig
Notes To Self
Catrin Finch - Bongo Joe Records
Flame Folclore
Cocanha - Buda Musique
La Noche
Radio Tarifa - Contre-Jour
Gwà
Kareyce Fotso - CPL / Nordic Notes
Radio Sevdah
Divanhana - Galileo
San Paolo di Galatina
Raül Refree & Maria Mazzotta - Glitterbeat Records
Yenbett
Noura Mint Seymali - Hysa Productions / Sterns Music
Rumba Africa
Syran Mbenza - Nø Førmat!
Massa
Fatoumata Diawara - One World Records
Toumaro
Hawa & Kasse Mady Diabaté - Ponderosa Music
Il Mito
Canzoniere Grecanico Salentino - Real World Records
Dub Will Keep Us Together
Dub Colossus - Segell Microscopi
Oceltambor
Arnau Obiols - World Circuit
Maame
Cheikh Lô - YB Music
Verve
Lívia Mattos - Zephyrus Records
Journey To The Unknown
Nana Osei Twum Barima
As we move into the 3rd decade of celebrating independent worldwide music culture, we also need to recognize and navigate areas so that our outputs visually align with our values. Within even our smaller label ecosystem there exists structural imbalances that benefit certain artists, genres or backgrounds, over others. We know that many Global South ecosystems are rapidly developing and already influencing global sound and culture, and want to find ways that these realities are also reflected and celebrated within our community and beyond. As a step towards this, we have started a new editorial feature - Beyond The Spotlight - highlighting some of those labels and projects outside of the ‘limelight’, and hope to expand this and other initiatives over the next year. Here’s to the next 20 years of independent label culture!