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WHAT IS AFROPOP WORLDWIDE? Afropop is a radio program, a web site, a searchable database, an international musical archive, a team of researchers, and a travel series to Africa and Latin America . “Afropop” is also now used as a general term to describe popular African music. In 1988, interest in international pop was at an all-time high and Afropop was launched by NPR as a weekly series. It was the first of its kind and, years later, the program has expanded its vision to include the music and cultures that encompass the entire African Diaspora. Now known as Afropop Worldwide (APWW), the program is still the standard for both the curious and the connoisseur. Hosted by one of Africa 's best-loved broadcast personalities, Georges Collinet, and produced by Sean Barlow for World Music Productions, Afropop Worldwide is currently distributed by PRI Public Radio International to over 100 stations in the U.S. The series is also heard in Europe and Africa . Our vision is to increase the profile of African and African Diaspora music worldwide, and to see that benefits go back to artists, music industry professionals, and the countries that produce the music. The Afropop database is central to our strategy as it harnesses the power of what we have done, and allows us to integrate past work with new research to support new projects. We are working in partnership with Calabash Music to help musicians from Africa , the Caribbean and Latin America leapfrog over the barriers of the conventional music business and take advantage of the emerging digital marketplace for global music. Afropop Worldwide and afropop.org are produced by World Music Productions, a Brooklyn based, non-profit multi-media organization founded by Sean Barlow in 1986. Financial contributions to support our work are gladly accepted and are tax-deductible ! Thank you for your interest in Afropop! World Music Productions' Board of Directors: Sean Barlow Timothy J. Bork Evangeline Kim Bill Kornreich Josh Mailman Mitchell A. Harwood Youssou N'Dour Sandra Rattley Randy Weston Angelique Kidjo AFROPOP WORLDWIDE WEB SITE The Afropop Worldwide web site is a work in progress. Our goal is to make a highly user-friendly, exciting site that lets you get quickly and easily to the content you want, and happily bump into music and information along the way you didn't know you were looking for. We aim for nothing less than being the premier destination for web denizens interested in contemporary music of Africa and the African Diaspora. Our mission of connecting world class veteran and emerging artists from Africa , the Caribbean and the Americas with music lovers everywhere will find new pathways in the web world. In the radio world, over the past 15 years, we have built our reputation on superb programming chops, engaging story-telling and journalistic accuracy. The same will apply to our web site. OUR WONDERFUL WEB SITE CREW The Afropop Worldwide website is developed by World Music Productions. Afropop Worldwide producer Sean Barlow is the Project Director. He edits the weekly Afropop e-Newsletter. Georges Collinet is the host of Afropop Worldwide radio programs you can hear from our site's radio archive. Banning Eyre is Senior Editor for Afropop.org and Director of Database Content Development. Visit Banning at banningeyre.com . Steven Johnson is our Director of Technology. Steven led the recent redesign of our homepage. He created the improved version of our weekly Afropop e-Newsletter, has installed & maintains Afropop's computer systems and designs all printed materials. Soundprint Media Center provides additional programming and web hosting support. Soundprint's system administrator/web programmer is Joe Lloyd . Joe has done some of the backend work to make this giant database work as smoothly as possible. Visit Joe at killerferret.com Crystal (Bliss) Sloan of EagleRidgeTech.com is our Chief Information Officer. Crystal is our lead web systems consultant, the Microsoft Access programmer for the desktop version of our database, and has guided our database modeling team. Maggie Farley contributes her web design HTML talents Visit Maggie at fluffybattlekitten.com . Dave Gilden of coraconnection.com did the original design for the version of our site launched in January 2001. Our Operations Director is Misha Turner. Misha also edits the weekly Free Stuff dept. Louise D. Chang is our Assoicate Editor for the weekly Afropop New York City Select Concerts & Events feature. Lynn Walsh is our Community Relations Assoicate and Contributor. Both Louise and Lynn actively promote Afropop at New York community events. Our interns are Zev Frank, Danya Cheskis-Gold and Andrew Aprile. Images on our site provided by Banning Eyre , Georges Collinet, Ned Sublette, Sean Barlow, Jack Vartoogian and others. Our worldwide network of Afropop reporters and co-producers contribute information and stories to the site. OUR GRACIOUS FUNDERS Crucial first funding for the Afropop Worldwide web site redevelopment project comes from the Joshua Mailman Charitable Trust (thank you Josh!). We also thank the Corporation for Public Broadcasting for their generous support. Initial research and strategic planning support for the site provided by the Ford Foundation . Other current funders of our core research and production work include the National Endowment for the Humanities, the National Endowment for the Arts, the Rockefeller Foundation, and the Rockefeller Brothers Fund. Hundreds of individuals support our work with tax-deductible contributions large and small. Go to Join Afropop to find out how you can join forces with us in spreading the word about these dynamic artists and the living, breathing music cultures they come from. AFROPOP WORLDWIDE, THE RADIO SERIES "Afropop Worldwide from PRI Public Radio International is a weekly series showcasing the contemporary musical cultures of Africa and the African Diaspora in the Caribbean , the Americas and Europe . Hosted by international broadcast personality Georges Collinet from Cameroon , Afropop Worldwide takes listeners to dynamic music capitals such as Dakar Senegal , Johannesburg South Africa , Cairo Egypt , Havana Cuba , Salvador de Bahia Brazil , New York and Paris . Listeners meet the leading stars as well as emerging artists. Live concert recordings of world class artists such as Ladysmith Black Mambazo, Cesaria Evora, Gilberto Gil, Baaba Maal, Kanda Bongo Man and others are featured on the program. Check our Station Listings and Program Listings so you can tune in and check us out!
"Afropop Worldwide is produced by World Music Productions, a non-profit multi-media organization based in Brooklyn , NY . Find out how you can support our work with tax-deductible contributions." |
