At Last, a Label Goes Digital

Putumayo World Music developed a multimillion-dollar franchise around the idea of making the sounds of distant corners of the planet accessible to everyday Western shoppers. World music releases often end up as a particularly low-selling species of esoterica, but Putumayo’s colorfully decorated, novice-level compilations, like “Acoustic Brazil” and “French Café,” have sold 27 million copies around the world. The label’s CDs are sold in record stores, as well as through a network of thousands of clothing boutiques, museum gift shops and Whole Foods markets. Until now, however, Putumayo has been behind the commercial curve in one important aspect: as one of the last holdouts on digital music, it has made none of its albums available as downloads. That will finally change on Aug 30, when the label releases its first two digital albums, “African Beat” and “Latin Beat.”