Liz Spikol

WorldMusic.NationalGeographic.com

Speaking of National Geographic, the company that once specialized in tribal nudity and antelopes is branching out to achieve an Oprah-like media saturation. This month it debuted a content-rich world-music website where you can download mp3s, hear remixes and watch videos. The selection is pretty astounding—music by people you’ve heard of, like Bowie interpreter Seu Jorge, and people you haven’t, like Fanfare Ciocarlia (12 Gypsy musicians who play like a bar mitzvah band on speed). I know what you’re saying: But I don’t like world music. What’s she talking about? The site lets you search by region and genre, and cross-references everything, which makes it easy to navigate. So if you see something on the news about Haiti, you can go to NG’s website and learn what music is likely to be playing in the bars where people are crying into their beers. There are lots of photos of hot chicks in bikinis too. Or are there? You’ll have to check it out to see if I’m lying.