Land of candombe, murga and tango, Uruguay is synonymous with musical fusion and birthplace of hundreds of world-renowned musicians

The Uruguayan musical tradition has a very long story that, in the case of candombe, can be traced back to the 18th century.  This said, as noted in the First Uruguayan Catalog of Music, the Uruguayan historian and musicologist Lauro Ayestarán was also able to discover indigenous musical origins in Uruguayan music.

The history of Uruguay in general, but in particular its musical culture, comes from our European ancestors, many of whom arrived in large waves during the second half of the 19th century and in the 1950s . The majority of these immigrants came from Spain (Galicia, Basque Region, Catalunya, and the Canary Islands) followed by Italians and a significant number of French, German, Armenian, Portuguese, British, Swiss, Russian and Polish, amongst others. This cultural melting pot was reflected in the Uruguayan musical scene and it was through all of these influences that different styles unique to our region would begin to emerge. These included candombe, tango, milonga, murga and a range of diverse musical fusions which today make up Uruguay’s contribution to the world of music. We invite you to download the Catálogo Música de Uruguay Vol. 2, where you can find a detailed list of 140 relevant and contemporary national artists divided by genre; candombe, classic/contemporary, electronic music/Hip-Hop, music for children, jazz fusion,  popular music by artist/popular music, murga and song murga, folk, rock/pop, tango, and tropical Uruguayan.