Launched in 1999, Songlines is the leading magazine covering traditional, contemporary, folk and fusion music from around the world. Each edition is packed with the latest album reviews, artist interviews, festival profiles and travel adventures from every corner of the globe. Music is about culture, politics, history and the environment and Songlines is your essential guide to it all.

If you’re new to Songlines, download our Aug/Sept 2014 issue (#102) for free. Features include an interview with Afrobeat pioneers Tony Allen & Orlando Julius, as they both celebrate 50-year careers with new albums.

There is also an interview with Scottish author, avid music consumer and vinyl addict Ian Rankin, who speaks to Jo Frost (Songlines editor) about how he’s always willing to take a punt on new music, especially if there’s a good story behind it.

Also featured in the trial issue: a feature on Israeli musician Idan Raichel and his collaboration with Malian musician Vieux Farka Touré; Malian jeli singer Kassé Mady Diabaté; and violinists Anna Phoebe and Jyotsna Srikanth. We also pick our Essential 10 Afrobeat albums that you must own, plus Chris Moss provides a Beginner’s Guide to salsa superstar Rubén Blades.

The January 2026 issue (#214) of Songlines is out now and it’s a bumper end-of-year special featuring an additional 48 pages. The star of the show is our Songlines Music Awards, highlighting the best global music released in 2025. Our cover stars are Kneecap, who are ready to put controversies aside and refocus attention on what they stand for: promoting the Irish language and fighting colonial injustice. Old-time and bluegrass trailblazer Alice Gerrard pops in for a chat about her astonishing career, Gloria Estefan dives into her Cuban roots and we have an in-depth article on the current state of klezmer music. We hear from Peggy Seeger’s family on why she’s a true ‘World Pioneer’, we speak to Ólöf Arnalds and other Icelandic artists ready to get rid of cliches about their country’s music, and ganavya tells us why her latest album should never have been made. We get the inside story on The Watersons’ magnum opus, Frost & Fire, which is celebrating its 60th anniversary this year, sit down with Guitari Baro and their ambitions of creating a new form of African jazz music, listen to ten essential maskandi album from Southern Africa, and we don our caps to Martyn Bennett and his groundbreaking fusions of Scottish trad and dance music. Plus, Júlia Colom, Hollie Cook, Nusantara Beat, Mikey Kenney, Emma Warren, Bob Dylan, Jaw Harp and all the usual news, listings, reviews and competitions.

Print and digital subscribers will also receive our accompanying Top of the World compilation featuring our pick of the month’s best new music – Carminho, The Kasambwe Brothers, Mustafa Said, Balkan Taksim, Alejandra Cárdenas (aka Ale Hop) and more – as well as five bonus tracks taken from our five best albums of 2025: ganavya, Songhoy Blues, Brìghde Chaimbeul, Mulatu Astatke and Rhiannon Giddens & Justin Robinson.

You can buy the latest issue or subscribe to receive this and future issues delivered to your door as soon as they're published. We also offer digital subscriptions that give you access to every one of our 214 issues from 1999 to 2025… and beyond.