National Geographic Music (National Geographic)

Pioneering world music label Six Degrees Records recently announced its entry into the digital download arena with the introduction of a new digital-only sampler. The Emerging Artists Sampler Vol. 1 offers listeners the chance to discover five breaking world music artists (Rara Avis, DO, ZAMAN 8 and Hafez Modir, MNO, and Jef Stott) in advance of the artist's upcoming individual EPs which are slated for later release in the series. The downloads will be available at both the label's website and all leading digital retail stores.

"As we enter into our tenth year as an independent label, it is more important than ever to be reactive to changes in the market place," said Six Degrees president and co-founder, Bob Duskis, in a press release. "While we've all seen the decline at traditional retail, we've been experiencing healthy growth in our digital business. This business model allows us to be more adventurous in releasing plentiful new music with more up-and-coming artists. A tremendous amount of exciting and innovative music comes through our doors and this scenario lets us put it in the hands of the public."

The artists for this series will include genre-bending multi-instrumentalist Rara Avis, veteran world music producer and performer Jeff Stott, Iranian-American fusionists ZAMAN 8 & Hafez Modir, a collaboration between veteran producer/musician Greg Landau and Cuban piano star Omar called DO, and MNO, a.k.a. classical and jazz musician Michael Emenau.

For further information on the Emerging Artist Series please consult the Six Degrees Records website.