National Geographic Music (National Geographic)

When the crew from SPIN Earth recently stopped by the Nat Geo Music offices to demo the beta version of their new international music website, we were kinda blown away. More than a few of us here at Nat Geo are old enough to remember the legendary SPIN magazine of the '80s, which gave ample editorial room to the burgeoning "world music" phenomenon right alongside hip-hop, alternative music and pop. Back in the day, giving international music equal billing with Western pop was kind of visionary, and it helped inspire our own mission of exposing music from around the world to the National Geographic audience. So we were more than a little excited to see the SPIN organization living up to this legacy with this impressive new web venture.

In a nutshell, SPIN Earth aggregates user-generated music content from around the world into one of the coolest new music platforms on the web - think YouTube, but with the grainy, out-of-focus nutpunch videos replaced with well-produced music content. Or, as SPIN Earth's own hype sheet puts it: "SPIN Earth is our newest music platform with an expansive global reach. We have over 600 correspondents in more than 85 cities around the world, each one reporting back to us about the music experience they live, through their eyes. The result is a daily snapshot of the world of music, made possible by technology, and fueled by passion for the experience. We are a place to discover new bands, to revisit proven bands through new eyes, and to capture a bit of local culture through each new report. From New York to Nairobi, Barcelona to Buenos Aires, SPIN Earth is this generation's way to share their love of music."

Word.

Anyway, we took some time in the last few weeks to dive deep into SPIN Earth's content and came away impressed-there's a lot of interesting goodies over there to check out. We recommend these three to get started:

A 2008 documentary about punk rock in Bejing

A crate-diving expedition in Austin, TX with Mexican Institute of Sound's Camillo Lara

And if you like what you see, sign up and share your own perspective on music and culture from wherever you are.