Editing Luaka Bop (section)

== Musical philosophy ==
While often described as a “world music” label, Luaka Bop has no explicit musical focus. Asked about the original concept for the label, Byrne says “the initial concept was no concept”, going on to say “I’ve never had an artistic plan with this label—there are no guidelines as far as what we’re going to do or what kind of music it might be”.<ref name=":0" />

In fact, the label has often tried to avoid the “world music” moniker and the changed perceptions that come with it. On Luaka Bop’s website, Byrne details this tension through the example of [[Zap Mama]], who debuted on Luaka Bop as part of the '''''Adventures in Afropea''''' series:

{{Blockquote|text=Overall, we think of the music we work with as contemporary pop music, and we try to present it as such. While something like Zap Mama’s first record could be, and sometimes was, perceived as an ‘ethnic’ record, we did our damnedest to alter that perception. The CD covers go a long way, in my opinion, to creating this attitude. We don’t do covers that look like folkloric records or like academic records of obscure material of interest only to musicologists and a few weird fringe types… we work with the designers to come up with a graphic statement that says ‘this music is as relevant to your life and is as contemporary as Prodigy, Fiona Apple, or Cornershop.’ … So gradually, although Zap Mama might have initially been thought of as an ‘ethnic-folkloric’ ensemble, they are now thought of just as a cool group.<ref name=":0" />|author=|title=|source=}}

Tibor Kalman designed the first two '''''Brazil Classics''''' albums, and several other designers from Kalman's M&Co. design firm have provided the label with distinctive album art.