FAQs

Putumayo is a river that begins in the South American country of Colombia and flows along the border of Ecuador and Peru until it reaches the Amazon in Brazil. Putumayo's founder, Dan Storper, was traveling through the region in 1974, and was so enamored with its beauty, he decided to name his new handicraft shop after it. The etymological origins of the word Putumayo in Quechua (indigenous Indian language) are as follows: Mayu (or Mayo) means "River" and Putu can mean either a gourd for drinking chicha, which is a homemade corn/maize liquor, or "nace" (birth) or "sale" (leaves). Therefore, the Quechuan origins of the Putumayo word could be understood to mean either a gourd river or "birth of the river." Another literal meaning of the word Putumayo is a heron (type of bird).

Yes! Our active albums are available for digital download directly through our website. You can also download our albums on iTunes, Qobuz & Bandcamp or stream the album on Apple, Spotify, Qobuz, Deezer & Pandora.Putumayo now offers subscriptions as well. Subscribe and receive two new 10-song digital albums every month, plus exclusive content, merchandise discounts and more!

Putumayo Discovery offers a number of monthly and annual subscriptions. Subscribers receive two new 10-song digital albums every month, plus exclusive content, merchandise discounts and more! Your support helps us continue our mission of highlighting diverse music by real artists from around the world. Click here to learn more and to sign up for a Putumayo Discovery Subscription.

Putumayo has an online shop with a variety of t-shirts, prints and other merchandise for adults and children.

Putumayo decided to stop selling physical CDs on December, 31st, 2025. Going forward we will be offering digital-only albums through the Putumayo Discovery label. You may be able to find out of print CDs through eBay, Amazon and Discogs, although we have no direct affiliation with those outlets.

There are a number of factors that go into Putumayo's decisions regarding what compilations to release. We try to select themes that will have broad appeal and that cover an area of particular musical and cultural interest. We also try to balance out our annual release schedule with a diverse mix of titles that cover a wide range of musical genres. Putumayo's goal is to introduce people to other cultures through melodic, upbeat music from around the world.

Putumayo has a database of more than 80,000 songs we have collected over the years. Jacob Edgar, an ethnomusicologist and longtime Putumayo researcher, reviews thousands of new releases every week in order to make the final selections for each album and playlist. Once a song has been identified as being a good fit for Putumayo, we contact the rights holders to obtain permission to feature the song on our albums.

We are always interested in receiving music that fits the Putumayo aesthetic. Because of the large volume of submissions we receive, we only review songs sent through our official profiles on SubmitHub, PlaylistPush or Groover. When you submit through one of these platforms, you can be sure your music will be heard by the Putumayo A&R team, and you'll receive personal feedback on your song.Unfortunately, we're unable to listen to music sent by email, so please resubmit through one of the platforms above. Since we can't review email submissions, we also won't be able to reply to follow-up messages asking about their status.For songs submitted through those platforms, if one is a good fit for an upcoming collection or playlist, we'll be in touch. That could happen quickly or years down the road, depending on our projects and whether the song suits a particular release. Thanks again for thinking of Putumayo, and we look forward to hearing your music!