Smithsonian Folkways Recordings is the nonprofit record label of the Smithsonian Institution, the national museum of the United States. Smithsonian Folkways is dedicated to supporting cultural diversity and increased understanding among peoples through the documentation, preservation, and dissemination of sound. The label was founded in 1987 after the family of Moses Asch, founder of Folkways Records, donated the entire Folkways Records label to the Smithsonian.
As one of the first record companies to offer albums of "world music," and as an early exponent of the singers and songwriters who formed the core of the American folk music revival (including such giants as Woody Guthrie, Pete Seeger, and Lead Belly), Smithsonian Folkways has grown to become one of the most influential record companies in the world.