This paper offers a critical analysis of the internationalization and commercialization of world music records. It examines the dialectic of cross representations between producers and consumers, throughout an historical review of the different types of labels that use the world music term—albeit very controversial since its invention by the music industry in 1987. Finally, some issues behind the international success in world music are assessed, revealing the paradoxical relationship between “authenticity” and “musical hybridity” at stake in world music recordings.