The Russian World Music Chart (RWMC) has announced its Top 10 Russian world music albums of 2025. Nostalgia by ODUCHU took the No. 1 spot. The duo from the Siberian Tuva Republic released the album on China-based label Stallion Era.
This year’s chart featured 52 releases from 23 labels across world, ethnic, and folk music, covering albums issued in 2025 plus three titles from late 2024.
RWMC launched in October 2021, founded by Daryana Antipova and Irina Brykova to highlight new folk music from multinational Russia and to support independent artists, labels, and media. The project aims to bring attention to musicians from remote regions of Russia, as well as Russian artists now based abroad.
An international jury of 21 experts selects the Top 10 albums each year. Jurors come from Norway, the USA, Hungary, Slovakia, Turkey, Italy, Germany, Japan, Spain, the Czech Republic, and Russia, and include radio journalists and folk music columnists. According to the organizers, only specialists who already champion Russian artists in their programming or coverage are invited, giving participating musicians “a real chance to be heard around the world.”
Top 10 Albums of 2025
- ODUCHU — Nostalgia — Stallion Era Beijing Culture Communication Co., Ltd
- Zhenya Wind — The Earth Is Moving — Zhenya Wind
- Chuvash band DIVA — Şăltăr Vitĕr Şol Korănat — Ruslan Solovyov / Diva Ethno Future Sound
- Tatyana Molchanova — Songs of Lidiya Ruslanova. Part 2 — Tatyana Molchanova
- Folk Ensemble “Ere-Chuy” — Ӱргӱлји (Eternity) — Soyuz MedStyle Management LLC
- Nytt Land — Songs of the Shaman — Prophecy Production
- PEVCHAYA, Ivan KIT — Russian Folk Lounge — новаямузыка.рф
- NUKER — Khamta (Together) — Baikal Music Label
- Tatyana Kalmykova — The Little Bee — SWA
- Anna Hoffman — By Your Name — Aera Records
Best EP: Alexandra Arbatskaya and Trio “Zalessky Jazz” — Ripple — ArtBeat Music Publishing
Listeners’ Choice 2025 (Album): Alexey Kruglov, Arkady Kirichenko, Sergey Letov, Arkady Shilkloper, Karina Kozhevnikova, Vladimir Volkov, Pyotr Talalay — Pilgrim — ArtBeat Music / ArtBeat Music Publishing
Listeners’ Choice 2025 (EP): Ensemble Krasnaya Gorka — On the High Hill — Ensemble “Krasnaya Gorka,” Kazan
Best Single 2025: Ensemble “Lestvitsa” — A Little Rain Fell
Best Label: Antonovka Records.
More about the chart: worldmusicchart.ru
Author: World Music Central News Room
World music news from the editors at World Music Central