Year of creation: 1947
Budget: U.S.$100333
Domain(s):

- oral traditions and expressions
- performing arts
- social practices, rituals and festive events
- knowledge and practices concerning nature and the universe
- traditional craftsmanship

Safeguarding measures:

- identification, documentation, research (including inventory-making)
- preservation, protection
- promotion, enhancement
- transmission, (non-)formal education
- revitalization

Main countries where active:

Albania, Argentina, Australia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Bangladesh, Belarus, Belgium, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Brazil, Bulgaria, Canada, China, Costa Rica, Côte d'Ivoire, Croatia, Cyprus, Czechia, Denmark, Ecuador, Estonia, Ethiopia, Finland, France, Georgia, Germany, Ghana, Greece, Guatemala, Hungary, India, Indonesia, Iran (Islamic Republic o

Objectives:
The International Council for Traditional Music is an NGO in formal consultative relations with UNESCO. Through its wide international representation, it acts as a bond among peoples of different cultures and thus serves the peace of humankind.
Its aims are to further the study, practice, documentation, preservation and dissemination of traditional music and dance of all countries.
Activities:
The International Council for Traditional Music organizes World Conferences, Symposia and Colloquia, publishes a peer-reviewed journal Yearbook for Traditional Music, distributes the online Bulletin of the ICTM, and maintains an Online Membership Directory.
Study Groups are comprised of members in a common area of scholarly study. Currently there are 18 active ICTM Study Groups, on African Musics, Applied Ethnomusicology, Ethnochoreology, Folk Music Instruments, Historical Sources of Traditional Music, Iconography of the Performing Arts, Maqām, Mediterranean Music Studies, Multipart Music, Music Archeology, Music and Dance in Oceania, Music and Dance in Southeastern Europe, Music and Gender, Music and Minorities, Music in the Arab World, Music of the Turkic-speaking World, Musics of East Asia, and Performing Arts of Southeast Asia. Study Groups are an essential part of the ICTM. They hold periodic symposia and publish the results of their ongoing research.
Colloquia have been organized by invitation since 1981. These events focus on selected themes intensively discussed by smaller groups of scholars and representatives from related fields.
ICTM world conferences are held biennially and offer the general membership and the public opportunities for exchanges on a broad scope of issues. The 2015 world conference will be held in Astana, Kazakhstan. The last five world conferences were held in Sheffield, U.K. (2005), Vienna, Austria (2007), Durban, South Africa (2009), St. John’s, Canada (2011), and Shanghai, China (2013).
The ICTM has edited the CDs of the UNESCO Collection of Traditional Music from 1995 until it came to an end in 2005. The ICTM secretariat and ICTM members were actively involved in the process of evaluating the applications for the Masterpieces of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity, and afterwards they have served in the Consultative Body of the Intergovernmental Committee for the Safeguarding Intangible Cultural Heritage, which examined nominations for the Urgent Safeguarding List, requests for the International Assistance and proposals for the Register of Best Safeguarding Practices.
The Yearbook for Traditional Music, a referenced scholarly journal, is published annually and carries essays, reviews and reports in the area of traditional music and dance for its international readership. It was established in 1949 as the Journal of the International Folk Music Council.
The Bulletin of the ICTM appears three times a year (January, April and October) with ICTM news, calendar of future events, and reports from Study Groups, National and Regional Committees and Liaison Officers. It was established in 1948 as the Bulletin of the International Folk Music Council.
The ICTM website provides the most current information on ICTM conferences, Study Group Symposia, Colloquia in preparation, and recent publications. Members may access the frequently updated ICTM Online Membership Directory, apply for membership and submit inquiries to the ICTM Secretariat at the website.
Twelve Executive Board members are elected by the ICTM members during the world conferences and they include a President and two Vice Presidents. The Secretary General is appointed by the Executive Board and assisted in the Secretariat by an Executive Assistant. Since 2011, the Secretariat is located in Ljubljana, Slovenia. The ICTM has members in all states parties from the Electoral Group II except the Republic of Moldova, as well as in many other countries around the world (103 as of June 2014).

Cooperation:
Most ICTM members do fieldwork in communities in rural or urban areas by participating observation. Many take music and dance lessons and participate in performances of the music and dance they study.
Furthermore, ICTM members act as liaisons between performers and performing venues all over the world. They quite often assist communities in getting access to audiovisual recordings, and increasingly assist them in making their own audiovisual recordings and establishing documentation centers.
Through its publications, the ICTM facilitates the exchange of information, and thus contributes to the promotion and awareness-rising on the importance of intangible cultural heritage. All activities are based on the principle of partnership with communities, groups and/or individuals concerned. ICTM members, organized in National and Regional Committees, are in various capacities involved in the implementation of the 2003 Convention on local, national, regional or international levels, including the participation in the ICH NGO Forum. They are particularly active in projects that aim towards documentation, research, promotion and revitalization of intangible cultural heritage.