The most distinctive music of Uruguay is to be found in the tango and candombe; both genres have been recognized by UNESCO as an Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.
Among the most notable countryside musicians are Bartolomé Hidalgo, Santiago Chalar, Osiris Rodríguez Castillos, Tabaré Etcheverry, Juan José de Mello, Cacho Labandera, Anselmo Grau, Amalia de la Vega, Marcos Velásquez, Los Cantaclaro, Abel Soria, Julio Gallego, Teresita Minetti, Oscar Ramírez, Luis Arrúa, Carlos Malo, among others.
[2] Other Uruguayan tango musicians, among the most important names, were director Francisco Canaro and his violinist Modesto Ocampo.
One of the best-known tangos in the world, "La Cumparsita", was written by Uruguayan composer Gerardo Matos Rodríguez.
The Uruguayan-Argentinian band Bajofondo is a multi-award winning project which aims to create a more contemporary version of tango and other musical styles of the Río de la Plata region.
Candombe originates from the Río de la Plata, where African slaves brought their dances and percussion music.
Fattoruso has been a longtime part of both the Uruguayan and Latin American music scene, including as a member of rock band Los Shakers, and swing band The Hot Blowers, as well as Brazilian Milton Nascimento and the Latin jazz and Acid Jazz group Opa.
The chico (literally "small") is the smallest in size and highest in pitch of the three tambores, serving as the rhythmic pendulum.
The purest form of Candombe takes place each Sunday night on the streets of Montevideo, where many drummers assemble, playing their drums under the moonlit sky.
For over a century spontaneous cuerdas have paraded on this street, and continue to do so today (Isla de Flores is also known by its other name, Carlos Gardel).
Uruguayan artists involved in canto popular include Alfredo Zitarrosa, El Sabalero and Los Olimareños.
Candombe beat began in the late 1960s with El Kinto, a band featuring Ruben Rada and Eduardo Mateo.
The beat of candombe formed the rhythm, bossa nova played a large role in its chords and structure, as did traditional Uruguayan folk music.
By mid-2015, the Uruguayan bands Rombai and Márama of the emerging subgenre cumbia pop enjoyed great success all over Latin America even before publishing their first albums; particularly in their home country and in Argentina, where in a given moment they had together nine songs at the Spotify Top Ten ranking.
Among the best-known composers of Uruguay we find Eduardo Fabini, Miguel del Aguila, Luis Cluzeau Mortet and Hector Tosar.
The SODRE (acronym for "Official Service for broadcasting Radio, TV, and Performing Arts") is the main institution generating cultural activities for the whole country.
Santé Les Amis is a six-member project, born in 2007 in Montevideo, leading the electronic, disco punk and rock pop music in the country.