The International Council for Traditions of Music and Dance is a scholarly organization which aims to further the study, practice, documentation, preservation, and dissemination of music and dance of all countries. To these ends the Council organizes World Conferences, Symposia, Colloquia, and Fora, and publishes the journal Traditions of Music and Dance (formerly Yearbook for Traditional Music) and the Bulletin of the ICTMD.

As a non-governmental organization in formal consultative relations with UNESCO and by means of its wide international representation and the activities of its Study Groups, the International Council for Traditions of Music and Dance acts as a bond among peoples of different cultures and thus contributes to the peace of humankind.