After the international success of 1998s Ray of Light, Madonna followed it up with 2000s Music, which has gone on to sell 13 million copies worldwide. (Before the album was released, Madonna recorded a statement to her fans: "Hey Mr. DJ, put a record on…Hi, it's Madonna. You've probably been hearing about my new record "Music" for a while. Well, I just wanted to make sure you knew that the single is gonna drop very soon. I worked on it with a French guy named Mirwais, and he is the shit. The album will be released worldwide on September 19, and I hope you like my music.") The album featured mostly upbeat and up tempo songs which further developed Madonna's move toward European dance music but still retains a rocky, American edge. To achieve a more European dance style of music Madonna collaborated with French electronica wizard Mirwais. According to Madonna, they both had some problems with understanding each other in the studio at first since Mirwais did not speak any English and Madonna almost no French. Again, like on Ray of Light, Madonna collaborated with William Orbit, with whom she co-wrote and produced three songs that made it onto the final cut of the album. The album was Madonna's first album not to have been totally recorded in the USA, it instead was mostly recorded at Sarm West and East Studios in London, England.
Musically the album is different from what Madonna had done in the past. The album featured dark electronic beats ("Impressive Instant"), folk guitars ("Don't Tell Me", "I Deserve It", "Gone") and the heavy use of the vocoder, which would appear again on later Madonna albums. Madonna also sang in French on the song "Paradise (Not For Me)" and in Spanish on the song "Lo Que Siente La Mujer" (which appeared on the albums bonus disc). The song Runaway Lover was an up-tempo dance track which differed from the crystalline perfection of her previous album.
For the first time, a complete Madonna album leaked onto the internet and fans all around the world were able to listen to all the songs from the album months ahead of its release. Warner Bros. Records and Madonna were not pleased by this at all, closing down sites with the tracks and suing Napster at the same time.
The song "American Pie" ended up being included on the European, Latin-American and Asian versions of the album. However, Madonna regrets having it included on the album after "being talked into it by some record company executive". She rather would have seen it only on The Next Best Thing (Music from the Motion Picture). She did not include it on her second greatest hits package, GHV2, in 2001. Also included as a bonus track only on the Japanese and Australian releases, was a song called "Cyberraga". The song, which was written and produced by Madonna and Talvin Singh, is an adaptation from a traditional text taken from the Vedic Mantra and from the Mahabharata. The song was later used as a B-side on different European and U.S. single releases.
Music was re-issued in several countries replacing "American Pie" song with the Remix & the Spanish versions of "What It Feels Like For A Girl".
Music is the first Madonna full length-album that does not feature the lyrics in the CD-booklet. Instead, the listener is advised to visit Madonna's official site. This trend would continue with future albums.
"Music" won the award for Best Recording Package at the Grammy Awards of 2001. In 2003, the album was ranked number 452 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time.