On October 11, 2011, Smithsonian Folkways Recordings will release the Mickey Hart Collection to preserve and further the Grateful Dead percussionist's endeavor to cross borders and expand musical horizons. Smithsonian Folkways will make many of Mickey Hart's music projects available digitally (stream and download) for the first time while keeping physical versions in print as on-demand CDs.

The Mickey Hart Collection begins with 25 albums drawn from 'The World,' a series Hart curated that incorporated his solo projects, other artists' productions, and re-releases of out-of-print titles. Six of the twenty-five albums form the "Endangered Music Project," a collaboration between Mickey Hart and the American Folklife Center at the Library of Congress, which presents recordings from musical traditions at risk. Both 'The World' and 'The Endangered Music Project' were previously distributed by Rykodisc from 1988 to 2002.