In ethnomusicology, anthropology, folklore, popular-music studies, and related disciplines, categorization has been the subject of recurrent debate. Drawing upon the ethnographic and historical research on nationalism and cultural politics in modern Portugal, this chapter addresses the politics of music categorization. It focuses on three distinct periods marked by political transformations that had a major impact on Portuguese society and culture. The first period saw two major political regimes: the monarchy and a short lived republican government that was established in 1910 and ended with a coup d'état in 1926. The second is a period of turmoil leading to the establishment of the totalitarian regime dubbed Estado Novo led by António de Oliveira Salazar in 1933 and lasting just over forty years before ending with the April 25, 1974 revolution. The third period of democratic rule extends from1974 to the present, the second decade of the twenty-first century.