Global Underground is a series of progressive house compilation albums reflecting performances of high profile DJs in venues from around the world. It is released by the record label Boxed. Since its first release in 1996, the series gained huge success and became a hallmark in the progressive house world. The music featured is mostly progressive house, but there are some house, trance, and breakbeat releases. Global Underground also has several "sub-series", including Nubreed, 24:7, Electric Calm, and Afterhours. Nubreed features mix albums from what Boxed considers "up-and-coming DJs", though it has featured experienced DJs such as Satoshi Tomiie. 24:7 is a series where DJs are asked to put together a set of two notably contrasting halves, based on the conceptual opposites of 'day' and 'night'. Electric Calm is a series in the chill or "calm" side of electronica while Afterhours is similar to the Back to Mine series. Both of these series, along with GU "Sampler" CDs, were compiled and mixed by the Global Underground resident DJ, The Forth. In 2002, former NuBreed DJ Steve Lawler was given his own inprint on the Global Underground label that he titled "Lights Out". The concept of the series of mixed CDs was to bring the darker, grittier side of the dancefloor into the spotlight. Steve Lawler was allowed to dive into what were considered new territories of time including remixing tracks for his compilations. He also included music and methodology that had never been used on studio mixed CDs before.
In 2003, the Global Underground franchise began their "GU Music" imprint. Up until this time, they were strictly a label that dealt in DJ compiled and mixed CDs. GU Music allowed Global Underground to get into full length artist albums and Vinyl/CD/MP3 single releases. The GU Music team commented: "Having nurtured some of the worlds finest DJ's we have applied this expertise to original music, cherry picking the coolest future talent from across the globe..." They have featured releases from such artists as UNKLE, Lostep, and Trafik.

There are consistent characteristics in almost every album in the series including:

* Each album being mixed by a globe-trotting DJ.
* The prominent influence of the location on the music and packaging.
* Extensive sleeve notes describing local clubbing scene and/or venue.
* Each album consisting of two discs.
* The song list is edited from the complete set based on a retrospective view of the performance.

The first five installments were live recorded from respective clubs, while the rest are mixed and recorded in a studio.
Billboard has recognized Global Underground as the first DJ mix compilation to place high-quality photographs of DJs on the album covers. This, it further asserted, played a part in turning DJs into superstar figures within the culture of electronic dance music.