The Business of Music Archiving - Who Preserves Our Musical Heritage?
I discuss the crucial role & challenges of music archiving to preserve our musical heritage.

The world of music is full of cultural heritage, capturing the best and worst of different times, genres, and artistic expressions. However, the fragility of recorded music and the evolution of formats present a pressing challenge: how can we ensure that our musical heritage is preserved for future generations? That’s where the business of music archiving plays a very important role. In this article, we delve into the business of music archiving, exploring the most important players that are involved, the challenges they face, and the strategies used to safeguard our musical history.

The Role of Music Archives

Music archives play a vital role in preserving and cataloguing our musical heritage. These archives can be found in different forms, ranging from physical to digital databases. They serve as guardians of audio recordings, manuscripts, photographs, and other music-related materials. By carefully preserving and organizing these materials, music archives ensure that future generations can access and study the rich world of musical history. Music archives are also a huge reason to why we can access a lot of old music from the 50s and before, normally you wouldn’t be able to listen to an Elton John song on your phone, or a Screamin Jay Hawkins one on YouTube or other platforms but music archives made it possible.

Key Players in Music Archiving

There are many factors that play into music archiving, many of them playing vital roles in the preservation of our musical history. The most important are:

Libraries and Museums: Many renowned libraries and museums have significant music archives at customers’ disposal. For instance, the Library of Congress in the United States is home to the National Recording Registry, which preserves culturally significant recordings. The British Library Sound Archive is another prominent example, with an extensive collection of audio recordings and music-related materials.

Record Labels and Music Companies: Record labels and music companies have a very important interest in preserving their catalogues. They often establish in-house archives or partner with external organizations to ensure the long lives of their recordings. For example, the Universal Music Group’s “Lost Tapes� project seeks to digitize and preserve rare recordings from their vast archive, to keep them alive for as long as possible, for future generations to be able to still see and/or listen to them.

Non-profit Organizations: Various non-profit organizations, such as The Internet Archive and the National Sound Archive, are dedicated to archiving and providing public access to a wide range of audio materials. These organizations usually rely on donations, grants, and collaborative efforts to sustain their preservation initiatives.

Challenges in Music Archiving

Preserving our musical heritage is not without its challenges. It can have many difficulties, or even potential problems. Here are some key obstacles faced by music archivists:

Format Uselessness: As technology advances, older audio formats become unusable, making it difficult to access and play back historical recordings. Archivists must invest in equipment and expertise to convert content from outdated formats to modern ones, in order to be able to keep them well-kept archived.

Deterioration and Fragility: Physical deterioration, which means the damaging of audio recordings over time is a constant concern for music archivists. Factors like aging tapes, degradation of vinyl records, and chemical instability of older formats like cassettes contribute to the fragility of music archives. Archivists employ meticulous conservation techniques to slow down the deterioration process.

Copyright and Licensing Issues: Complex and complicated rules and regulations in the copyright and licensing world pose challenges when it comes to digitizing and providing access to archived music. Archivists must go through legal frameworks and negotiate agreements with artists, estates, and rights holders to ensure legitimacy and fair use.

Strategies for Music Archiving

To overcome the challenges mentioned above, music archivists employ and utilize a wide range of strategies like:

Digital Preservation: Archivists are increasingly digitizing their collections to ensure long-term access and prevent loss due to format change. Digital preservation includes creating multiple copies of digitized content, using standardized file formats, and creating solid backup and storage systems.

Metadata and Cataloguing: Accurate metadata and cataloguing are essential for efficient retrieval and navigation within music archives. Archivists carefully need to catalogue recordings, as they’re providing information about artists, dates, genres, and contextual details, enhancing the discoverability and research potential of the collection.

Collaboration and Partnerships: Collaborative efforts between music archivists, researchers, artists, and institutions are vital for the preservation and the diffusion of musical heritage. Partnerships allow for shared experience, resources, and the pooling of collections, which generally benefits best the preservation of musical heritage on a broader scale.

Success Stories in Music Archiving

The Alan Lomax Archive: Alan Lomax dedicated his life to recording and preserving traditional music from around the world. The Association for Cultural Equity now manages the Alan Lomax Archive, which holds an extensive collection of audio and video recordings. The archive’s digitization efforts have made these recordings accessible online, ensuring the preservation and continued study of diverse musical traditions.

The Internet Archive’s Live Music Archive: The Live Music Archive, hosted by the Internet Archive, is proof of the power of collaborative efforts. It offers a vast collection of live concert recordings contributed by artists, fans, and concert venues. This crowdsourced archive allows for the preservation of live performances that might otherwise be lost, showcasing the value of community-driven initiatives in music archiving.

Conclusion

The business of music archiving plays a crucial role in preserving our musical heritage for future generations. Libraries, museums, record labels, non-profit organizations, and collaborative initiatives all contribute to safeguarding audio recordings, manuscripts, and related materials. Despite challenges such as format obsolescence and copyright complexities, archivists employ strategies like digital preservation, metadata cataloguing, and collaborative partnerships to overcome those issues.

Preserving our musical heritage is not only a showcase of historical significance but also an investment in cultural diversity and artistic inspiration. Through the efforts of music archivists, we can ensure that the voices of past musicians and artists continue to be heard in the present and future. By understanding and supporting the business of music archiving, we contribute to the ongoing celebration and exploration of our collective musical heritage.

Sources:

https://www.loc.gov/programs/national-recording-preservation-board/about-this-program/

https://www.bl.uk/collection-guides/sound-archive

https://www.universalmusic.com/

https://archive.org/

http://www.culturalequity.org/

https://www.bl.uk/subjects/sound

https://folkways.si.edu/

https://www.iasa-web.org/

https://www.musiclibraryassoc.org/

https://www.loc.gov/folklife/