The State of Recorded Sound Preservation in the United States: A National Legacy at Risk in the Digital Age August 2010 Commissioned for and sponsored by the CounCil on l ibrary and i nformation r esourCes and the library of Congress The State of Recorded Sound Preservation in the United States: A National Legacy at Risk in the Digital Age August 2010 from last round: National Recording Preservation Board OF THE LIBRARY OF CONGRESS revised: Commissioned for and sponsored by the National Recording Preservation Board OF THE LIBRARY OF CONGRESS Council on Library and Information Resources and The Library of Congress Washington, D.C. National Recording Registry OF THE LIBRARY OF CONGRESS The National Recording Preservation Board The National Recording Preservation Board was established at the Library of Congress by the National Recording Preservation Act of 2000. Among the provisions of the law are a directive to the Board to study and report on the state of sound recording preservation in the United States. More information about the National Recording Preservation Board can be found at http://www.loc.gov/rr/record/nrpb/. ISBN 978-1-932326-36-9 CLIR Publication No. 148 Copublished by: Council on Library and Information Resources 1752 N Street NW, Suite 800 Washington, DC 20036 Web site at http://www.clir.org and The Library of Congress 101 Independence Avenue, SE Washington, DC 20540 Web site at http://www.loc.gov Additional copies are available for $30 each. Orders must be placed through CLIR’s Web site. This publication is also available online at no charge at http://www.clir.org/pubs/abstract/pub148abst.html. The paper in this publication meets the minimum requirements of the American National Standard 8 for Information Sciences—Permanence of Paper for Printed Library Materials ANSI Z39.48-1984. Copyright 2010 by the Council on Library and Information Resources. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transcribed in any form without permission of the publishers. Requests for reproduction or other uses or questions pertaining to permissions should be submitted in writing to the Director of Communications at the Council on Library and Information Resources. Cover image: Drawings submitted by Thomas A. Edison in support of the patent application for his Phonograph, filed December 24, 1877. Reproduced from a copy held in the Library of Congress Recorded Sound Reference Center. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data The state of recorded sound preservation in the United States : a national legacy at risk in the digital age / commissioned for and sponsored by the National Recording Preservation Board of the Library of Congress. p. cm. -- (CLIR publication ; no. 148) “This study was written by Rob Bamberger and Sam Brylawski on behalf of the National Recording Preservation Board”--P. iv. “August 2010.” Includes bibliographical references. ISBN 978-1-932326-36-9 (alk. paper) 1. Sound recordings--Conservation and restoration--United States. 2. Sound recordings--Digitization--United States. 3. Digital preservation--United States. 4. Sound recording libraries--United States. 5. Sound archives--United States. 6. Copyright-- Sound recordings--United States. 7. Copyright and digital preservation--United States. 8. Fair use (Copyright)--United States. I. Bamberger, Robert. II. Brylawski, Samuel. III. National Recording Preservation Board (U.S.) IV. Title. V. Series. Z701.3.S68S73 2010 025.8’4--dc22 2010032200 iii Contents Acknowledgments . v Foreword . vi Introduction and Summary . 1 1. Sound Recording Collections: An Overview of Preservation and Public Access in the Twenty-first Century . 9 2. Technical Issues in Digital Audio Preservation . .66 3. Development of Curricula in Recorded Sound Preservation and Archives Management . 99 4. Preservation, Access, and Copyright: A Tangled Web . 108 Appendix A. National Recorded Sound Preservation Study: Announcement of Study and Public Hearing (November 2006) . 138 Appendix B. Report of a Task Force Discussion to Define Prerequisites, Core Knowledge, and Graduate Educational Directions for Sound Preservation Professionals, and to Review an Annotated Bibliography of Audio Preservation Resources . 144 Appendix C. Obstacles to Access and Preservation of Recorded Sound . 156 Appendix D. Folk Collections in Crisis Report: Concluding Discussion and Recommendations . 165 Bibliography available at http://www.loc.gov/rr/record/nrpb/ iv This study was written by Rob Bamberger and Sam Brylawski on behalf of the National Recording Preservation Board. Members of the Library of Congress National Recording Preservation Board American Society of Composers, Authors National Academy of Popular Music and Publishers Member: Irv Lichtman (2002-2009) Member: Marilyn Bergman, Chair (2002-2009) Alternate: Ervin Drake (2002-2009) Alternate: Charles Bernstein (2002-2009) National Association of Recording Merchandisers American Federation of Musicians Member: Rachelle Friedman (2002-2009) Member: Alfonso Pollard (2002-2003) Alternate: Pamela Horovitz (2002-2003) Member: Steven A. Gibson (2003-2009) National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences Alternate: Steven A. Gibson (2002-2003) Member: Michael Greene (2002-2003) American Folklore Society Member: Neil Portnow (2003-2009) Member: Burt Feintuch (2002-2009) Alternate: Eugene Maillard (2002-2003) Alternate: Timothy Lloyd (2002-2009) Alternate: Kristen Madsen (2003-2009) American Musicological Society Recording Industry Association of America Member: José Antonio Bowen (2002-2009) Member: Hilary Rosen (2002-2003) Alternate: Deane L. Root (2002-2008) Member: Mitch Bainwol (2003-2009) Alternate: Mark Katz (2008-2009) Alternate: John Simson (2002-2005) Alternate: Carlos Garza (2005-2006) Association for Recorded Sound Collections Alternate: John Henkel (2006-2007) Member: Bill Klinger (2002-2009) Alternate: David Hamilton (2002-2009) SESAC Member: William Velez (2002-2003?) Audio Engineering Society Member: Patrick Collins (2003 -2009) Member: George Massenburg (2002-2009) Alternate: Dennis Lord (2002-2009) Alternate: Elizabeth Cohen (2002-2009) Society For Ethnomusicology Broadcast Music, Incorporated Member: Anthony Seeger (2002-2005) Member: Frances Preston (2002-2006) Member: Suzanne Flandreau (2005-2009) Member: Del Bryant (2006-2009) Alternate: Suzanne Flandreau (2002-2005) Alternate: David Sanjek (2002-2007) Alternate: Virginia Danielson (2009) Alternate: Robbin Ahrold (2007-2009) Alternate: Fred Cannon (2009) At-Large Member: Michael Feinstein (2002-2009) Country Music Foundation Alternate: Carlos Garza (2006-2009) Member: Kyle Young (2002-2009) Alternate: Alan Stoker (2002-2009) At-Large Member: Mickey Hart (2002-2009) Digital Media Association Alternate: Christopher Sterling (2004-2009) Member: Jeffrey Okkonen (2002-2004) Member: Jon Kertzer (2006-2009) At-Large Alternate: Chris Douridas (2002-2004) Member: Bill Ivey (2002-2009) Alternate: (Tom Leavens—unofficial alternate 2004) Alternate: John Simson (2006-2009) Alternate: Jonathan Potter (2006-2009) At-Large Music Library Association Member: Phil Ramone (2003-2009) Member: James Farrington (2002-2009) Alternate: Jay Carr (2003-2009) Alternate: Barbara Sawka (2002-2009) At-Large National Archives and Records Administration Member: Barbara Ringer (2002-2004) Member: Donald Roe (2002-2003) Member: Eric Schwartz (2004-2009) Member: Les Waffen (2003-2009) Alternate: Eric Schwartz (2003-2004) Alternate: Les Waffen (2002-2003) Alternate: Jenny Toomey (2004-2007) Alternate: James Martin (2004-2008) Alternate: Sandy Pearlman (2008-2009) Alternate: Daniel Rooney (2008-2009) v Acknowledgments The writers of this report would like to thank those who submitted statements and participated in the hearings and roundtable discussions, and colleagues at the Library of Congress who provided essential support and valuable suggestions. Authors of published studies that Special thanks for assistance supplement this report David Randal Allen June Besek Karen Allen Tim Brooks Don Andes Ellen Cunningham Kruppa Christine Bamberger Nancy Davenport George Blood Peter Jaszi Jill Breedon Paul Kingsbury Sarah Cunningham Kelly Darr Library of Congress staff Peter Hirtle Peter Alyea Marc Kirkeby Larry Appelbaum Brian Leney Matthew Barton Roger Mayer James H. Billington Annette Melville Daniel Boomhower Brenda Nelson-Strauss Bryan Cornell Abby Smith Rumsey Eugene DeAnna Bill Schurk Karen Fishman Kathlin Smith Carl Fleischhauer Steven Smolian Steven Leggett Gail Sonnemann Patrick Loughney Konrad Strauss Gregory Lukow Richard Warren Janet McKee Paul West Laura Maddox Marsha Maguire Deanna Marcum Jennifer Murray Cary O’Dell Donna Ross vi Foreword Sound recordings have existed as one of the most salient features of Amer- ica’s cultural landscape for more than 130 years. As a nation, we have good reason to be proud of our historical record of creativity in the sound record- ing arts and sciences. However, our collective energy in creating and consum- ing sound recordings in all genres has not been matched by an equal level of interest, over the same period of time, in preserving them for posterity. During the closing years of the twentieth century, the Library of Congress staff began collecting an increasing amount of disturbing anecdotal evidence on a number of problem areas affecting the survival and preservation of sound recordings produced in America since the nineteenth century. That evidence resulted, in part, from the Library’s own efforts over more than 85 years to build and maintain a nationally representative recorded