[pd-discuss] Fwd: News release: The sound of music - for the first time in 60 years

Fri Jul 9 21:02:56 UTC 2010

And I believe Professor Leech-Wilkinson (or a colleague) from CHARM is
on this list!

I remember meeting with them 3-4 years ago about the project and
sharing metadata [1]. It's great to see that the music is now finally
released! We should also get in touch about the metadata (I remember
they were engaged in digitizing a large commercial paper catalogue
from the 50s ...)

Rufus

[1]:<http://lists.okfn.org/pipermail/pd-discuss/2007-June/000205.html>

On 9 July 2010 18:15, Jonathan Gray <jonathan.gray at okfn.org> wrote:
> Interesting. I wonder:
>
> (i) how much of the original material is in the public domain
> (ii) whether the digital copies are free for anyone to reuse (either
> in public domain, or at least under an open license...)
>
> All the best,
>
> Jonathan
>
> ---------- Forwarded message ----------
>
> News release
> 8 July 2010
>
> The sound of music - for the first time in 60 years
>
> This week’s top ten includes one UK artist and 9 from overseas – but
> it wasn’t always that way.
>
> Before two record companies merged to form EMI in the 1930s, UK-based
> artists formed the backbone of their catalogues – but after the merger
> many of them were dropped to make way for more lucrative international
> musicians.
>
> Now over 2000 recordings by those British and Irish artists are online
> in an open JISC-funded archive at King’s College London - allowing
> listeners and researchers to rediscover leading musicians who were
> once household names.
>
> Most of the recordings are making their first public appearance since
> they came out on gramophone records over 60 years ago and are linked
> to a range of research resources about the history of recording to
> help people make the most of the collection.
>
> Professor Daniel Leech-Wilkinson, project manager, said: “There is
> still a huge amount of recorded music that remains inaccessible in old
> formats. While the earliest formats are remarkably secure on account
> of their storage medium, very few people can now find, and still fewer
> can play, 78rpm discs. There is therefore much to be gained for the
> musical public, as well as for students and researchers, from projects
> that transfer and reissue early recordings.”
>
> The discs were selected specifically to highlight world-class British
> and Irish performers recorded between 1900 and 1950, especially
> artists neglected by the newly-formed EMI after the merger of the
> Gramophone Co and Columbia in 1931.
>
> Distinguished author and critic John Steane of Gramophone magazine
> joined the team to curate the recordings, which are now available for
> free streaming as MP3s or for high quality download.
>
> There are also some unusual pieces in the collection – including a
> recording of the choir singing at the coronation of King George VI and
> Queen Elizabeth in 1937 which includes one of the most spectacular
> wrong notes in recorded history from the organ.
>
> Ben Showers, programme manager at JISC, said: “By making so many
> recordings available once again, ‘Musicians of Britain and Ireland’
> aims to make possible a major reassessment of the history of musical
> performance in Britain, and to enable new research into the ways in
> which business decisions by record companies can profoundly change
> public perceptions of musical excellence.”
>
> The project is part of JISC’s investment in bringing the past into the
> present, by supporting collections to open up the rich content that
> they hold.
>
> Access the collection online at <http://www.charm.kcl.ac.uk/sound/sound.html>
>
> Find out more about JISC’s investment in digital content at
> <http://www.jisc.ac.uk/whatwedo/programmes/digitisation>
>
>
>
> --
> Jonathan Gray
>
> Community Coordinator
> The Open Knowledge Foundation
> http://blog.okfn.org
>
> http://twitter.com/jwyg
> http://identi.ca/jwyg
>
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