The Archive of Contemporary Music
- URL:
- arcmusic.org
- Primary subject:
- Recorded Music
- Description:
- The ARChive of Contemporary Music (ARC) is a not-for-profit archive, music library and research center located in New York City since 1985. ARC contains more than three million sound recordings. They preserve copies of each version of every recording, in all known formats, and have electronically catalogued more than 400,000 sound recordings and digitized 200,000 with their partners the Internet Archive – more than any other public, university or private library in America. ARC also houses more than three million pieces of attendant support material including photographs, videos, DVDs, books, magazines, press kits, sheet music, ephemera and memorabilia. The ARC website features extensive catalogues of its holdings while the Internet Archive holds over 200,000 digitized items primarily audio as well as text. The ARChive website includes databases of catalogues including recordings, genres, books, instruments, and special collections. The Internet Archive contains digital copies of books and music from the ARChive. Some of the audio materials at the Internet Archive are limited in usage based on rights and some of the books are accessible via the IA’s lending system.
- Online Access:
- Partial, Catalogue
- Physical Location:
- New York City, NY
- Primary Language:
- EN
- Additional URL:
- archive.org
- Last Checked:
- October, 2023
If you know of any errors or corrections that should be made to this entry please contact us (details at bottom of FAQ page).
- "Last Checked" means the URL was verified but the summary might be outdated.
- "Physical Location" refers to a place where items available online may also be accessed in person, whether publicly or through appointment.
- "Online Access" refers to a level of remote accessibility of the resource:
- “Full” means that the resource puts no restrictions on access to its content whether via paywalls or other means. However, this does not imply that items can be downloaded or accessed in ways that may infringe copyright or intellectual property nor does it imply that all of the items in the archive, collection, or project are available to access whether due to ongoing preservation/digitalisation work or other reasons.
- “Partial” means that some of the items in the resource are not available online or only available as extracts, whether due to access requirements or something else.
- “Catalogue” means that a resource only makes something like a catalogue, guide, or finding aids available online. This can be indicated as:
- “Catalogue only”, generally for physical collections. Where possible, the location of the resource is noted.
- “Partial, Catalogue”, when some items are available online alongside a full catalogue.
- “Catalogue, Subscription / Purchase”, when full access to the items online is possible only via a paywall or direct purchase.
- “None” means the resource has no online services and must be visited in person or that it does not yet have anything available online. The inclusion of such resources is limited to things that feel highly relevant.
This system is far from perfect. It was born largely out of the needs of the project and has grown with it.