The National Recording Registry is a list of
sound recording
Sound recording and reproduction is the electrical, mechanical, electronic, or digital inscription and re-creation of sound waves, such as spoken voice, singing, instrumental music, or sound effects. The two main classes of sound recordin ...
s that "are culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant, and/or inform or reflect life in the United States." The registry was established by the National Recording Preservation Act of 2000,
which created the
National Recording Preservation Board, whose members are appointed by the
Librarian of Congress
The Librarian of Congress is the head of the Library of Congress, appointed by the president of the United States with the advice and consent of the United States Senate, for a term of ten years. In addition to overseeing the library, the Libra ...
. The recordings preserved in the United States National Recording Registry form a registry of recordings selected yearly by the National Recording Preservation Board for preservation in the
Library of Congress
The Library of Congress (LOC) is the research library that officially serves the United States Congress and is the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It is the oldest federal cultural institution in the country. The librar ...
.
The National Recording Preservation Act of 2000 established a national program to guard America's
sound recording
Sound recording and reproduction is the electrical, mechanical, electronic, or digital inscription and re-creation of sound waves, such as spoken voice, singing, instrumental music, or sound effects. The two main classes of sound recordin ...
heritage. The Act created the National Recording Registry, The National Recording Preservation Board and a fund-raising foundation.
The purpose of the Registry is to maintain and preserve sound recordings and collections of sound recordings that are culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant.
Beginning in 2002, the National Recording Preservation Board has selected recordings nominated each year to be preserved. On January 27, 2003, the first 50 recordings were announced by
James Billington
James is a common English language surname and given name:
*James (name), the typically masculine first name James
* James (surname), various people with the last name James
James or James City may also refer to:
People
* King James (disambiguat ...
, the then
Librarian of Congress
The Librarian of Congress is the head of the Library of Congress, appointed by the president of the United States with the advice and consent of the United States Senate, for a term of ten years. In addition to overseeing the library, the Libra ...
.
The first four yearly lists each had 50 selections. Since 2006, 25 recordings have been selected annually. , a total of 600 recordings have been preserved in the Registry. Each calendar year, public nominations are accepted for inclusion in that year's list of selections, which are announced the following spring.
Registry title works, original or copies, are housed at the Library of Congress
Packard Campus for Audio Video Conservation Each yearly list typically includes a few recordings that have also been selected for inclusion in the holdings of the
National Archives' audiovisual collection. Recordings on the National Recording Registry that are of a political nature tend to overlap with the audiovisual collection of the National Archives.
Selection criteria
The criteria for selection are:
* Recordings selected for the National Recording Registry are "culturally, historically or aesthetically significant", and/or inform or reflect culture in the United States.
* Recordings will not be considered for inclusion in the National Recording Registry if no copy of the recording exists.
* No recording is eligible for inclusion in the National Recording Registry until ten years after the recording's creation.
Inductees
The list shows overlapping items and whether the National Archives has an original or a copy of the recording.
Notes
Statistics
, the oldest recording on the list is
Edouard-Leon Scott de Martinville's
Phonautograms which date back to the 1850s. The most recent is the
Robin Williams
Robin McLaurin Williams (July 21, 1951August 11, 2014) was an American actor and comedian. Known for his improvisational skills and the wide variety of characters he created on the spur of the moment and portrayed on film, in dramas and comed ...
episode of ''
WTF with Marc Maron'' from 2010.
Selections vary widely in duration. The early Edison recordings and the instrumental "
Rumble
Rumble or Rumbling may refer to:
Sounds and vibrations
* Rumble (noise), a form of low frequency noise
* Rumble, a haptic feedback vibration feature in video game controllers
* Rumbling, a quality of a heart murmur
* Stomach rumble, or borbory ...
" by
Link Wray, as well as "
Rock Around the Clock" by
Bill Haley and His Comets clock in at under three minutes. The Edison "Talking Doll" cylinder is only 17 seconds long and some of Scott de Martinville's Photoautograms are just as brief. Meanwhile,
Georg Solti
Sir Georg Solti ( , ; born György Stern; 21 October 1912 – 5 September 1997) was a Hungarian-British orchestral and operatic conductor, known for his appearances with opera companies in Munich, Frankfurt and London, and as a long-serving ...
's recording of
Wagner
Wilhelm Richard Wagner ( ; ; 22 May 181313 February 1883) was a German composer, theatre director, polemicist, and conductor who is chiefly known for his operas (or, as some of his mature works were later known, "music dramas"). Unlike most op ...
's complete ''
Ring Cycle'' is approximately 15 hours in duration,
Alexander Scourby's recitation of the
King James Bible
The King James Version (KJV), also the King James Bible (KJB) and the Authorized Version, is an English translation of the Christian Bible for the Church of England, which was commissioned in 1604 and published in 1611, by sponsorship of K ...
is over 80 hours, and
Lyndon B. Johnson's recordings are nearly 850 hours in length.
Artists with/people who appear on multiple entries
See also
*
Grammy Hall of Fame
The Grammy Hall of Fame is a hall of fame to honor musical recordings of lasting qualitative or historical significance. Inductees are selected annually by a special member committee of eminent and knowledgeable professionals from all branches of ...
*
National Film Registry
The National Film Registry (NFR) is the United States National Film Preservation Board's (NFPB) collection of films selected for preservation, each selected for its historical, cultural and aesthetic contributions since the NFPB’s inception ...
*
Sounds of Australia
*
Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (RRHOF), sometimes simply referred to as the Rock Hall, is a museum and hall of fame located in downtown Cleveland, Ohio, United States, on the shore of Lake Erie. The museum documents the history of rock music an ...
References
External links
National Recording Preservation BoardFull National Recording RegistryNPR ''All Things Considered''nbsp;– series spotlighting selections from the Registry
Selectionspotlights
on WNYC
WNYC is the trademark and a set of call letters shared by WNYC (AM) and WNYC-FM, a pair of nonprofit, noncommercial, public radio stations located in New York City. WNYC is owned by New York Public Radio (NYPR), a nonprofit organization th ...
NationalRecording Registryselections videoseach on the officialLibrary of CongressYouTube channel
BMPAudiodocumentariesonselectedinductees
Inductees featured inSounds of Americadocumentarieson 1A
{{Authority control
United States history-related lists
Library of Congress
Music-related lists
Reference material lists
2000 establishments in the United States