National Jukebox from the Library of Congress
The Library of Congress presents the National Jukebox, which makes historical sound recordings available to the public free of charge. The Jukebox includes recordings from the extraordinary collections of the Library of Congress Packard Campus for Audio Visual Conservation and other contributing libraries and archives. Recordings in the Jukebox were issued on record labels now owned by Sony Music Entertainment, which has granted the Library of Congress a gratis license to stream acoustical recordings.
At launch, the Jukebox includes more than 10,000 recordings made by the Victor Talking Machine Company between 1901 and 1925. Jukebox content will be increased regularly, with additional Victor recordings and acoustically recorded titles made by other Sony-owned U.S. labels, including Columbia, OKeh, and others.
We have collected some links that can help you get the most from your visit to the National Jukebox.
- Playlisting: We’ve introduced a playlist function so you can compile your favorite recordings. Find out how to make, save and share your playlist in Playlist Basics
- Glossary of Terms: If you’re not familiar with historical recordings, you might not know what “matrix,” “master,” and “take” refer to. Find out about these, and others, in the Glossary of National Jukebox Terms
- Technology: It took a team of people – and a lot of technology – to digitize these recordings and make them available to play online. For a look at what was involved, see The Making of the National Jukebox.
- Victrola Book of the Opera: The Victor Talking Machine Company published this book to help sell recordings. It summarizes the plots of well-known operas, lists the most popular vocal and instrumental selections from each, and includes photographs of performers in costume. We’ve digitized the complete 1919 edition of this book and linked to the recordings, so you can listen in context and compare different performances of the same work. See the Victrola Book of the Opera
- Offensive Content Alert: Warning. The National Jukebox contains historic recordings that reflect the culture of an earlier era. Some of these recordings may be offensive. For more information, please read our Disclaimer
Date
August 2, 2011
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