[Dixielandjazz] Universal donates masters to Library of Congress Part 2

[Robert Ringwald]

Universal donates masters to Library of Congress
    Posted by: "Songbirds moderator"
peggyfan at earthlink.net
 songbirds_moderator
    Date: Mon Jan 10, 2011 10:05 am ((PST))
Universal Music Donating 200K Master Recordings to Library of Congress
by Mike Barnes
Hollywood Reporter, January 10, 2011
Songs from the likes of Bing Crosby, Louis Armstrong and Billie Holiday are among
the more than 200,000 master recordings that Universal Music Group is donating to
the Library of Congress, it was announced Monday.
UMG's gift is the largest single donation received by the Library's audiovisual Recorded
Sound Section and the first major collection of studio master materials obtained
by the nation's oldest cultural institution.
Also among the collection's thousands of metal and lacquer discs and master mono
tapes are released and unreleased versions of recordings by Tommy Dorsey, Jimmy Dorsey,
the Andrews Sisters, Connee Boswell, the Mills Brothers, Guy Lombardo, Ella Fitzgerald,
Fred Waring, Judy Garland and Dinah Washington.
The gift includes Crosby's 1947 version of "White Christmas," Armstrong's "Ain't
Misbehavin,'" the Mills Brothers' "Paper Doll," Armstrong and Ella Fitzgerald's duet
"Frim Fram Sauce," Les Paul's "Guitar Boogie," Josh White's "Jim Crow Train" and
recordings from Machito and his Afro-Cuban band.
UMG has one of the world's most extensive music catalogs, and its gift to the Library
includes historic masters from such labels as Decca, Mercury, Vocalion and Brunswick
dating from the late 1920s through the late '40s.
The collection, which consists of the company's best copies, will be cataloged and
digitized at the Library's Packard Campus for Audio Visual Conservation in Culpeper,
Va., which will secure their exceptional sonic quality. The Library will stream recordings
from the collection on a website to be launched in the spring.
"A surprisingly high percentage of America's recording heritage since the early part
of the 20th century has been lost due to neglect and deterioration. The donation
of the UMG archive to the Library of Congress is a major gift to the nation," Librarian
of Congress James H. Billington said.
In September, a study released by the Library estimated that only 14% of commercially
released recordings before 1965 are available from rightsholders, and of music released
in the U.S. during the '30s, only about 10% can be readily accessed by the public.
"Music is a distinctive feature of any historical period, and this particular collection
of masters provides true insight into popular music's humble beginnings and who we
are as a culture today," UMG president and COO Zach Horowitz said. "We are delighted
to be collaborating with the Library of Congress to preserve and call attention to
the groundbreaking musical achievements of these amazing musical pioneers."
______________________________________
UMG Donates Trove of Recordings to Library of Congress
by Christopher Morris
Variety, January 10, 2011
In a musical donation without precedent, Universal Music Group has gifted the Library
of Congress' Recorded Sound Section with a mother lode of 200,000 master recordings.
The masters -- a trove of mono metal parts, lacquers and quarter-inch tape recorded
by the Decca, Brunswick, Vocalion and Mercury labels between 1928 and 1948 -- represent
the largest single contribution ever received by the library's audio-visual division
and the first major collection obtained by the institution.
The UMG recordings -- comprising both previously released music and unreleased outtakes
-- encompass material by Bing Crosby, Louis Armstrong, Billie Holiday, the Dorsey
Brothers, the Andrews Sisters, Ella Fitzgerald, Dinah Washington, Jimmy Lunce­ford,
Louis Jordan, Judy Garland and other crucial American artists.
Individual tracks in the collection include such seminal recordings as Crosby's bestselling
1947 version of "White Christmas," the Mills Brothers' "Paper Doll," Armstrong's
"Ain't Misbehavin'" and Les Paul's "Guitar Boogie."
More than 5,000 linear feet of physical material -- about a mile, in terms of shelf
space -- will be housed, catalogued and digitized at the library's Packard Campus
for Audio Visual Conservation, established in Culpeper, Va., in May 2007.
UMG will retain the copyrights on the recordings and will be entitled to exploit
the music commercially.
According to Eugene DeAnna, head of the recorded sound division at Packard, plans
call for some of the out-of-print and rare material to be streamed on a website to
be established by the library this spring.
Vinnie Freda, exec VP of digital logistics and business services at UMG's Universal
Music Logistics division, said the idea for the donation arose after he surveyed
the company's Iron Mountain vault facility in Boyers, Pa., five years ago. "I saw
a bunch of material that had not been touched by human hands for decades," said Freda,
who realized it would be cost-prohibitive for UMG to digitize the material. "Two
years ago I visited with the library, and we found we had complementary goals here.
Our goal was to get it preserved and perhaps have some of this (music) available
commercially... Given the economics of the music business, it's hard for us to do
this. This is a perfect situation for both of us." UMG's objectives are much in line
with the library's: Last year, the latter issued a report excoriating the dire state
of musical preservation in this country.
Librarian of Congress James Billington said in a statement, "A surprisingly high
percentage of America's recording heritage since the early part of the 20th century
has been lost due to neglect and deterioration. The donation of the UMG archive to
the Library of Congress is a major gift to the nation that will help maintain the
inter-generational connection that is essential to keeping alive, in our collective
national memory, the music and sound recordings meaningful to past generations."
The first of some 20-25 semi-tractor trailers full of UMG's material have started
to arrive at the Virginia site.
"There's a lot of inventory work to do," said DeAnna, who says that much of the information
about the long-bunkered music had to be recovered from one of UMG's antique mainframe
computers.
Eight engineers will be working on the project full-time at Packard. The lacquer
masters -- including some glass-based lacquers cut during World War II -- will be
the first to be worked on; the Library may have to manufacture special styli to track
the early metal masters.
"It's going to be very interesting to see what's there," said DeAnna, who spoke excitedly
about one find: an unreleased master that may be a hitherto unknown collaboration
between Crosby and the early doo-wop group the Jesters.
DeAnna said, "I'm confident we can start getting some stuff out this year."
Freda said, "Some of (the music) -- even the Crosby and the Andrews Sisters -- is
not exploitable," but he added, "We hope to find some hidden gems."
He continued, "Our hope is that this is the first phase of future donations."


--Bob Ringwald
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Fulton Street Jazz Band
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