Sound Recording Collections

The Music Library Special Collections of sound recordings focus on popular music and jazz in older "archival" formats. The collections include approximately 1200 audio cassettes, 120,000 phonograph records, 150 compact discs, and 600 open reel tapes.

Limited access to the sound recording collections is available upon request in the Reading Room. Library staff will search for specific recordings and respond to user requests within 24 hours. Listening facilities are available in the Reading Room.

An online system for searching sound recordings is in development and will become available in the Summer of 2004. The inventory for the Gennett collection is available below.

Gennett Collection

The Music Library is a partner in a project to digitize the Arhoolie Foundation's Strachwitz Frontera collection of the Mexican and Mexican-American Recordings. The initial stage of the project includes digitzation of approximately 15,000 78rpm discs, of which about half have been completed and are currently available. Access to the complete recordings is limited to the UCLA campus, but a short preview of each recording is available to the public.

Frontera Collection