Collections
The UCLA Music Library provides access to one of the largest academic music collections in North America and the largest in Southern California.
The UCLA Library subscribes to almost every major online resource for music including article databases, e-books, and online audio.
With approximately 80,000 books, 115,000 scores, over 100 journal subscriptions, more than 200,000 sound recordings, as well as visual media and an exhaustive collection of facsimiles of music scores, the resources for music research support the study of music, musicology, and ethnomusicology.
Recently, the UCLA Music Library has shifted priorities towards materials related to underrepresented musicians and composers as well as local music-making communities.
Selected collections include:
- Avalon houses streaming audio and video collections at UCLA. Content is restricted to UCLA users and requires additional UCLA authentication for use both on and off campus via the "Sign in" link.
- The Contemporary Music Score Collection includes digital, open access scores published by the UCLA Music Library in eScholarship.
- The Donovan Meher Collection documents Rock Music from approximately the 1980s to 2010. His family writes, "this collection is the soundtrack of his life, his passion, and an instrumental piece of his legacy. Thank you for listening."
- The Southern California Punk Collection.
- The Southern California Hip-Hop Collection.
Endowments that help build the collections supporting student teaching and learning and faculty research include:
- Professor Richard Hudson Endowment for Music (advanced research resources)
- Joan S. and Ralph N. Goldwyn Endowed Jazz Collection (jazz performance and research materials)
- The Hugo and Christine Davise Fund for Contemporary Music (collections and projects related to music after 1900)
- Henry J. Bruman Endowed Collection Development Fund (Germanic cultural material)
Giving to the Music Library provides information if you would like to contribute, even in a small way, to the Music Library’s more than fifty years of service to the UCLA and Southern California music communities.
Other Music Related Collections at UCLA
Special Collections
Performing Arts Special Collections has extensive rare and antiquarian books and scores as well as archives of individual musicians and musical organizations. Highlights include Venetian Libretti from the 17th and 18th centuries, the archives of Southern California musical organizations, film and television composers and archives from studios, and American popular music, including more than 100,000 pieces of sheet music and song folios from the early 19th century to the present.
Ethnomusicology Archive
Founded in 1961, the UCLA Ethnomusicology Archive is one of the largest “world music” media archives in North America and includes traditional, folk, popular, and art musics from Africa, Asia, Australia and the Pacific islands, Europe, the Middle East, and the Americas. Here, the communities of Southern California, international researchers, and UCLA students and faculty can explore the rich variety of musical expressions throughout the world. As part of the University of California and as an institution located within the state, the Archive has a special interest in collecting and preserving the music of California and in collaborating with community partners. The Archive also hosts monthly screenings from musicians and scholars.