- St. Olaf Libraries
- Research Guides
- Musical Geography Project
- Resources for Recordings
Musical Geography Project
LibKey Nomad
Research and Instruction Librarian for Music & Fine Arts
Karen Olson
she/her/hers
Streaming Recording through St. Olaf Libraries
St. Olaf subscribes to a number of streaming audiovisual platforms. Many of them include liner notes, which can be a useful resource for contextual information. See the slideshow at the bottom of this page for tips on finding liner notes!
Be sure to look for a "stable url" or a "permalink" or an "embed link" notice -- the usual icon looks like this: 
This will provide URLs for the audio track to add to your bibliography or embed in your map.
Audio Recordings
- American Music This link opens in a new windowStreaming audio of diverse US music, past and present, plus liner notes. Includes a significant collection of African American music.
- DRAM (Database of Recorded American Music) This link opens in a new windowStreaming audio (plus liner notes and cover art) from independent record labels and sound archives. Emphasis on American music in many genres.
- Naxos Musical Library Jazz This link opens in a new windowA collection of streaming jazz recordings. Naxos Music Library Jazz comprises Naxos Jazz and the 22 labels of Fantasy Jazz along with Prophone and Proprius.
- Naxos Music Library This link opens in a new windowStreaming audio of classical music, plus some world music and jazz. Includes brief discussions of the works and biographical information on composers and artists.
- Popular Music Library This link opens in a new windowPopular music from around the world, including hundreds of thousands of tracks from major genres in pop music, including alternative, country, Christian, electronic, hip-hop, metal, punk, new age, R&B, reggae, rock, soundtracks and many more.
Other Streaming Audiovisual Resources
There are several free archives for recorded sound and video. Some excellent options for this class include:
- UCSB Cylinder Audio Archive -- The University of California-Santa Barbara digitized their collection of wax cylinder recordings. Listen to performances from the late 1800s and early 1900s!
- National Jukebox -- Historical recordings digitized by the Library of Congress.
- Prelinger Archives -- early films, specializing in home movies and educational filmstrips