began digitising the collection in the 1990s. The history of the Sound Archive can be traced back to 1905, when it was first suggested that the
British Museum should have a collection of audio recordings of poets and statesmen.
The Gramophone Company started donating
metal masters of
audio recordings in 1906 (on the basis that records would wear out), with a number of donations being made up until 1933. These recordings included some by
Nellie Melba,
Adelina Patti,
Caruso and
Francesco Tamagno, and others of
Lev Tolstoy,
Ernest Shackleton,
Herbert Beerbohm Tree and
Lewis Waller. A number of
shellac pressings were also donated in the period 1920–50. In 1973 Saul recalled that Hyatt King was chairman of the embryonic Institute in 1953 (the second chairman, following
Frank Howes), and was responsible for finding accommodation for the collection within the British Museum. The British Institute of Recorded Sound became part of the
British Library, which had been split off from the British Museum, in April 1983. It was later renamed the British Library Sound Archive. The metal masters originally collected by the British Museum were transferred to the Archive in 1992. Patrick Saul was the first head of the archive. He was succeeded in 1978/9 by Dr Anthony King who was in post until 1982. His successor from 1983-1992 was Christopher Roads, followed by Crispin Jewitt from 1993-2007, then Richard Ranft from 2007-2020. The current head is Janet Topp Fargion.
Save Our Sounds In 2015 the library launched the 'Save Our Sounds' programme to address the urgent need to digitise unique recordings in the UK's sound archives. These recordings are at risk of being lost due to deterioration of physical recording formats and decreasing availability of playback devices. The aims of the programme are: • to preserve as much as possible of the nation's rare and unique sound recordings, including items from other UK national and regional collections and from other groups and individuals • to establish a national radio archive • to invest in new technology to enable the archive to receive music in born-digital formats
Unlocking Our Sound Heritage As part of Save Our Sounds, between 2017 and 2022 'Unlocking Our Sound Heritage', a network of ten regional centres across the UK, was set up to digitise a wide range of recordings held in local archives, including music, radio broadcasts, drama, oral history and wildlife recordings. == Collections ==