ARSC News

ARSC Newsletter 170 (Fall 2026) is now available online!

• "Compiling a June Appal Records Discography," ARSC Research Grant Report by Gabrielle Christiansen
• Conference Report, by Curtis Peoples
• President's Message," by Curtis Peoples
• Research Grant Recipients 2026
• For Sale: Historical Vocal Record Collection
• Awards for Excellence Finalists Announcement
• "Two Requests from the Membership Committee" by Trey Brown
• "Obitiuary: Gerald 'Gerry' Gibson"
• "Previously Undocumented Leon René–Related Acetates Discovered," ARSC Research Grant Report by Philip Kimball
• "Cataloging a Jebala Music Collection: Clerical Work and Discographic Documentation in Northern Morocco," ARSC Research Grant Report by Hicham Chami
• Sustaining Members
• New and Returning Members
• Conference Photos

And more....!

Catch up on the latest from ARSC!

October 27 is World Day for Audiovisual Heritage!

--- Application Deadline: January 31, 2027 ---

ARSC Research Grants support scholarship and publication in the fields of sound recording research and audio preservation. Project categories eligible for consideration include: discography, bibliography, historical studies of the sound recording industry and its products, and any other subject likely to increase the public's understanding and appreciation of the lasting importance of recorded sound.

Full guidelines can be viewed at: https://arsc-audio.org/research-grants-program ARSC members and non-members alike are eligible for grants in amounts up to $1000. ARSC encourages applications from individuals whose research forms part of an academic program at the master's or doctoral level.

For guidelines and application instructions, please see the ARSC Research Grants webpage: https://arsc-audio.org/research-grants-program

ARSC Research Grants are supported by membership dues and contributions.

To donate to ARSC: https://arsc-audio.org/donate

The Association for Recorded Sound Collections will host ARSC's 61st Annual Conference and Workshop, May 12-15, 2027 in Denver, Colorado at the Sonesta Denver Downtown.

The theme of this year's conference and workshop is: In The Groove: Collecting, Preserving, and Listening to Sound Across Time, Place, and Format.

The ARSC Conference will include presentations and panel discussions with sound recording scholars, collectors, preservationists, and creators engaged in a broad range of topics that cross geographic, cultural, and collection boundaries, as well as tours of local sites, opening and closing receptions, a silent auction, a collectors' roundtable, and an awards banquet.

The ARSC Workshop "On Vinyl" will provide attendees an opportunity to explore topics relating to collecting, care and handling, cleaning, and playing vinyl records and will be hosted to ARSC's Technical Committee.

The Sonesta Denver Downtown has offered a discounted rate of $159/night for rooms with a king or two double beds that extends to reservations three days before and after the event.

A call for presenatations, panels, and posters will be issued by October 2026. Please see the ARSC Conference and Workshop webpage for more information as it becomes available.

The Association for Recorded Sound Collections is pleased to announce the finalists for the 2026 ARSC Awards for Excellence in Historical Recorded Sound Research.

https://arsc-audio.org/excellence-awards-finalists

The ARSC Awards are given to authors of books, articles or recording liner notes to recognize those publishing the very best work today in recorded sound research. In giving these awards, ARSC recognizes the contributions of these individuals and aims to encourage others to emulate their high standards and to promote readership of their work.

Congratulations to all finalists!

The Association for Recorded Sound Collections is pleased to announce the publication of ARSC Journal Vol. 57, No. 1 (Spring 2026).

 

Browse the ARSC Journal online at:

https://arsc-audio.org/journal

ORIGINAL ARTICLES (AMP! login required)

Giving New Life to Out-of-Print Discographies: UCSB's Discography eBooks Series

by David Seubert

Orlando R. Marsh: Chicago’s Pioneer Of Electrical Recording: An Illustrated Bio-Discography

by Richard Raichelson

Marcus Joseph Colthurst Alexander (1896–1970): A Pioneer in Early Global Sound Recording

by Maria Kapkidi

The Art of Eduard Buk Ulreich

by Matthew Barton

The Ravi Shankar Tapes: Recordings from the City College Music Department Archives

by Michael Crowley

Carly Simon: A Transgenre Artist Crosses Over to the Great American Songbook, or How a Hot Knife in Cold Butter Became a Cool Diva in White-Hot Gloves

by Lawrence Schulman

The Association for Recorded Sound Collections is pleased to announce the recipients of ARSC Research Grants for 2026

Jordan Brown, Graduate Student, Harvard University

A grant of $1000 for dissertation research in Philadelphia, PA at the Charles L. Blockson Afro-American Collection and David Bell Studio on the aesthetics of identity in Alternative Hip-Hop and R&B.

Nina Goodman, Graduate Student, University of Chicago

A grant of $1000 for dissertation research at multiple archives and institutions in South Korea on how sound artists there have used archival sound recordings to auralize (or “sound out”) the divided past of their country.

Balakrishnan Raghavan, Graduate Student, University of California, Santa Cruz

A grant of $1000 for dissertation research at the Archives and Research Center for Ethno-musicology in Delhi, India on Yellamma-themed recordings by Jogappa musicians.

Joti Rockwell, Associate Professor and Chair of Music, Pomona College

A grant of $600 for ethnomusicology/music-theory research at the American Folklife Center, Library of Congress in Washington, DC on audio recordings of plucked string instruments.

ARSC Research Grants support scholarship and publication by individuals in the field of sound recordings or audio preservation, including discography, bibliography, historical studies, or any other subject likely to increase the public’s understanding and appreciation of the lasting importance of recorded sound.

Research Grant recipients credit ARSC in research products and submit project reports for publication in the ARSC Newsletter.

ARSC Research Grants are managed by the ARSC Research Grants Committee. Read more about ARSC's Research Grants:

https://arsc-audio.org/research-grants-program

ARSC Research Grants are supported by membership dues and charitable contributions. To Contribute to ARSC's Research Grants Fund, visit:

https://arsc-audio.org/donate

The Association for Recorded Sound Collections is pleased to announce the publication of ARSC Newsletter 169 (Spring 2026).

https://arsc-audio.org/newsletter

The newsletter features a preview of ARSC's 60th Annual Conference and Workshop in Memphis, Tennessee in May 2026. Registration for the workshop and conference is now open, so please plan to join us as we explore regional, national, and international topics in recorded sound and celebrate ARSC at 60!

Also included in the newsletter are interesting ARSC Research Grants reports on the representation of radio in art of the 1940s and the role of women in the development of Canada's ethnographic sound archives, plus member news and much more!

The Association for Recorded Sound Collections is pleased to announce the recipients of this year's ARSC Awards for Independent Initiatives.

• T. Christopher Aplin — Architect of a tribe-centered model for preserving and reintroducing imperiled Native American audio recordings
• Nicholas Bergh — Developer of state-of-the-art platforms enabling preservation transfers of unprecedented fidelity
• Henri Chamoux— Inventor of the first widely adopted professional cylinder transfer platform and operator of a public website providing access to thousands of the world’s oldest sound recordings

ARSC is pleased to honor these passionate, driven, dedicated individuals who are advancing the field of sound recording through their own initiatives outside of their professional duties. Its Independent Initiatives Award carries a no-strings-attached prize of $5,000 per recipient to support, encourage, and promote their good works. Recipients will be honored the evening of May 16 at an awards ceremony during ARSC's 60th Annual Conference and Workshop in Memphis, Tennessee.

Read more about the recipients: 

https://arsc-award.org/recipients-2026.html

Read more about the awards:

https://arsc-award.org/2026-0128.html