The memory of recorded music at the Bibliothèque nationale de France
The memory of recorded music at the Bibliothèque nationale de France
With the exponential growth of online music and streaming platforms, access to recorded music has perhaps never been as widespread as it is today. But what will be the future once the means of production, distribution and consumption have been definitively appropriated by everyone? Is the memory of recorded music compatible with dematerialization?
In France, legal deposit was instituted by François1st in 1537. Today, the Bibliothèque nationale de France collects documents of all kinds (books, periodicals, cartographic documents, recorded music, graphic and photographic documents, audiovisual and multimedia documents) published, imported or distributed in France. This is how heritage collections, the memory of print and audiovisual publishing, are built up. Since 2006, legal deposit has extended to websites and dematerialized documents.
Today, one of BnF’s main challenges is to ensure the continuity of its legal deposit mission, while accommodating an ever-increasing volume and diversity of dematerialized documents. Established in 1938, the legal deposit of phonograms constitutes a memory of phonographic record production. All references distributed in France, whether foreign or French, are collected by BnF as part of this legal deposit.
Without selection or value judgment, all recorded musical production is preserved in all its rich diversity at the Bibliothèque nationale de France.
Faced with the growing dematerialization of musical production, BnF has decided to create a streamlined legal deposit of dematerialized sound (DLSD) to integrate this immense production into its collections.
To accomplish this project, BnF’s Audiovisual Department set up a unique partnership with SNEP (Syndicat national des éditions phonographiques), UPFI (Union des producteurs phonographiques indépendants) and Kantar media, manager of the BIPP database (Base de données interprofessionnelles des producteurs phonographiques), which brings together the productions of French professional organizations.
After a lengthy legal and technical investigation with BnF’s partners and teams, the DLSD process is now complete. It integrates the collection process and the control of files (FLAC, XML, JPEG) through flow transfers between Kantar and BnF, while guaranteeing their preservation in a long-term archiving system. It enables the automatic production of bibliographic records in the public catalog. Finally, it ensures secure distribution of these files to researchers and accredited professionals.
The DLSD project went into production in December 2019 with distributor Idol. In 2023, the DLSD stream was opened to the Universal Music catalog, with the local repertoire, followed by the international repertoire in 2024. At the same time, instruction continues with Sony Music Entertainment, which will open its catalog to the DLSD stream in 2025, shortly before Warner Music’s catalog. At that point, it will be time for independent labels and distributors to follow suit. Finally, in 2026, another initiative is expected to launch for collecting and archiving of self-produced music recordings.
The BnF’s missions of preservation and transmission are adapting to the evolution of technology to keep our heritage collections alive. Researchers, professionals, and amateurs alike can pursue their research and question our communal memory.
Keywords: sound heritage, legal deposit, music on line, preservation, communal memory
Biography
Pierre Pichon. In charge of the legal deposit (DL) of phonograms at the Bibliothèque nationale de France (BnF) since 1998. Editorial watch and legal deposit prospecting, organizes the reception and processing of audio documents (DL and acquisitions). Supervises the conservation of music phonogram collections within BnF’s Audiovisual Department and participates in the development of heritage collections.
Project manager for the Dematerialized Sound Legal Deposit (DLSD) since 2018: in liaison with the collections departments, the legal department, the IT department, the BnF financial department and music distributors (majors – Universal, Sony, Warner – and independents), coordinates actions to set up and structure automated flows for the long-term conservation of dematerialized music.
Bibliothèque Nationale de France, France – pierre.pichon@bnf.fr