Born-digital media for long term preservation and access: Selection or deselection of media independent music productions

Most music productions made today are digitally recorded, mixed, mastered and distributed. This applies to both commercial releases and private music productions for sharing on the Internet. Obviously, a vast number of digital recordings are being created every day. Furthermore, any born-digital collection needs to be organized and managed if the material shall be preserved for future generations. Until now, most libraries and archives around the world have focused on published recordings (LPs, CDs, etc.). This paper discusses whether it is time for a change, giving a few specific reasons for this as well as presenting a new tool for managing the metadata and the born-digital material itself.