B. George in ARC NYC stacks / click for hi-res version
Andy Rourke of the Smiths @ ARC looking at Smiths LPs he's never seen / click for hi-res version
Some of the 18,000 recordings in the Keith Richards Blues Collection / click for hi-res version
ARCHIVE OF CONTEMPORARY MUSIC LAUNCHES URGENT CAMPAIGN TO
FIND PERMANENT HOME
November 2, 2023—Currently in its 39th year of operation, beloved non-profit the ARChive of Contemporary Music (ARC) is in great need of support as it faces an uncertain future. ARC is a trusted, one-of-a-kind institution, the largest popular music collection in the world. “ARC is... the future of music, inspired by the history of music.”
ONE-OF-A-KIND COLLECTIONS FROM
KEITH RICHARDS, JONATHAN DEMME + MILLIONS MORE CURRENTLY AT RISK
ANONYMOUS DONOR GIVES ONE MILLION
DOLLARS TOWARDS FINDING A PERMANENT HOME
Through a generous donation of facilities by André Balazs the collection has been safe and in storage for nearly three years. Collecting and cataloging has continued, but strict zoning laws prevent ARC’s expansion and public access. Without a new home, more than three million recordings, as well as millions of historic materials spanning all cultures and races, could disappear forever.
ARC has already received a generous anonymous donation of one million dollars that will help move their extensive collection out of their current Hudson Valley space, but more is urgently needed. Go to our story to learn more about ARC, or visit our website arcmusic.org.
The non-profit is seeking crucial funding to continue their preservation of music history. Collections that are currently at risk include Keith Richards’ Blues Collection, one of the most extensive collection of blues and R&B recordings in the world, funded by ARC board member Richards for more than 16 years, as well as their Zero Freitas Brazilian Music Collection which has made ARC home to the largest collection of Brazilian music outside of Brazil.
The Jeep Holland Collection is housed at ARC, which contains more than 125,000 classic rock and pop recordings and over 2500 signed albums from the likes of the Rolling Stones, Jimi Hendrix, Bob Marley and Sex Pistols, while the Jonathan Demme Haitian Music Collection contains ARC board member Jonathan Demme’s personal collection of Haitian albums. ARC is also home to massive collections of mint or sealed recordings from the estates of Richard W. Zirinsky Jr., Mark Steven Jacobson, Malcom Forbes and many others. ARC maintains leading collections of Broadway, African, Punk, Jazz, C&W, Folk, Hip-Hop and Experimental recordings. Artists and music critics like John Rockwell, Jerry Bock, David Byrne and Jon Pareles have trusted ARC to preserve their recordings, books and papers.
Currently searching for a new, permanent home, ARC is opening a new chapter as an institution. The initial donations provide the first step in constructing a new facility that will allow students, educators, historians, musicians, authors, journalists as well as fans and general public access to the world’s rich musical heritage.
Donations for a new building are not only essential in supporting the archives and collections themselves, but will help the expansion of educational programming, community gatherings, listening events and more towards ARC’s ultimate goal of transitioning from an archive to a thriving, living public institution with the creation of The Center for Popular Music in New York.
ARC’s current board of advisors includes Jellybean Benitez, Youssou N’Dour, Q-Tip, Keith Richards, Nile Rodgers, Todd Rundgren, Fred Schneider, Martin Scorsese, Paul Simon and Mike Stoller, with an emeritus board of Carl Bernstein, David Bowie, Jonathan Demme, Michael Feinstein, Ellie Greenwich, John Hammond, Jerry Leiber, Earl McGrath, Lou Reed and Jerry Wexler.
Founded by current director B. George and the late David Wheeler in 1985, the ARChive of Contemporary Music is a not-for-profit archive, music library and research center originally located in New York City. The recording industry had long neglected the preservation of its own heritage, with many historic recording and artifacts misplaced and destroyed throughout the years; ARC was established with a mission to change this trajectory and continues to grow daily as hundreds of record companies, publishers, distributors, collectors, artists and music fans continue to donate new materials to their collection.
—Craig Kallman, CEO of Atlantic Records
“It's so important to preserve our music and have a
place where it's accessible, to go back and listen to old recordings and experience firsthand what life and the art form was like at that time. The ARChive is the only place that is saving our product”—Nile Rodgers
“ARC have a real vision of where they want to go. They’re
in it for the long haul.”—Lou Reed
“The ARChive of Contemporary Music is doing
incredible work archiving and organizing an extensive database of music. It’s an important resource of information for all those who love and appreciate music and want to see it preserved for the future to enjoy.”
—Hank Shocklee (Public Enemy)
“The African diaspora is such an integral part of music,
I
want to try to collect the course of its evolution— for each major black contribution to recorded music: start with gospel, blues, jazz, R&B, rock, disco, to hip hop.”
—Q Tip
“...in the future recordings will be hard to come by.
ARC
will have them all.”—David Byrne
“The ARC is a remarkable resource and cultural treasure
that would serve as the core for a new center for popular music with extensive educational, scholarly and programming benefit”
— James Neal (Formerly Head, Columbia University Libraries and President, American Library Association)