Thursday 14 August 2008

Digitize that wax.





Thousands of recordings that had been largely consigned to the realm of prehistory in the digital age have gained a new life, thanks to the tireless efforts of one man.

Cliff Bolling didn't realize what he was getting into when he picked up a copy of the first record he ever owned (Cliff Steward's "Aba Daba Honeymoon") and realized soon after that "there's a whole world of music that you don't hear anymore, and it's on 78 RPM records."

Even with the MP3s, Bolling's site only received 10-30 hits per day until appearing on reddit and StumbleUpon in July, reaching over 11,000 hits at its peak. "I really didn't know there were so many people in the world interested in this music," said Bolling told wired.com. "A lot of younger people go to the site, and it's amazing that they hear songs today that originally were recorded 75 years ago. It's pretty cool that people get to listen to this stuff. As far as copyrights, apparently I'm okay, because nobody's come to shut me down or anything.

Good lad. There are undoubtedly some real gems out there that have not been found yet. The likes of Dj Shadow are pro's at digging in the dust covered crates, the more people who start to transfer long lost music to an digital format; the better.



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