Encyclopedia of Recorded Sound 2nd edition (2 volume set)

English | Publisher: Routledge, 2005 | 1302 Pages | PDF | 17 MB
This second edition is a revision of the Encyclopedia of Recorded Sound in the United States (1993), edited by Guy A. Marco and published by Garland. The new editor, who is also a librarian, writes in the introduction that 60 percent of the more than 3,500 entries are new, and all old entries have been revised (although some of the entries examined for this review are identical in both editions).

Emphasis in the first edition was recorded sound before World War II, but in the second edition the chronological range has been extended, although focus is still on the U.S. There is information from the 1980s and 1990s, such as the merger of AOL and Time Warner. However, entries for some artists, among them Van Cliburn, Placido Domingo, and Michael Jackson, do not include current information.

Illustrations, mostly photographs of old record labels, have been added. There are some historic photos of people, including one of Bela Bartok recording folk songs in Transylvania, as well as current photos, such as one of an IPOD, accompanying the MP3 entry. Entries for record labels, performers, films, technical terms, and so on are short, but there are multiple-page entries for Columbia (label), Disc, and Opera recordings, among others. Pseudonyms offers a unique list of pseudonyms of recording artists. Sound recording periodicals lists more than 800 journals and magazines.

The second volume ends with a list of contributors and their affiliations, extensive endnotes, and an index. This is a comprehensive work on a subject that has not been covered in other reference sources. Although the price has increased from $125 to $275, academic and large public libraries with an interest in the recording industry should consider purchase.