archival guidelines for the music publishing industry

Archival Guidelines for the Music Publishing IndustryAuthor(s): Kent UnderwoodSource: Notes, Second Series, Vol. 52, No. 4 (Jun., 1996), pp. 1112-1118Published by: Music Library AssociationStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/898375 .

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ARCHIVAL GUIDELINES FOR THE MUSIC PUBLISHING INDUSTRY

BY KENT UNDERWOOD et al.'

The history of the music publishing industry resides not just in the printed scores, which have been assiduously collected by libraries for decades, but also in the business records of the companies and in the personal recollections of the professionals who comprise those companies. Today more and more publishing houses, large and small, are changing hands or leaving the scene entirely. In such circumstances, the time, expertise, and money needed to care for a firm's archives may not be easy to marshall internally, and the potential for outside assistance or cooperation may not be explored. Whenever old company records are put aside, dispersed, or discarded, another part of history, quite possibly embodying the lifework of generations of individuals, is in danger of disappearing forever. This regrettable outcome (and it is indeed a fact that the records of numerous music publishers have been irretrievably lost) is of great concern to historians of music and culture, to librarians whose responsibility it is to preserve historical documents and make them accessible, and to a growing number of music publishers who see their own heritage threatened.

As understood in these guidelines, a music publishing archive is a systematic documentary record of a music publishing company: its activities, publications, history, and people-both its employees and the composers whose works have been published. Archives have both prac- tical and cultural values. A well-maintained archive is, first of all, an indispensable part of an active publishing enterprise. Contracts, records of copyrights, royalties, licenses and fees, other legal and financial

1. The Music Library Association/Music Publishers Association Joint Task Force on Publishers' Ar- chives was formed in 1991 to investigate, promote, and assist in the documentation of the music publishing industry. These guidelines have been compiled by Kent Underwood from the proceedings of the conference at the Eastman School of Music in August, 1993, organized by the task force and sponsored by the John F. Sengstack Archive of Music Publishing. Participants were Fred Bock (Church Music Publishers Association), Wilma Reid Cipolla (MLA), Mary Wallace Davidson (MLA), Dena Ep- stein (MLA), Susan Feder (G. Schirmer Co.), Sylvia Goldstein (MPA), W. Stuart Pope (MPA), Helen Samuels (Massachusetts Institute of Technology), Lynn Sengstack (MPA), Kent Underwood (MLA), and Bruce Wilson (MLA). The compiler is especially grateful to Professor Samuels for her advice and guidance throughout this project.

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Archival Guidelines for the Music Publishing Industry

papers, back files of published music, and correspondence-all are essential to the conduct of daily business. In the event of mergers or acquisitions, orderly documentation is a positive element in a company's saleable value. Archives also offer source material for promotion and public relations: for example, advertising, anniversary events, journal- istic profiles, etc.

There is also a wider cultural importance in archives, in that historical understanding depends fundamentally on documents that are handed down from one generation to the next. The present guidelines, therefore, are not concerned merely with the custodianship of old files but with the building of a legacy. Ideally, these guidelines will promote the formation of quality archives through the concerted effort of all interested parties-companies, donors, repositories, and scholars-and through a mutual recognition that the same documents may be valued very differently by different people at different times.2 It is to all these constituencies that these guidelines are addressed. By acting now we can give our descendants the means fully to understand their past.

THE FUNCTIONAL APPROACH

These guidelines adopt a "functional" methodology towards understanding and organizing archives. Technological change combined with the unprecedented volume of documentation being produced by most institutions today have impelled archivists to rethink some long-established ideas and practices. Where traditionally archivists used administrative structure as the lens through which to view the entire entity, the functional viewpoint examines the different activities of an institution as a means to understand the whole. It is the evidence of those functions that consequently forms the documentary record, which ultimately com- prises the archive.3

The framework for these guidelines, then, is a list of six generic functions, those typical of the music publishing industry as a whole. (Indeed, the guidelines could theoretically be applied as well to the entire industry as to individual publishers). Even so, not every function will carry equal

2. This multilateral approach to archives-building is often referred to as "documentation strategy." See Helen Willa Samuels, "Who Controls the Past," American Archivist 49 (1986): 109-24. See also Larry Hackman and Joan Warnow, "The Documentation Strategy Process: A Model and a Case Study," American Archivist 50 (1987): 12-29.

3. For more background on the functional approach as well as a full-scale application of the model, see Helen Willa Samuels, Varsity Letters: Documenting Modern College and Universities (Metuchen, N.J.: Society of American Archivists; Scarecrow Press, 1992).

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NOTES, June 1996

weight in each specific environment. In determining what is to be collected and saved by a given publisher, an archival plan should reflect the relative importance of generic functions to the specific institution, and set priorities accordingly.

Complementing the six functions, the guidelines subsequently list the types of documents that would typically provide evidence for each function. Taken together, the functions and evidence are nothing more than an outline of what an ideal archive would contain, and not every evidence-to-function relationship will necessarily apply in each individual case. Conversely, the same piece of evidence might apply to more than one function.

DOCUMENTATION PROBLEMS

Too MANY RECORDS. Frequently the existing evidence may be over- abundant. Selectivity-judging which documents are really essential to the conduct and understanding of a function and which can safely be discarded-is, therefore, paramount in assembling an archive. Selectiv- ity applies in different degrees to different functions and evidence types. Many institutions have found that the permanent archive need contain as little as 5 to 10 percent of the total records created by the institution over its lifetime. Summary records may at times be the best solution, and the archivist may appropriately have a hand in compiling such records as a way to consolidate a large number of related documents.

Too FEW RECORDS. At the same time, other important parts of the picture may be inadequately documented. An archival plan can help here by suggesting changes in record-keeping practices and, where appropriate, filling gaps in the historical record.

ORAL CULTURE. Oral culture is essential to the functioning of any organization, no matter how well-managed its files. Interpersonal dynam- ics; processes of creation, consultation, and decision-making; knowledge and tradition that is understood and taught but never written down; individual personalities-all such aspects of an organization may elude conventional documents but can emerge through oral history, whose domain is the human memory.4

4. With respect to specific techniques of oral history or any other aspect of these guidelines, it is assumed that implementation of an actual archival project would involve the participation of a pro- fessional who is well versed in the standards and literature of archival administration.

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DISPERSED RECORDS. Key documents that relate to a specific function will not always be centrally located. The reasons may be structural (e.g., several offices working on a common problem), functional (e.g., legal records are at the lawyer's office rather than with the company), or circumstantial (e.g., old records warehoused and half-forgotten).

PROPRIETARY RIGHTS AND CONFIDENTIALITY. For legal, business, or personal reasons, some documents need to be kept confidential. The need for access restrictions is well recognized in the archival world; when necessary such considerations should be spelled out when an archive is established.

CONSERVATION, PRESERVATION, RESTORATION. All artifacts deteriorate (some more quickly than others), and part of the archival process is to assess the physical condition of the documents and to determine what is needed to keep them in a durable, usable state. This problem relates not only to paper and visual materials but also to electronic records, where the inherent mutability of formats is compounded by the rapid obsolescence of hardware and software.

A fundamental tenet of archives is that the whole is greater than the sum of its parts, i.e., that the relationships among documents are as significant as the information in any specific piece of evidence. But, we reiterate, the goal is not to save everything. While comprehensiveness is to be sought after, it must be balanced with good organization and management of the records, without which comprehensiveness becomes overwhelming and futile. In implementing these guidelines, each company-working together with its archivist or consultant-must determine the relative value of the six functions to its own past and present activities, evaluate the availability and quality of evidence for each function, and make the judgments and selections that will preserve a cogent and accurate history.

THE SIX FUNCTIONS OF MUSIC PUBLISHING 1. Acquisition: As a prerequisite to any other publishing activity, music publishers

acquire musical works. 2. Administration of musical works: In accordance with copyright laws and systems

of royalties, licenses, and fees, publishers collect and disburse monies. 3. Editing and production: Publishers help bring music to a state where it can be

reproduced and made available to an audience through the media of notation (printed or digital), recording (audio or video, analog or digital), live performance, or broadcast.

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NOTES, June 1996

4. Promotion and marketing of musical works: Publishers make their publications known to the public, with whom they then conduct transactions through sale or rental.

5. Promotion of culture: Those activities that, going beyond direct economic ex- changes for profit, contribute more widely to a culture that in turn sustains music as a viable livelihood and form of expression.

6. Self-governance and sustenance: Those administrative activities necessary to keep the publisher "in business."

TYPES OF ARCHIVAL DOCUMENTS BY FUNCTION

In order to avoid repetition, it is assumed throughout this outline that documents today may exist in either printed form, electronic files, or both, and that all applicable formats should be considered. "Recordings" are understood either as integral electronic works or as ancillary to printed music.5 "Correspondence" is understood as either internal (memos) or external (letters); it is pertinent to practically every category, even when not explicitly mentioned. Likewise, oral history (highly recommended as a complement to conventional documentation) could well relate to all the functional categories.

I. Acquisition of musical works A. Contracts B. Correspondence C. Manuscripts or other forms of work submitted

II. Administration of musical works A. Copyright documents

1. Applications 2. Certificates 3. Renewals 4. Transfers 5. Terminations

B. Performance rights registrations C. Royalties, licenses, fees

1. Statements or cancelled checks (direct payment to composer) 2. Contracts with or statements from collecting organizations (payment received

on behalf of composer) 3. Correspondence relating to permissions, out-of-print, reprint, etc.

III. Editing and production A. Editing

1. Annotated and revised versions of work, leading up to final version 2. Finished versions 3. Subsequent editions 4. House style manuals 5. Correspondence

B. Production 1. Notated work

a. Contracts, work/production orders or dockets with copyists, engravers, or printers

b. Production masters of scores and parts

5. These guidelines, however, should not be construed as directly applicable to the music recording industry, for which they would necessarily be somewhat different.

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c. Last copies of printed production d. House style guides e. Tools and equipment and manuals for their use f. Design and layout g. Art work h. Correspondence

2. Recorded work a. Master tape b. Last copy c. Relevant materials as under "Notated work"

3. Live performance a. Programs or church bulletins b. Press releases c. Reviews d. Tapes e. Relevant materials as under "Notated work"

IV. Promotion and marketing of musical works A. Brochures and catalogs B. Bulletins and press releases C. Advertisements

1. Print 2. Broadcast tapes

D. Reports of conferences attended E. Sales representatives' reports and correspondence

V. Promotion of culture A. Material relating to nonprofit or philanthropic services B. Correspondence C. Company histories, brochures D. Press clippings

VI. Self-governance and sustenance A. Executive

1. Board minutes 2. Policy group minutes 3. Annual reports 4. Bylaws 5. Founding and other papers of incorporation 6. Records of buyouts, mergers, acquisitions, etc. 7. Correspondence

B. Personnel 1. Job descriptions 2. Directories 3. Organization charts 4. Union contracts and proceedings 5. Correspondence

C. Finance 1. Balance sheets 2. Profit and loss statements 3. End-of-year sales reports 4. Cumulated royalty statements

D. Physical plant 1. Blueprints 2. Photographs 3. Real estate records 4. Equipment specifications and manuals

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1118 NOTES, June 1996

E. Dispersed but related records 1. Legal and court 2. Accounting, banking, auditing 3. Other contracted work 4. Trade associations 5. Foreign agents 6. Corporate relationships (parent company, holding company, etc.)



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