"Sound recordings are the embodiment of all kinds of sounds in some enduring material form, thus permitting them to be repeatedly perceived, reproduced, broadcast or otherwise communicated." WIPO Glossary, p. 240.

With regard to recordings of music and published literature, many different performers may record the same work e.g. Georgia on My Mind, Beethoven's Fifth Symphony, or Shakespeare's Tempest. Also the same performer(s) may record the same work more than once. In each case, although the original work is the same, its realisation in sound will always be different every time that it is recorded. Hence each new recording is different.¹

Footnotes:

1.Note: Often a recorded performance or event is simply referred to as a recording. Implicit here is the content of the recording, not its physical format for which the terms physical item or item are used

2. Coarse groove era here means the period from the 1890s to the 1960s, when recorded sound discs were predominantly made of shellac, and the playback speed of which may or may not have been standardised at 78 rpm.

3.Microgroove era here means the period when vinyl discs were manufactured and distributed, from 1948 to the 1990s.

4. CISAC. Draft ISWC : International Standard Work Code. - (CIS Brief No. 2). p. 1

5. CISAC. Draft ISAN : International Standard AudioVisual Number. - (CIS Brief No. 3). p. 1.

6. indecs (interoperability of data in e-commerce systems) http://www.indecs.org/results/persons.htm

7. Single-sided discs are recorded on one side only. The other or B side is blank.

During the early period of sound recording, first with cylinders (Edison, 1877) and a little later with early discs (Berliner, 1887) and discs of the coarse groove era a performance or event was recorded as a one-off take during a recording session, and without the possibility to improve or edit the content of that particular recording.

To improve on a take an entire repeat performance was necessary. Each separate recording was, therefore, a separate sound recorded event. With the introduction of discs, matrix numbers were usually allocated by the recording company and often etched or stamped into the wax. The wax is the name given to the area between the grooves and the label on disc formats. Matrix numbers were used to identify master recordings. They were often added to the stamper during the production process, and are usually visible on the final pressing which was generally mass-produced for publication and sale to the public.

On occasions when another take was considered necessary to improve on the performance, a new matrix number would be allocated to the next disc, or a new take number added to the existing matrix number. Take numbers were applied incrementally and appear after the matrix number, sometimes preceded with a hyphen. As with matrix numbers, take numbers may be numeric or alphabetic.

Each recording company applied its own matrix and take number system, and without a good knowledge of the company in question, it is sometimes difficult to identify a matrix and take number. The following made up examples, however, illustrate some of the types of systems used by record companies to apply take numbers:

Occasionally special symbols such as an x in a circle, triangle, or square have been used to indicate takes. (Note that with some record companies though, these types of geometric symbols, or other characters in circles located after or near the matrix number, were used to indicate the type of electrical system used for making the recording rather than the take.)

The best performance was then selected for publication and the corresponding matrix number (and possibly take number) would usually appear on the final product. With record companies selling and buying businesses, the record label and catalogue number on the different publications could change for the same recording over time. The matrix and take numbers (almost without exception) would, however, remain constant for that particular sound recording.

For discs produced during the coarse groove era then, the matrix and take numbers usually uniquely identify the particular recorded performance or event.

The opportunity to edit the audio content of a sound recording came as early as 1898 with wire recordings. However, the techniques, associated with editing wire were developed more extensively with the introduction of tape in 1934 (which became commercially available from 1937). Audio tape presented the possibility of editing by splicing for the first time. Today, there are many editing techniques: multi-tracking, patching, mixing and remixing the tracks (with the possibility of also including additional new tracks made in a later recording session).

Digital technology also allows sampling and a kind of 'virtual reality' by superimposing various recordings to create a new work through the ear and hand of the sound engineer.

The sound which is eventually fixed is what is then recognised as the recording. Another remixed or digitally remastered version, or an edited extract, used for instance as an audio clip in an interactive multimedia product, or as an example during a lecture, radio programme, interview, etc., is effectively a new recording for the purposes of identifying it usefully within an audiovisual collection.

Consequently, the usefulness of the matrix number to positively identify a particular sound recording has waned for post coarse groove era audio formats. Its usefulness to identify the side of an unlabelled disc through the production process has, however, continued through the microgroove era at least.

In the 1980s the International Standard Recording Code (ISRC) was developed by the International Federation of Phonographic Industries (IFPI) and standardised as ISO 3901:1986. This code is similar to ISBN in structure and purpose and is designed to uniquely identify each individual recording. It has been implemented in many countries. Other standard numbering systems under development at the time of writing and which are relevant to audiovisual archives are: International Standard Work Code (ISWC) to identify "any musical composition from songs to symphonies to advertising jingles"; and the International Standard Audiovisual Number (ISAN) to identify "audiovisual works from television shows to films to multimedia product … transmitted to worldwide audiences via broadcast, satellite, cable, on-line services and the Internet". These are being developed by International Confederation of Authors' and Composers' Societies (CISAC) as part of the Common Information System (CIS). Unique identifiers for persons as contributors to sound recordings (i.e. as authors or performers) are also under development.

Such numbering systems will be essential metadata components within fully automated archives, such as digital mass storage systems, but are not so vital to the traditional approach addressed by these rules. In any case, the numbers are intended to be digitally encoded on the recording and will therefore be invisible to the human eye without specialised decoding software. However, some record companies have printed ISRCs on the packaging, and these should be recorded in Area 8, e.g. DE-A14-93-514-00.

An archive or cataloguing agency may sometimes need to determine the most appropriate cataloguing treatment of audiovisual material, both within the context of the original work, and its performance, realisation or expression, and/or within the role and function of the archive itself.

Where a format for a moving image item is being described, it is anticipated that cataloguing rules appropriate to cataloguing film (e.g. the FIAF Cataloguing Rules for Film Archives) would usually apply.

There may be some cross-over or other type of relationship between moving image and recorded sound formats, however, and the following suggestions are given.

Where a film sound track for a moving image item occurs on disc, as with early sound film; or where physical components for a pre-composite film print are being described (including a film sound track on magnetic audio tape) it is recommended that the the item be catalogued in its capacity as a moving image item.

If, however, a sound recording item were merely captured on U-matic video (sometimes used as an early digital sound format) or on a sound track film format, it is recommended that the item would be catalogued in its capacity as a sound recording.

In each of the above cases, where additional specialist guidance for the physical description of the material is needed, it is recommended that appropriate specialist cataloguing rules for that type of medium be consulted.

Similarly, where a copy of the film sound track from a film production is edited and commercially published as a sound recording (e.g. in LP or CD format) this would be catalogued as a sound recording. In this case the recording would usually be edited to a shorter duration than the film sound track for the film production. It would therefore be a different recording from the original film sound track, and so not considered as part of the moving image item.

An amateur or home video of an opera production on stage may be intended to simply record the event of the performance. As with a sound recording, the main emphasis in cataloguing will therefore be on the created work (i.e. composer and title) and the particular live performance or expression itself (i.e. the opera company, conductor, and performers involved, and the date and place of the event). The medium of moving image coincidentally requires the appropriate general material designation of videorecording, and a physical description for the video. In addition the name of the person who shot the video may also be documented in the catalogue record.

In other instances, for example where a film production is intended to have an opera story complete with musical performance as the story, (e.g. Rosi's 1984 feature film Carmen) the resulting film would need to be catalogued as though it is a film production rather than as a performance of a musical work alone. As such the emphasis in the catalogue record would be on the title of the film with prominence given to the composer (if prominent in the opening credits), as well as to the film director, film producer, cinematographer, country of origin, production company and production date. The major vocal artists (star cast) at least, and the conductor would also be included, usually as a note.

Therefore, while the archive's and their clients' information retrieval requirements must be considered when cataloguing audiovisual materials, there are also other factors to consider. These include the necessity to discern the intention behind, and extent of creative input to, the final product to determine the best cataloguing approach for the material, the appropriate cataloguing rules to use, and the information to be highlighted as significant (see also 0.0.1.2-0.0.1.4).

In addition, each audiovisual medium (and often each format as applied within that medium) is part of an audiovisual culture unique to itself. In turn, that audiovisual culture is related to its historical era, and to the type of content (including duration of the recorded piece and its genre or style) in the format. The ability to recognise and respond appropriately to each particular era and culture relating to the various audiovisual media and formats is also necessary for cataloguing purposes.

With today's new technology and media, some moving image and electronic resource products could be considered as a contemporary means for communicating content which may otherwise have been exclusive to the recorded sound and radio media of the past (e.g. video histories vs oral histories; music videos vs long play recordings or singles; film or television productions of opera and ballet vs sound recordings and radio productions; and sound excerpts in interactive multimedia and other electronic resources). For this reason, film, video, television and electronic resources are also briefly addressed in these rules.

Audio content on early sound recordings was of very short duration (usually not longer than 4 minutes, e.g. wax cylinders, discs of the coarse groove era). Often composed musical works were abridged to fit into such a short playing time or were spread over several sides with carefully planned breaks for changing sides or discs. Frequently recordings on cylinders and single-sided discs were coextensive with the physical item.

Later, with double-sided discs, two (and sometimes more) separate recordings were contained on the one physical item.

Traditionally, in discography and in early gramophone library catalogues, the individual recordings would be described separately, and each description would include some piece of key 'linking' information back to the physical disc (e.g. label and catalogue number). Record shops and some sound recording libraries and archives traditionally filed their collections of published sound recordings (discs) on the shelf according to size, label and catalogue number.

With the introduction of the LP and EP, and more recently the DAT and CD, a single physical item could contain several recordings, and this multiplicity is increased with today's audio mass storage systems, and digital jukebox systems.

There are three methods to describe multiple recordings on a single item:

1. A contents note may be used to list the recordings contained on the physical item, which in itself is described as a unit (see 7.B.25);

2. A multilevel entry may be prepared for each recording. Multilevel description potentially provides scope to give more information about a recording than normally may be entered in a contents note. The multilevel structure is hierarchical, and the descriptions for the recordings are presented in the same order as the recordings occur on the physical item(s) (see 9.2); or

3. A discrete analytic entry for each recording may be prepared and then linked to the host item(s). The hierarchical structure of the multilevel approach is not a requirement for analytic cataloguing. Sometimes the same recording will occur on more than one host item. Thus the one analytic entry for a recording may be linked to as many host items as contain that particular recording (see 9.1). Also the use of a discrete analytic entry for each recording potentially allows a full bibliographic description complete with access points for the recording; it minimises duplication of effort to describe the occurrence of the same recording on more than one physical item; and, when a computer is used for cataloguing it allows for flexibility in producing lists and other reports such as discographies, catalogues, listings and carrier contents listings for tapes, DATs or CDs. These items may be published, unpublished, or broadcast items, or in-house archival preservation copies, dubbing masters or reference copies. (Note that an in-house copy may be a one-to-one copy or a new compilation in its own right, depending on the policy and procedures employed by the archive or cataloguing agency.)

The traditional layout of discographies has pre-empted the analytic approach, e.g.

BESSIE SMITH

Clarence Williams, piano
New York City, February 16, 1923
80863-5 DOWN HEARTED BLUES Col. A3844; CBS CG 33
80864-3 GULF COAST BLUES Col. A3844; CBS CG 33

(In this example, the main artist Bessie Smith features as the heading. Clarence Williams provides piano accompaniment. The place and date of the recording session are shown as in New York City on February 16, 1923. Following are separate lines for each recording showing (left to right) matrix and take number, the title, and publication details given as the record label and catalogue number. Here, both recordings are shown as having been published twice, as two labels and catalogue numbers occur after each title.)

It is the cataloguing agency's or archive's choice whether to apply multilevel or analytic cataloguing or not, or whether to include contents notes or not. These choices will depend on matters such as the volume of material to be brought under basic control and/or catalogued in full; the human and financial resources available to do this work; the priorities, commitments and goals of the archive or cataloguing agency; and the information retrieval requirements of the institution and its clients.

Generally, names may be considered in two main groups for the purposes of cataloguing: personal names and corporate names.

Personal names have two broad categories of their own in relation to sound and other audiovisual recordings:

1. a) persons who have created the work that is interpreted and performed (e.g. composers, librettists, lyricists, authors, translators),

1. b) persons who create, collect or capture the recording (in the case of field recordings of ethnographic or wildlife content or environmental and mechanical sounds), and

2. contributors or participants who perform or realise the work, i.e. whose voices or instruments we hear on the recording (e.g. performers, singers, instrumentalists, interviewees, interviewers, speakers).

Corporate names also apply to creators and/or performers in relation to sound and other audiovisual recordings (e.g. orchestras, groups, bands, publishers, producers, broadcasters, distributors).

Published sound recordings, which are mass-produced for commercial release, normally have printed labels affixed to the surface of the disc, spool or cassette. These labels denote the brand or trade name which the record company uses to market the recording, and also indicate the holder of the recording rights (i.e. the record company). Record companies often market sound recordings under a variety of labels. The different labels are designed to appeal to different sectors of the market, and to promote different types (styles, genres) of recordings. Labels have also been used to indicate pricing levels, e.g. whether a prestigious (expensive) first release or a budget (inexpensive) re-release.

Record labels are also bought and sold by companies, so that over time a particular label (and the recording rights associated with it) may pass through various ownerships.

For sound recordings, it is the record label which is presented as the publisher of a commercially issued (i.e. published) sound recording (see 3.D.2).

Although, not part of the information to be included in Area 3, the record catalogue number (which sometimes includes a prefix and/or suffix) for a published sound recording is inextricably associated with the label name. Record catalogue numbers are given in Area 8 together with the label name in The IASA Cataloguing Rules.

As record label and catalogue number information are always closely associated with each other, the following information about the development of the use of catalogue numbers is given here.

The catalogue number is any number used by the record company to identify a specific recorded sound item for ordering or stock control and sales purposes. Catalogue numbers have been applied to published sound recordings from the earliest commercial releases of cylinders.

The earliest discs were all one-sided. The catalogue number was therefore often the same as the matrix number for these discs. However, some single-sided discs also had specific catalogue numbers.

When double-sided discs were introduced (ca. 1905) many were given a separate catalogue number for each side. This proved a cumbersome method for identifying the discs and a single catalogue number soon became common to both sides of the disc.

Some discs, especially from the pre-1930 period however, also had a separate number to identify each side of the disc. This was known as a face number, and often appeared in addition to the catalogue number and to the matrix number. E.g., many early HMV discs display face numbers.

From the 1930s onwards, record catalogue numbers became more standardised and are usually easy to identify. Often a simple number was all that was used, but commonly a prefix of one or more letters was added to identify various series on the same label or just to make the plain number specific to that particular label. Less commonly, there were alpha-numeric prefixes and/or a suffix.

With the introduction of different disc formats, such as 45 rpm and LP records, the dominant types of records marketed in the 1950s, there was often a need to distinguish between different formats of the same recording (which might exist on both a 78 rpm and a 45 rpm disc) or to indicate different sizes of long-playing records (such as 10 inch and 12 inch LPs). This led to more complex catalogue numbers which frequently included prefixes and/or suffixes.

In the 1980s some discs (mainly LPs) began to show a variety of different numbers, including order numbers and other stock-control numbers, sometimes making it difficult to distinguish which is the actual catalogue number. There was also a tendency to use computer-generated numbers, usually a long sequence of digits. Later, the development of international standard numbering systems resulted in the use of codes (to identify the format) being part of the catalogue number (e.g. "-1" at the end of a number to indicate a vinyl disc, "-2" to indicate a CD, and "-4" to indicate a cassette release - all of the same published release of the recording).

The terms published, unpublished and broadcast are used throughout The IASA Cataloguing Rules. They are broad categories which are defined and applied as follows:

Published items are produced for distribution to the public on a commercial scale; e.g., mass-produced and commercially issued or released sound recordings or electronic resources available for purchase through retail outlets or by mail order from commercial or trade catalogues; film productions distributed as prints for public screening in cinemas, or as mass-produced videos for purchase through retail outlets, or hire for limited periods.

Such items are usually attractively packaged and/or appealingly promoted. The packaging itself can lend a form of identity to an item to be catalogued (e.g. limited edition disc in sequined cover; cassette in breakfast cereal box).

Note that material available through some computer networks, e.g. the Internet, is also included in this definition.

Unpublished items are not mass-produced and are not available for commercial distribution (e.g. field recordings, oral history recordings, privately made recordings). They are usually unique, the only additional copies being in-house archival preservation copies, dubbing masters or reference copies. These items do not have the attractive packaging of published material and may lack adequate identification in the form of a label, or documentation on the item or its container.

Broadcast items are not mass-produced as a physical format. However, broadcasting is a form of publication as it is a means of publicly disseminating information. In audiovisual archives, these items normally comprise programme tapes (audio or video) or kinescope films (early sound/image TV recordings), do not have the attractive packaging of published material in many cases, and may lack adequate identification in the form of a label, or documentation on the item or its container. Information about the content of these items may sometimes be found only in scripts, national or regional programme listings, or in the announcements which form part of the recorded programme itself.

Bibliographic description. The term bibliographic description is applied here to mean a set of bibliographic data recording (i.e. documenting) and identifying an item regardless of the medium or format of the item. The more specific terms such as discographic and filmographic are implied as appropriate through the use of the term bibliographic in these rules.

Copyright legislation varies from country to country, but it always exists on more than one level for sound recordings. The range of rights which may apply includes recording rights, mechanical rights, performing rights and moral rights. Rules for documenting these are to be found at 3.F.1.5-3.F.1.7 and in Area 4.

With the increase in electronic commerce as a direct consequence of digital storage and distribution of sound recordings there are, at the time of writing, several international and regional initiatives underway which seek to standardise the various copyright elements outlined above in the form of machine-readable codes and numbers (e.g. ISWC, ISAN). It is too early to make provision for these developments in this first edition of The IASA Cataloguing Rules but such developments are being followed closely by IASA and Area 4 of these rules may therefore be substantially altered in the future.

In addition, special rights or restrictions may apply in the case of recordings from traditional societies, relating to ownership of the content by the society. These recordings are not always subject to or protected by national copyright legislation. Often these recordings are unpublished. It is a matter of professional ethics for archives and cataloguing agencies to acknowledge, document and observe such rights or restrictions.

Similarly, access to other unpublished recordings, e.g. oral histories, may also be restricted at the request of the person(s) recorded, and again it is the responsibility of the archive to acknowledge, document and observe any restrictions of this type.

IASA does not condone the practice of making unauthorised, pirated, bootleg, etc., recordings. It is recognised, however, that sometimes an unauthorised or suspected unauthorised recording may be received by an audiovisual archive, e.g., a copy of the original release of Bob Dylan's Great White Wonder double album.When cataloguing such material, any information to be recorded about the illegality of the item should be confirmed to be correct as far as possible, and supported in a cataloguer comment (see 7.B.35), to eliminate any future implication of liability for the archive or cataloguing agency.