> On Tue, Jun 19, 2012 at 4:39 PM, Nelson-Strauss, Brenda [log in to unmask]> wrote:
 
> Along the lines of Matt's post, I've been wondering for
> quite some time if anyone is trying to capture and preserve the many free
> downloads that are offered on (what appears to be) a daily basis. 
> Anyone know of a collector building an archive centered around a particular genre of download-only music (mixtapes, rap, R&B, etc.)?

As a collector of classical recordings, I acquire quite a bit of stuff, much of it historical in nature. I am constantly amazed at what some collectors have recorded and acquired over the years. The internet is the same as was trading tapes years ago. There are sites like unsung composers, where so much can be found. One correspondent of mine has a collection of 15,000 CDRs full of downloaded mp3s.

Just as there is the classical underground, I know of one collector who has collected hundreds of downloads of live jazz performances.

For me, there remains the question of "preserve." I share some of my collection with several sites and email lists. For me, this has become the default for preservation. It is my hope that perhaps some individual might find enough value in something that they would pass it along to someone else. 


Karl