National Recording Registry Criteria
The following criteria for the selection of recordings into the National Recording Registry are intended to be read broadly, so that as many recordings as possible will be eligible. Nominations will be referred to the National Recording Preservation Board and, ultimately, the Librarian of Congress, for selection.
- Recordings selected for the National Recording Registry are those that
are culturally, historically or aesthetically important, and/or inform
or reflect life in the United States.
- For the purposes of recording selection, "sound recordings" are
defined as works that result from the fixation of a series of musical,
spoken, or other sounds, but not including the sound component of a moving
image work, unless it is available as an autonomous sound recording or
is the only extant component of the work.
- Recordings may be a single item or group of related items; published
or unpublished; and may contain music, non-music, spoken word, or broadcast
sound.
- Recordings will not be considered for inclusion into the National Recording
Registry if no copy of the recording exists.
- No recording should be denied inclusion into the National Recording
Registry because that recording has already been preserved.
- No recording is eligible for inclusion into the National Recording Registry
until ten years after the recording's creation.
- Nominations to the Recording Registry should be submitted according
to the guidelines provided below.
How to Nominate Recordings to the Registry
Nominations are forwarded to the Librarian of Congress and the National Recording Preservation Board for their consideration.
Nominations must meet the Recording Registry Selection Criteria.
Individuals may submit up to fifty Registry nominations per year. Please include in your nomination as much information about the recording as possible. All nominations should include the recording artist(s), title, and record label name/number for published recordings or a brief but specific description for unpublished and broadcast recordings.
Nominations should also include a very brief justification.
All recordings selected by the Librarian of Congress for inclusion in the Registry will be listed in the Federal Register, as required by law.
Due to the number of submissions anticipated, nominations will not be acknowledged.
We are continuously accepting nominations to the National Recording Registry. For each year's Registry we accept public nominations up to the date we can comfortably compile the results for the National Recording Preservation Board. As this date varies from year to year, nominations which come in after that date are rolled over to the next year. You may submit nominations via mail, fax, or email:
National Recording Preservation Board
c/o Motion Picture, Broadcasting & Recorded Sound Division
Library of Congress
101 Independence Avenue SE
Washington DC 20540-4698
Email: recregistry@loc.gov
Fax: (202) 707-8464
Given contamination-screening delays in USPS mail delivery to Capitol Hill, the submission of nominations by e-mail, FedEx, or UPS is preferred.