National Jukebox

In what seems to be a daunting task of converting over 10,000 (and counting) 78 rpm disks in to digital audio, the Library of Congress has recently released the National Jukebox, a project which lets users listen to music from the beginning of 20th century (free of charge).

The digitized records are part of the Congress Packard Campus for Audio Visual Conservation and include tracks by Italian tenor Enrico Caruso, renditions of classical music by Bach, Prince (no, not that one which you can’t name – this one is Charles Adams Prince), genres spanning from blues to yodeling, and many more musical pieces and artists.

Users can create playlists with their favorite music and

The website also features and interactive rendering of the Victrola Book of Opera, with synopsis of renowned operas, zoomable content, and links to audio from the National Jukebox.

Another interesting feature on the National Jukebox is the Jukebox Day by Day section which allows visitors to search for music recorded on any given day, as the organizers put it:

“See what was recorded on any given day of the year. Check your birthday, an anniversary, or any other month and day of interest.”