Explore these wonderful online music archives and listen to, and learn about, the music and musicians. You'll be truly amazed at the treasures you'll find!
Syncopated Times: The Red Hot Jazz Archive - Redhotjazz.com was a crown jewel of the early internet. Starting in the mid-1990s it made early jazz music available to the online public. It also hosted thousands of audio files donated by people who were digitizing their 78 RPM record collections, making many obscure recordings available for the first time.
The Alan Lomax Archive - Videos of Alan Lomax field recordings of folk musicians throughout the American South, Southwest, Midwest, and Northeast, as well as in Haiti and the Bahamas. In addition, he recorded thousands more in audio format.
Henry Reed Collection: Fiddle Tunes of the Old Frontier - U.S. Library of Congress collection of traditional fiddle tunes.
Cylinder Audio Archive - Before there were records, sound was recorded on cylinders. Discover and listen to some of the earliest recorded music (and other sounds).
Folkstreams - This is a truly amazing collection of documentary films focusing on the culture, struggles, and arts of unnoticed Americans from many different kinds of communities. The films are driven more by sheer engagement with the people and their traditions, and have unusual subjects, odd lengths, and talkers who do not speak "broadcast English."
Archive of Southeast Asian Music - A range of music from across Southeast Asia.