Library of Congress Wants Our Nickels

Just what I need: Another Internet site to feed my seemingly insatiable need to collect and listen to old songs, old speeches, old poetry and – if what I read is true – even old sound effects.

Today it’s the venerable Library of Congress offering its National Jukebox to titillate my eager cochleae.

It’s got whistling:

It’s got yodeling:

It’s got just a minute quantity of about a quarter-century worth of recording, right down to the old-timey static we just don’t get with today’s music, even if we listen to it on the radio.

This isn’t public domain stuff, either – a lot of it is still under copyright by various holders. What the Library of Congress has done is to get a blanket license to allow audio streaming of this stuff, which makes it a boon for people like me who like to listen to the old stuff but either can’t justify buying the tracks or am just out of luck because a lot of this stuff just isn’t in demand these days (which makes me wonder about the copyright, but that’s another post for another day).

Simply put: I know what I’ll be doing this weekend. Lots of listening.