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- About DRAM
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About DRAM
DRAM is a not-for-profit resource providing educational communities with on-demand streaming access to CD-quality audio (192kbps Mp4), complete original liner notes and essays from independent record labels and sound archives. Continuing in the tradition of DRAM's sister company New World Records, our primary focus is the preservation and dissemination of important recordings that have been neglected by the commercial marketplace, recordings that may otherwise become lost or forgotten.
The touchstone of the DRAM collection is the diverse catalogue of American music represented by the New World Records and CRI label(s), which merged in 2007. From folk to opera, Native American to jazz, 19th century classical to early rock, musical theater, contemporary, electronic and beyond, New World has served composers, artists, students and the general public since its inception in 1975 with a grant from the Rockefeller Foundation. The acquisiton of CRI deepened its catalog of contemporary American compositon and restored to circulation recordings that had, in some cases, been out of print for decades.
DRAM also includes music from a growing number of recording labels and archives. More than 4,000 albums' worth of recordings from a distinctive set of 42 independent labels and archives are now available, with new content being continuously added. In the future, alliances with other major and independent labels and archival sources will be crucial to enhancing DRAM's role of serving the needs of serious music scholars.
DRAM is available to anyone at a participating university, college or public library. At this time requests for individual access are being accepted through Sound American, an online quarterly publication of Anthology of Recorded Music, Inc.
DRAM does not limit the number of users at any one time, and offers subscribers unlimited access to all its contents from either on or off-campus locations. DRAM observes all legal and industry mandated copyright and artist royalties.
DRAM has been made possible with an initial grant from the Robert Sterling Clark Foundation and by substantial ongoing support from The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, as well as all of DRAM's participating institutions.
For more information on DRAM's fee structure, click here.
Please contact us with additional questions and comments at answers@dramonline.org.
