The Finnish National Sound Archive

With a scope of approximately 150,000 recordings, the Finnish National Sound Archive functioning in connection with the Music Library is Finland's most extensive public recording archives; beginning in 1901, it contains a substantial quantity of almost all the recordings issued in Finland.

From 1981 onwards the Library has received legal deposit copies of all music and voice recordings produced in Finland. Vintage recordings are acquired for the Finnish National Sound Archive retroactively. The collection contains approximately 80% of Finland¿s sound recordings.

Recordings may not be taken out of the Library, but can be heard in the Music Library by special order. Music recordings are catalogued in the Viola database. Audio books, magazines and other information concerning voice recordings can be found in the Fennica database.

A digitizing project for Finnish recordings is currently underway at the Library. Because portions of the recordings are deteriorating archive materials highly susceptible to damage, their preservation is urgent. The digitizing all Finnish 78 rpm discs is the first task of the "Sounds of a Century" project. Copyright-free digitized recordings can be heard online through the Raita database.

"SOUNDS OF A CENTURY" - digitizing project for Finnish recordings
Further information: kk-musiikki(at)helsinki.fi
Tel. (09) 191 21611
Tarja Lehtinen (09) 191 22727