Recording Registry

Each year, the National Recording Registry at the Library of Congress chooses 25 recordings showcasing the range and diversity of American recorded sound heritage in order to increase preservation awareness. The diversity of nominations received highlights the richness of the nation's audio legacy and underscores the importance of assuring the long-term preservation of that legacy for future generations. Currently, there are 600 works/titles on the National Recording Registry.

  • Nominate Everyone is welcome to submit nominations to the National Recording Registry.
  • Complete National Recording Registry Listing Sort recordings by title, artist, year of release, year inducted into the Registry, and genre by using the up and down arrows at the top of each column.
  • Registry Titles with Descriptions and Expanded Essays A full list of all Registry-named recordings with descriptions noting their aesthetic, historic or cultural significance. For many recordings, nationally-known scholars have kindly contributed short essays describing further the work's importance, and are available as indicated.
  • View Registry by Induction Years See all Registry titles in the order of their naming to the Registry, from 2002 to the present.
  • Index of Recording Essays
  • Index of Interviews
  • Inductee's Gallery A gallery of artists, composers, producers and other personnel inducted into the National Recording Registry.
  • Listen to Registry Titles Due to copyright concerns, the Library of Congress is unable to post even sample audio of most Registry selections. Nevertheless, some clips can be heard via the following resources.
  • Personnel Credits Download (XLS format)
  • National Recording Registry Radio Features Since 2006, Ben Manilla Productions and Acompany Studios have produced, for various radio outlets, short documentaries about selected titles from the Library of Congress's National Recording Registry. In 2012, the series won the Peabody Award for Broadcast Excellence.
  • Frequently Asked Questions Frequently asked questions about the National Recording Registry.
  • Past Trivia Questions What was Leonard Cohen talking about when he said, “It’s a good song but too many people sing it”? “Hallelujah” (Jeff Buckley’s 1994 version was added to the Registry in 2013)