Ever wonder how to spell Tucumcari, Tohatchapee or Tonopah?
Need to locate a copy of the Ethel Merman Disco Album?
Looking for lost cover art or a master tape to complete that re-issue?
And who is that famous songwriter at the piano in Alfred Hitchcock’s Rear Window?
The answers to these and many other questions can be found at the ARChive of Contemporary Music, the largest collection of popular music in America.
Available services include; record jacket and flat surface scanning, full text book and publication scanning, providing label copy, publishing information, sample searches, creating discographies, locating recordings and master tapes, loaning recordings, digitizing audio, factchecking, proofreading, appraisals (for materials not donated to us), referral services, database/metadata building and sale, exhibition planning and loans, cataloging and organizing collections, due diligence searches, expert testimony and any research/contact information concerning a company, artist or recording.
Simple informational search requests are free for everyone.You know, things like who wrote that song, or do you have the phone number for a record company — in general any info or data that is readily available in our many databases.
Anyone can hire the ARC for more detailed research purposes. All work is performed by our staff.
Research services are $50 per hour, discounted for Friends of the ARC. Contact us to make sure we can help. Here is a list of research clients and accomplishments, major research projects and film work over the years.
Consulting Services
ARC has acted as consultants and advisers on many large projects, including the first major music online site + CD-ROM, Music Central, for Microsoft. ARC located and scanned more than 800 record covers and labels for the opening of the new Grammy Hall or Fame in Santa Monica, CA, and has advised on a variety of films. Rates are $150 an hour or negotiated on a project-by-project basis. Here’s a list of our clients and accomplishments.
Become a Research Member
Research Memberships are available to the working press and the entertainment industry. As a professional who needs quick access to information about popular music, please take advantage of this great resource and become a Research Member. We have been working on films, providing accurate lyrics, doing due diligence legal searches and scanning rare record covers for more than 20 years. Jobs run from finding the lyrics for “I Got You Babe” for Madonna to scanning hundreds of record covers covers and labels for the opening of the Jazz Hall of Fame in New York.
Research Memberships are $500 annually. Research services are offered at the reduced rate of $35 per hour. The non-Research Member rate is normally $50/hour. Large projects are pro-rated, depending on the tasks. Simple informational research requests are free.
Research Memberships help us to purchase reference materials & historic sound recordings, maintain our print clippings file & a computer data base of industry contacts and recordings. If you only use the ARC once a year, it’s a great way to write us into your budget and support our valuable work.