has 3 million recordings, but only 40,000 are commercial music multitracks.
Tape technology is seeing a revival. New old-stock Ampex 456 is trading for $500 a reel. Young engineers are learning to align analog machines. The Largest Multitrack Music Collection Ever- -...
Furthermore, digital formats become obsolete every decade (DAT, ADAT, DCC). The collection includes 12,000 ADAT tapes that require a specific Alesis machine last manufactured in 2003. They have four machines left. When those break, the data on those tapes is gone forever. You cannot visit. If you attempted to find the facility, you would find a nondescript industrial park with no signage. Security is provided by former military contractors. The external power grid is backed by three tier-4 diesel generators and a solar array. has 3 million recordings, but only 40,000 are
Owning the physical tape does not always grant the right to release the music. Most of the collection is under "pending rights reversion." For example, ABKCO holds the physical multitracks for early Rolling Stones material, but the rights to release those recordings are negotiated separately with the artists' estates. Young engineers are learning to align analog machines
This is a race against entropy. At current transfer speeds (one reel = 3 hours of real-time playback), it will take the archive to digitize everything they currently own. The Legal Minefield One might ask: If this is the largest collection, why haven't we heard all the outtakes?
For inquiries regarding licensing or research access to the collection, no you cannot. Please enjoy the commercial releases.