ProMusicDB hopes to find the answer with the Internet Archive, AFM Local 47, & the Wrecking Crew

by Christy Crowl

With all the media focus on how musicians and artists are not being fairly compensated for their work in the digital age, it is pretty easy to not ask the question on perhaps an even bigger long-term issue:  “How will musicians’ credits and history stand the test of Digital Time”?

Who is responsible in the digital domain for maintaining and archiving authenticated credits for musicians’ live and recorded performances, so that their story in history is told correctly? What about all the professional musicians’ websites – what entity is responsible for archiving the “history” on them, or making sure somewhere a digital copy is being kept in the case the site is no longer hosted or maintained?

These are questions that ProMusicDB, the Professional Music Database, is hoping to answer for the professional music community, in partnership with The Wrecking Crew, AFM Local 47, and the Internet Archive.

Utilizing technology developed by the Internet Archive primarily for the University Community, ProMusicDB launched its first trial today focusing on how to set the standard for preserving a professional musicians’ digital presence.

The technology is being used in this trial case to create collection of the Wrecking Crew websites, social media pages (Facebook and Twitter), organizational websites, and The Wrecking Crew pages on digital database sites (AllMusic, IMDB, and Wikipedia) – the combination of which preserves The Wrecking Crew’s digital imprint in ProMusicDB.

The Tedesco family has done a great service to the professional music community by raising awareness in the public eye of what professional musicians behind the scenes do and they have presented in film, social media, and personal archives how much session musicians have contributed to popular culture. What Denny and Damon Tedesco have started by preserving the legacy of The Wrecking Crew should be built upon, and used to create a standard to preserve others who have followed their path. We are grateful for the opportunity to do something for the Wrecking Crew that ensures their legacy, as well as all musicians, will stand the test of digital time.

Please look for “The Wrecking Crew” film on Netflix, or purchase their DVD/BluRay on http://wreckingcrewfilm.com.

ProMusicDB founder Christy Crowl is a member of AFM Local 47. Visit ProMusicDB.org for more information or contact Christy at christy@promusicdb.org.