ABSTRACT
This chapter examines the efflorescence of popular work devoted to music history, on and offline, with respect to the archival turn. Across platforms, online practice generally emulates the conventions of popular music in terms of its organisation and understanding. There are sites dedicated to specific artists and groups, for instance, those whose activities are long past, perhaps due to the death of key individuals. The chapter also explores the online practice in particular that constitutes a mode of democratic community archiving. It describes some of its dimensions, drawing in particular on the wealth of facebook groups and pages. The acme of the music archive lies in the warehouses and vaults of labels, publishers, distributors and artists themselves, a resource intended to generate a profit. The purpose of this archive is fully realised in the platforms and services such as Spotify or the Apple iTunes Store and the long-tail economic model.
