Local tunes on tap at library
Capital City Records puts focus on tunes with Edmonton roots
The Edmonton Public Library will unveil its innovative music sharing website Wednesday, with free offerings from 46 local performers.
The library’s new site, Capital City Records (capitalcityrecords.ca), allows music fans the chance to download or stream music that has an Edmonton connection, make playlists, browse digitized gig posters and share memories about defunct venues. It’s the first library-led music database in Canada and was modelled after similar services in Iowa City, Iowa, and Madison, Wisc.
Initial submissions include Edmonton institutions like Shout Out Out Out Out, Souljah Fyah and Wilfred N, as well as country-- twinged singer-songwriters Mark Davis, Amy van Keeken and Cayley Thomas. Downloading is free for members, streaming free for everyone.
“The web really provides libraries with opportunities to do new things,” said Alex Carruthers, the EPL’s digital public spaces librarian. “Music in Edmonton is really great. It means a lot to people. It seemed like the exact right community to get started at.”
Carruthers, who pitched the idea in 2013 as an intern, said 130 submissions came in for the first 50 spots. Only 46 will be offered Wednesday, since four artists haven’t yet responded.
The first round of album selections were selected by a panel of jurors, including Journal music writer Sandra Sperounes. Participating musicians receive honorariums of $100 to $200, depending on album length, for a licence agreement to make their album available for at least two years. Each featured artist also receives a biography and links to their website.
Carruthers has big ambitions for the site. New calls for musical submissions will be placed every three months, with continual reviews of the collection to ensure it’s representative. The library is budgeting for 100 honorariums a year, but will potentially have more music if artists waive fees or simply allow their music to remain.
In the future, visitors will be able to visualize and map local music history, based on venue posters and other data collected through the project. Content from Dead Venues, which documents the city’s defunct music venues, will eventually migrate to the site.