The Music Library

"Aficionado and avid collector Jonny Trunk reveals the many and varied pleasures of Library Music.” –Grafik

The first edition of The Music Library, published in 2005 and now out of print, brought together the designs of more than 325 record sleeves and relevant information about these rare and elusive albums. Quickly becoming known as the music library "bible," The Music Library represented a valuable reference and also sparked a resurgence of interest in the subject over the last ten years, with many new library labels and recordings coming to light. Library music―also known as source or mood music―was made for use in film, TV, advertising and radio. It was given to TV channels and producers who needed cheap, signature music for animations, advertisements and television programs. Never commercially available for sale to the public, this music was pressed from the 1950s onwards in limited quantities, and then sent directly for use in production houses and radio stations. These LPs were intended for purpose and function, not for pop charts, and as a result they look and sound like nothing else. Without the usual music industry constraints, the record sleeve designers had almost complete freedom of expression, with unprecedented results. This new and expanded edition of The Music Library contains twice the content of the original book, featuring 625 rare sleeves from 230 music library companies of the 1960s, 1970s and early 1980s. The amazing cover designs of over 100 newly discovered library albums are beautifully reproduced (alongside all the sleeves contained in the first book) and accompanied by exhaustive, updated captions.

Aficionado and avid collector Jonny Trunk reveals the many and varied pleasures of Library Music. (Grafik)

Aside from information on hundreds of library music labels, much of the book is given over to reproductions of over 600 sleeves, which makes for a wide-ranging survey of album design over the decades. (The Wire)