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Save the Sound: Analog Libraries Going Digital

Reclaim Media converts 16,000 vinyl records for public radio station to digital, launches campaign to convert listener-supported libraries at 95% less cost.

Seattle, WA, November 5, 2008 - Demonstrating their new audio digitizing factory, start-up Reclaim Media crossed the first milestone in its mission to "Save the Sound" by archiving 16,000 vinyl records for KCRW, a public radio station in Santa Monica, CA. The entire project was completed in less than a year. With the breadth of their music library at their digital fingertips, KCRW DJs can now expose their listeners to a wider musical variety than any for-profit corporate station.

Reclaim Media’s factory uses modified "robot" turntables, file servers and barcode scanners to enable a single operator to digitize hundreds of vinyl records per day. Digital cameras capture all handwritten and printed surfaces as well to make the digital archive as thorough as possible. Applying factory automation to what was once an artisanal niche industry let Reclaim Media digitize KCRW's records at 95% less cost and in 90% less time than the runner up bidder, an operation in Hollywood.

"We calculated that it would take us nine years to hire someone to do this in-house. Reclaim Media had a much more acceptable figure. The first 7,500 records took them roughly three months," said Ron Gonzales, Systems Administrator, KCRW.

Beyond public radio, affordable digitization offers a unique opportunity to improve services while cutting costs in other fields as well. Millions of musical, historical, legal and religious recordings remain locked away in basements, libraries and government storehouses. Now they can be made searchable and available to enthusiasts, historians, researchers and lawmakers worldwide.

"Ninety-nine percent of humankind’s musical and oral history doesn't come up on iTunes or Google, but we're helping to fix that. We're still discovering the many ways this new capability will be helpful, both for us right away and our grandkids down the road," said Ryan Purcell, Senior Business Development, Reclaim Media.

Reclaim Media is also able to set up satellite factories at their customers' locations. The ability to work on-site is the keystone of their proposal to digitize 188,000 vinyl records for CKUA in Edmonton, Canada and avoid shuttling such a large collection out of the country and across national borders.

To show their commitment to assisting public radio, Reclaim Media offers a 10% in-kind donation of services to the public radio station of each customer’s choice for orders placed on their website www.ReclaimMedia.com.

Reclaim Media was founded in 2002 to deliver analog to digital audio conversion services quickly and affordably through custom process automation. Their website, www.ReclaimMedia.com, offers and describes a range of services for the conversion of a single record or tape to an entire library, along with information about gift certificates and related public radio station articles.

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If you’d like more information about this topic, or to schedule an interview with Lena Baisden, Director of Public Relations, please call Reclaim Media at (866) 669-6496 or email Lena directly at Lena@ReclaimMedia.com.

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