National Recording Registry - Selection Criteria

Selection Criteria

The criteria for selection are as follows:

• Recordings selected for the National Recording Registry are those that are culturally, historically or aesthetically important, and/or inform or reflect life in the United States.
• For the purposes of recording selection, "sound recordings" are defined as works that result from the fixation of a series of musical, spoken, or other sounds, but not including the sound component of a moving image work, unless it is available as an autonomous sound recording or is the only extant component of the work.
• Recordings may be a single item or group of related items; published or unpublished; and may contain music, non-music, spoken word, or broadcast sound.
• Recordings will not be considered for inclusion into the National Recording Registry if no copy of the recording exists.
• No recording should be denied inclusion into the National Recording Registry because that recording has already been preserved.
• No recording is eligible for inclusion into the National Recording Registry until ten years after the recording's creation.