2014 Charleston Library Conference

Libraries’ market share of discovery has been declining rapidly, and in some cases this is directly related to where the content users need and want resides. Music recording delivery models have changed dramatically in the last several years, with more performers and labels offering content directly to consumers via downloads only. Unfortunately, this model is one in which libraries cannot usually legally participate due to licensing agreements (aside from services like Freegal and Hoopla, which don’t meet academic libraries’ needs). Another issue at play is the growing presence of quality content on sites like YouTube, which users are already very familiar and comfortable with. In light of this, user behavior has been evolving to incorporate more and more non-library sources of music discovery and acquisition. Patrons no longer see the library as the sole source for music content (if they ever did). This is due in part to the convenience of online sources and the fact that, while libraries may still need to buy CDs, users would rather have recordings they can listen to anywhere/anytime. So how can academic libraries earnestly address these challenges to continue to meet our mission of building collections and serving our patrons?

The objective of this session is to inform a larger audience beyond music librarians of the issues we all face in building our media collections and in serving our users today. To that end, attendees can expect to learn about: current music delivery models, issues involved in acquiring and delivering online media (primarily audio), information seeking behaviors of music faculty and students (based on my previous studies, including one about faculty attitudes toward YouTube, recently published in CRL), and offer some suggestions for librarians to address the issues. Attendees will be asked to offer their thoughts and possible approaches for moving forward.