About the Archive

The Gramophone Archive

What’s in the Archive?

The Gramophone Archive is a searchable database containing every issue of Gramophone from April 1923 to the latest issue. Despite the complexities of producing a magazine during wartime, Gramophone has never missed an issue and in 1995 added an extra, 13th, issue each year to coincide with the annual Gramophone Awards (this falls in the autumn, usually between the October and November issues).

Every editorial page of Gramophone, and most advert pages, has been scanned and digitized, the contents tagged as articles, reviews and advertisements and the text extracted, so that the entire Archive is searchable – by keyword as well as by date.

Each page is viewable as a digital image of the original alongside a plain text ‘extraction’ of the words employing OCR (see below) that can be searched but also pasted out of the viewing box (though see our copyright policy).

Do I need a special browser?

No, but for the best results a modern browser is recommended. A limited number of features on the site require Flash to be installed.

Will I be able to view the advertisements?

In the majority of issues, yes, but we had to scan a number of early volumes from bound issues that had the adverts removed. At present you can’t search the individual advert pages though they can be viewed as PDFs as part of the complete issue.

What is not available in the Archive?

Certain front covers from the early years and some advert pages were not available to scan. We are taking steps to locate any missing covers and these will be loaded as soon as possible.

Do I have to pay to access the Gramophone Archive?

No, the Gramophone Archive is free to access by anyone, though if you wish to comment or make use of any of the interactive elements of the site, you will have to register.

Can I read the current issue of Gramophone online?

Yes, but you will need to be a subscriber to the paper edition of the magazine to do so and will require your subscriber number (to be found on the bag which contains your copy of the magazine above the address).

Can I save articles from the Gramophone Archive?

Yes. When you view an article, below the image of the page you will see a ‘Save / Print’ link that will allow you to save the image of the article you’re viewing. Please note that this is intended only for personal use (see our Terms & Conditions for more information). If you are interested in using material from the Archive for commercial purposes, you should contact Gramophone’s publisher.

Can I print from the Gramophone Archive?

Yes. When you view an article, below the image of the page you will see a ‘Save / Print’ link that will allow you to print the article you’re viewing. Please note that this is intended only for personal use (see our Terms & Conditions for more information). If you are interested in using material from the Archive for commercial purposes, you should contact Gramophone’s publisher.

What is OCR?

OCR is the acronym for Optical Character Recognition. This is a process in which text is electronically extracted from a scanned image of the printed page. OCR is claimed to be 98% accurate, however mis-readings do occur. Each article has a feature for viewers to report errors (this feature is accessed by clicking the small beige icon to the top right of each paragraph) – we encourage you to submit corrections. These will be incorporated and with your help we can aim to approach 100% accuracy. If you submit a correction the entire article/review will be checked, so you need not list each mistake.

I’m having trouble finding the article I’m looking for. Can you help?

Unfortunately we are unable to help with specific research requirements. However you can find our search tips here.