Billboard Online Opens Historic Music Archives

Posted on January 17, 1998

Billboard Magazine announced an agreement with Liquid Audio to make Billboard's extensive database of album reviews and audio previews available to music fans worldwide through Billboard Online. The audio portion will be provided in Liquid Audio format by the Music Previews Network, the company that provides Music Previews for Billboard Online.

Billboard is opening its historic album review archives (dating back to 1948 and encompassing tens of thousands of albums in all genres) to users on the Internet at no charge. Previously, access had been available to paid online subscribers only. And, with the exclusive addition of Liquid Audio technology, music fans today can sample and preview album tracks in the highest-quality stereo available on the Internet, using Liquid Audio's Liquid MusicPlayer.

Six decades of fully searchable Billboard album reviews and high-quality Liquid Audio music previews -- from Paula Cole to Elvis Presley, from Jimi Hendrix to Benny Goodman, and Chuck Berry to Yo-Yo Ma -- will be available. Because of the extensive depth and breadth of the historic archives, Billboard and Liquid Audio will begin their alliance by making the most recent album reviews and music samples available to users, and working in reverse chronological order to roll out the remainder of the content.

The Liquid MusicPlayer will be available for free user download via Billboard Online. A publication of BPI Communications Inc., Billboard is the international newsweekly for the music, video and home entertainment industries. Billboard Online is the magazine's ultimate supplement. The site includes exclusive news and features, new-release information, interactive games and more. The member area has searchable article archives, current and archive charts, and other useful industry databases, with year-end chart summaries from as far back as 1946.