Europa Discographia

The Europa Discographia initiative was established under the Early Recordings Association (ERA) to build a collaborative digital ecosystem for Europe’s recorded sound heritage. It brings together universities, archives, research centres, and cultural institutions to interconnect Europe’s fragmented discographic catalogues, each built on distinct tools and data models, and to foster multilingual, cross-border research.

About us

The group’s mission is to create a sustainable, scholar-led digital infrastructure that ensures the transparent documentation, interoperability, and preservation of historical sound recordings. Using open-source technologies, it supports metadata harmonisation, ethical data sharing, and the integration of advanced tools for AI-assisted discovery and analysis.

Formed after the ERA 2025 conference, Europa Discographia serves as a framework for interdisciplinary collaboration, innovation, and training in historical discography and sound heritage studies.

 CountryInstitutionTeam
1AustriaPhonogrammarchiv, Austrian Academy of SciencesKerstin Klenke
2The Society for Historical Sound Recordings (GHT)Claus Peter Gallenmiller
3BelgiumMusical Instruments Museum of Brussels (MIM)Fañch Thoraval, Matthieu Thonon 
4CroatiaInstitute of Ethnology and Folklore ResearchNaila Ceribasic, Jelka Vukobratović 
5CzechiaNational Museum in CzechiaFilip Šír
6GermanyBern University of the Arts; Global Piano Roll MeetingsSebastian Bausch
7GreeceMusic Documentation Laboratory, University of IoanninaGeorge Kokkonis
8Kounadis Archive Virtual MuseumLeonardos Kounadis
9AltSolNikos Papazis
10HungaryInstitute for Musicology, HUN-REN Research Centre for the HumanitiesFerenc János Szabó
11ItalyItalian Society for the Study of Historical Sound Recordings (SOFOS)Angelo Pompilio, Cristina Paulon 
12NorwayNorweigan Academy of MusicTore Simonsen
13PortugalNational Sound ArchivePedro Félix
14SerbiaInstitute of Musicology SASAJelena Jovanović, Marija Dumnić Vilotijević, Marija Maglov, Danka Lajić Mihajlović
15SpainInternational University of ValenciaMaria Lourdes Rebollo
16UKThe City of London Phonograph and Gramophone SocietyJonathan Emeruwa
17King's College London Music ArchivesAndrew Hallifax
18Early Recordings Association (ERA), University of SurreyInja Stanovic, Nikos Ordoulidis