Dating old music albums?

[Mark S. Ogilvie]

Anyone have advice on how to do this? Now that I can convert the albums I have to digital files I'd like to date them as well, and few of them have dates. Two I grabbed at random are "Ted Nash, the music of Frank Comstock from Starlite records" and "Schubert unfinished symphony, No. 8 in B minor by the Boston Symphony Orchestra, Serge Koussevitzky, Conductor", both 33 but I've got plenty of 78;s too. I'd guess they date from the 1940's to the 1950's but I'm not sure.

[Mark Sullivan (Vertiginous Mod)]

Phonograph records didn't fall under copyright until 1971 (the ℗ symbol stands for Phonogram). But discographies will often list both the recording date and the original issue date. The biggest general online discography I know of is www.discogs.com; www.allmusic.com is another place. It's possible you'll be able to find specialized discographies, e.g. for the Boston Symphony Orchestra.

[ClarkKent_DC]

You also may find information about specific albums in Wikipedia, but it's hit or miss -- whether the album is even there, or if it is, how much detail is included

[Mark S. Ogilvie]

So far some of them have been easy, an old Pink Floyd and Mama Cass album.