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Institute of Popular Music Archive

The Institute of Popular Music (IPM) Archive comprises audiovisual, print and manuscript material collected by the Institute since its establishment in 1988.

The IPM Archive spans a century of popular music, a variety of formats and a broad range of musical genres and traditions. In addition to a large music press collection, a vinyl collection and a gramophone record collection, the IPM Archive includes discrete collections created and/or accumulated by individual people or organisations.

At over 800 boxes and 80,000 vinyl records in size, the IPM Archive is extensive. 

Institute of Popular Music archive

Collections Care

In 2023 care of the IPM Archive passed to the University's Special Collections & Archives team, working in conjunction with IPM and the Department of Music. The IPM Archive is housed in specialist storage and preservation measures are in place to safeguard its future.

Cataloguing is a work in progress. While detailed lists are being created broad descriptions of content will be added to this page.

Enquiries and Access

The IPM Archive is available to all.

In-person access is available through pre-booked appointments in the Special Collections & Archives Reading Room. Up to six boxes can be requested per appointment slot. Please note that since the IPM Archive is housed in an off-site store we will need advance notice of at least 10 working days in order to retrieve material.

The IPM Archive is not digitised. A curated selection of items from the IPM Archive is showcased in the exhibition  ‘Greatest Hits’. on our digital platform.

To make an enquiry, please email: scastaff@liverpool.ac.uk. The IPM Archivist or another member of the Special Collections & Archives team will aim to respond within ten working days. Please be as specific as possible in your query. Details such as the name(s) of the collection(s) you are interested in and key names, dates, time periods and/or musical genres are useful for identifying material of potential relevance.

Summary information

Each of the boxes below provides summary information about a collection in the IPM Archive. The broad descriptions give an overview of the content, size and date range of each collection. More detailed information will be added as progress is made.

  • The Robert Shelton Collection

    Material created and collected by United States journalist Robert Shelton (1926 – 1995) relating in particular to folk music and Bob Dylan. 1950s – 2000s. 71 boxes.

  • The Robert Pring-Mill Collection

    Material created and collected by British academic Robert Pring-Mill (1924 – 2005) relating to Latin American literature and song. 1960s – 2000s. 19 boxes.

  • The Mikis Theodorakis Collection

    Printed scores and CDs of works by Greek composer and lyricist Mikis Theodorakis. (1925 – 2021). 1970s – 2000s. 4 boxes.

  • The Music Press Collection

    Magazines and newspapers covering a wide range of musical genres. 1950s – 2010s. c. 240 boxes (82 titles).

  • The 12” Vinyl Collection

    Album-length vinyl records spanning a wide range of musical traditions, genres, countries and languages. c.1960s – c.2000s. c. 50,000.

  • The Karl Dallas Collection

    Material created and collected by British journalist Karl Dallas (1931 – 2016) relating in particular to folk music. 1950s – 2000s. 88 boxes.

  • The 7” Vinyl Collection

    Single-length vinyl records. c.1960s – c.2000s. c. 50,000.

  • The Eddie Calvert Collection

    Papers of British musician Eddie Calvert (1922 – 1978, known as “the man with the golden trumpet”. 1950s – 1970s. 11 boxes.

  • The Gramophone Record Collection

    78rpm records, mostly shellac, also known as phonograph records. c. 1930s – 1950s. c. 5000.

  • The UK Music Collection

    Reports, publications and papers created and accumulated by UK Music relating to the music industry. c. 1996 – c. 2022. c. 15 boxes.

  • The IASPM Collection

    Papers and publications of the International Association for the Study of Popular Music (IASPM). 1980s – 2000s. 4 boxes.