York has licenses for Naxos, Music Online, and DRAM, all of which makes up about 130,000 albums. Record labels are in the hundreds, including Albany, Arhoolie, Blue Note, Concord, CRI, Document, EMI Classics, Fantasy, Folkways, Hänssler Classic, Hyperion, JSP, Lyrichord, Mode, Naxos, New World, Prestige, Rounder, Verve, and Virgin Classics (see the music research guide for links to these collections). These collections are for streaming only, however, and do not include the many popular music genres or box set compilations with extensive documentation that are kept in the library. The library houses about 25,000 LPS and 20,000 CDs, including substantial holdings in jazz and popular music, much of which is generally not collected by university libraries. Of particular strength is the collection of jazz and blues recordings, pieced together from various collectors and including numerous out-of-print or small-label records, with the additional value of liner notes and album cover artwork. We have also been building a large collection of heavy metal music through a local collector, encompassing a vast range of subgenres and independent labels.
Music books and scores are located on the fourth floor of Scott Library.