At The GRAMMY® Professional Development Event Entitled "Protecting Your Assets!" Expert Panelists Offer Practical Solutions For Digital Media Archiving As part of its ongoing initiative to share technology leaders' experience throughout the music community, the The Recording Academy® Producers & Engineers Wing hosted a panel discussion for attendees of the 2008 International Folk Alliance Conference. The event, which was entitled "Protecting Your Assets!," teamed Nashville-based P&E Wing members with noted Memphis archival experts to explore the archiving and preservation challenges facing the music industry in today's digital environment. After first highlighting the economic impact of lost or improperly stored master recordings, the panelists proceeded to provide the audience with a practical overview of the issues surrounding the protection of master recordings and other digital audio data and metadata. Bil VornDick, producer/engineer for artists including Alison Krauss, Béla Fleck and Doc Watson, served as moderator. He led panelists Barry Cardinael of Iron Mountain Film & Sound Archives, Carol Drake of the Stax Museum of American Soul Music, John Hubbell of the B.B. King Museum and John Spencer of BMS/Chace through a wide-ranging conversation emphasizing the potential economic and cultural losses facing the industry today, current best technical practices for data archiving, and the most efficient ways to navigate the rapidly evolving world of media storage. Also discussed during the presentation was the recently revised joint Audio Engineering Society (AES)/P&E Wing technical white paper entitled "Recommendation for Delivery of Recorded Music Projects." "It's a digital world--do you know where your musical assets are?" VornDick asked, underscoring the state of a complex issue that often has as many questions as answers. "Today, both hardware and software become obsolete at a speed that was inconceivable just a few years ago. The fact is, without proper storage, metadata and migration, your priceless assets are likely to be relegated to the digital trash heap. This is one of the reasons many of us came together under the auspices of the P&E Wing and the AES to create 'Recommendation for Delivery of Recorded Music Projects.' It's a guideline for navigating the current treacherous waters of media storage and protecting your music and, of course, your future income from that music." Currently, more than 6,000 professionals comprise the Producers & Engineers Wing, which was established for producers, engineers, remixers, manufacturers, technologists, and other related creative and technical professionals in the recording community. This organized voice for the recording community addresses issues that affect the craft of recorded music, while ensuring its role in the development of new technologies, recording and mastering recommendations, and archiving and preservation initiatives. For more information, please visit www.producersandengineers.com. Established in 1957, The Recording Academy is an organization of musicians, producers, engineers and recording professionals that is dedicated to improving the cultural condition and quality of life for music and its makers. Internationally known for the GRAMMY Awards -- the preeminent peer-recognized award for musical excellence and the most credible brand in music -- The Recording Academy is responsible for groundbreaking professional development, cultural enrichment, advocacy, education and human services programs. In its 50th year, The Academy continues to focus on its mission of recognizing musical excellence, advocating for the well-being of music makers and ensuring music remains an indelible part of our culture. For more information about The Academy, please visit www.grammy.com.

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