How to Find Musicians in Your Family History

Ever wonder if anyone in your family tree was a fiddle player in the Ozarks, a Motown recording artist, or a concert pianist back in the old country? There are ways to search ancestry information to find your musical heritage. Here's how.

Difficulty: Easy

Instructions

1. **Check Copyright Records**
   
   You can search the massive database maintained by the Copyright Office at the Library of Congress. It includes all registered copyrights from 1978 on, but there are many items of earlier vintage, going well back into the 19th century.
   
   You can use the "Set Search Limits" to focus your results on music copyrights, or you can just search the entire database.

2. **Look Up Music Licenses**
   
   The major licensing organizations for musicians, performers, songwriters, and music publishers are ASCAP, BMI, HFA (Harry Fox), and SESAC. Search their databases for your family name, to see if it identifies any musicians in your family tree.

3. **Check the Online Library**
   
   WorldCat is an online mega-catalog of holdings from thousands of libraries around the world. There are more than a billion items in the catalogue, including records, tape recordings, CDs, DVDs, music scores, librettos, and so on.
   
   Search all WorldCat holdings, or use the "Format" option to search for particular items like "Sound Recordings".

Resources

• Links for searching your musical heritage
• More music and family history links