Information provided by the City of Seattle

Beginning Monday, Aug. 8, Seattleites can download free local music thanks to The Seattle Public Library's new online Seattle music collection called PlayBack. Music from 50 local artists are now available at playback.spl.org, including Tomo Nakayama, Fly Moon Royalty, The Not-Its! and more. Anyone can stream the albums for free, and Library cardholders can download and keep any music in the PlayBack collection.

To celebrate the artists in this new collection, the Library will host a free launch party from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 25 at the Columbia City Theater, 4916 Rainier Ave S. There will be live music by PlayBack artists Sun Breaks and Fly Moon Royalty. Between bands, KEXP’s DJ El Toro will play music by other artists from the PlayBack collection. There will also be a cash bar. Doors open at 5:30 p.m. and early arrival is encouraged. The event is for adults ages 21 and up.

PlayBack is open to all Seattle-area musicians who record or perform in the city of Seattle and have had an album produced within the last five years. PlayBack is intended to be an ever-expanding collection of Seattle's musical culture, and a total of 100 new albums will be available each year through the Library's catalog.
The jury for the first submission period included:
· Tim Lennon, executive director of the Vera Project and music commissioner for the city of Seattle
· Larry Mizell, KEXP DJ, host of Street Sounds, digital media specialist for the Seattle Office of Arts and

Culture and columnist for The Stranger
· Liz Riley Tollefson, co-founder of Three Imaginary Girls
· Kreg Hasegawa, adult services librarian at The Seattle Public Library
· Meira Jough, program coordinator at The Seattle Public Library

A second submission period will open later this year. More information will be posted on PlayBack's Information for Artists page.

Funding for PlayBack has been made possible with the generous support of The Seattle Public Library Foundation.

For more information, visit www.spl.org/playback, call 206-386-4636 or Ask a Librarian.