The USC Libraries subscribe to two streaming music collections published by Alexander Street Press: African American Music and American Song. Recently, the two collections merged into a single database called AMERICAN SONG.
All user playlists and login information from African American Music have been migrated to the American Song platform, along with course folders. Alexander Street Press provides two options for users of African American Music to locate content quickly using the combined American Song interface:
1. Browse by Genre – there is a broad category called "African American Music," which restricts your results, and which you can narrow further by sub-genre, ensemble, artist, etc.
2. Browse by Album/Track – there is a "restrict results to African American content only" checkbox on the upper right hand corner of both browses.
In addition the new resource includes 1,988 new albums (35,792 recordings) of music from a wide variety of labels, genres, artists, and ensembles to the new American Song. Some highlights:
- Contemporary Folk/Roots music from Appleseed Recordings, including legendary artists/ensembles such as Pete Seeger, Bruce Springsteen, Ani DiFranco, Joan Baez, Sweet Honey in the Rock, Jackson Browne, Judy Collins, Arlo Guthrie, Si Kahn, Christine Lavin, Tom Paxton, Dave Van Ronk, and more.
- Early Rock & Roll, Motown, Doo-Wop, and Boogie-Woogie from King Records, including legendary artists and ensembles such as B.B. King, Percy Sledge, Hank Ballard and the Midnighters, Billy Ward & The Dominoes, Ike & Tina Turner, James Brown, Ray Charles, Roy Orbison, Swan Silvertone Singers, The Coasters, The Five Royales, The Ink Spots, The Platters, The Shirelles, and more.
- Soul, Funk, R&B from Stax Records, including the complete Stax recordings of Isaac Hayes, plus legendary artists such as Shirley Brown, Gus Cannon, Steve Cropper, Al Jackson, Jr., Otis Redding, Mavis Staples, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Dionne Warwick, and more.
- Early recordings from Biograph Records, including Scott Joplin performing ragtime piano classics, and Cole Porter tunes from rare piano rolls.
- Blues and Jazz from Black Swan/Paramount Records, reissues of historic performances recorded on Black Swan Records, the first US record label to be owned and operated by African Americans (later owned by Paramount). Legendary artists include: Ma Rainey, Blind Blake, Johnny Dodds, Charley Patton, Ikey Robinson, Irene Scruggs, and more.
- Gospel, Doo-Wop, R&B from Specialty Records, including artists and ensembles such as Art Neville, Little Richard, Five Blind Boys of Alabama, Percy Mayfield, Soul Stirrers, The Detroiters, The Meditation Singers, and more.
- Disco, Funk, Soul, Blues-Rock from Fantasy Records, including artists and ensembles such as Booker T. & The MGs, Betty Everett, Jesse Fuller, Ruth Brown, The Blackbyrds, The Dramatics, and more.
- Gospel, R&B, and Soul Blues from HighTone Records, including artists and ensembles such as Clarence Gatemouth Brown, Jessie Mae Hemphill, Otis Rush, Otis Spann, Pinetop Perkins, and The Robert Cray Band.
- Reggae, Bluegrass, Rock from Rounder Records, including artists and ensembles such as the Austin Lounge Lizards, Burning Spear, Georgia Sea Island Singers, New Lost City Ramblers, The Heptones, Jelly Roll Morton, Bob Dylan, Lee Scratch Perry, Rosalie Sorrels, Merle Travis, and more.
- Blues and Jazz from Arhoolie Records, including artists such as Lightning Hopkins, Johnny Young, Fred McDowell, Omar Shariff, Mercy Dee, Elizabeth Cotten, Juke Boy Bonner, Bukka White, and more.
- Country, Rockabilly, Honky-Tonk from Nashville recording giant Sun Records, including artists and ensembles such as Jerry Lee Lewis, Ricky Scaggs, Patti Page, The Flatlanders, The Vogues, and more.
- Spirituals and Blues from Testament Records, including artists and ensembles such as Luther Allison, Sleepy Estes, Robert Nighthawk, Mighty Joe Young, the Chicago Blues Band, and more.