We are The EMI Archive Trust, one of the world’s largest and most diverse music and technology archives. The EMI Archive Trust is an independent UK registered charity that preserves the history of EMI, whose origins date back to 1897.

Our collections cover an extraordinary journey through British and global history, starting with the early recorded music industry and the role that EMI (originally The Gramophone Company) played in the emerging industry’s development and globalisation, from 1897 through to 1946.

In addition to material relating to EMI’s musical heritage, the Trust also preserves artefacts associated with the company’s significant achievements in electrical engineering,  television, communications including radar, science and medicine, along with the early archives of the HMV music shops and the iconic Abbey Road Studios.

Artefacts include rare and unheard recordings from the first years of the recorded music industry, along with photographs, letters, diaries, sales catalogues and EMI company records. A multi-cultural and global archive, the Trust charts music’s impact on society through recordings, artist and performer histories and the technology, inventions and innovation that underpinned the industry.

Our collections are available, on site in London, to academics, discographers, researchers, our institutional partners and the general public upon request. Onsite filming, photography and interview requests are considered on a case by case basis. The Trust loans artefacts under strict policy guidelines to museums and exhibitions.

Wholly supported by Universal Music Group, the global leader in music-based entertainment, the administration of The Trust is undertaken by a Board of renowned independent Trustees, with pro-bono support from Universal Music Group employees.

The Trustees of the EMI Archive Trust invite you to contact our Heritage Curator, Joanna Hughes, for further information at joanna@emiarchivetrust.org

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