Subject Guide: Music: Award-winners

Music has the ability to inspire, to bring joy to those who hear it and those who create it. It can convey great emotion in just a few powerful notes. There is, perhaps, no greater expression of the human spirit. For this reason, the Grawemeyer Award for Music Composition honors those who bring beauty and inspiration into the world.

The University of Louisville offers an international prize in recognition of outstanding achievement by a living composer in a large musical genre: choral, orchestral, chamber, electronic, song-cycle, dance, opera, musical theater, extended solo work and more. The award will be granted for a work premiered during the five-year period prior to the award deadline.

Click Grawemeyer Award for more information about it.

2024  Missa Supratext by Aleksandra Vrebalov
2023  Litanies by Julian Anderson
2022  Orlando by Olga Neuwirth
2021  A thousand Mountains, a million streams by Lei Liang
2020  No award because of pandemic
2019  Nomaden by Joel Bons
2018  L'Isola della citta : for violin, cello, piano and orchestra by Bent Sorensen
2017  Play by Andrew Norman
2016  Let me tell you : for soprano and orchestra by Hans Abrahamsen
2015  In-Schrift 2 : für Orchester by Wolfgang Rihm
2014  On the guarding of the heart by Djuro Zivkovic
2013  Up-close : for solo cello, string ensemble and film by Michel van der Aa
2011  La Commedia : an opera by Louis Andriessen
2010  Spheres by York Hoeller
2009  The lost art of letter writing by Brett Dean
2008  Neruda songs : for mezzo-soprano and piano by Peter Lieberson
2007  Static : for flute, clarinet in B♭, violin, cello, and piano by Sebastian Currier
2006  Concertante, op. 42 by György Kurtág
2005  Violin concerto no. 2 by George Tsontakis
2004  Concerto for violin and orchestra by Unsuk Chin
2003  L'amour de loin : opera in five acts by Kaija Saariaho
2002  Colored field by Aaron Jay Kernis
2001  Sur incises : pour trois pianos, trois harpes et trois percussions-claviers : (1996, 1998) by Pierre Boulez
2000  Asyla : for large orchestra, op. 17 (1997) by Thomas Ades
1999  Not awarded
1998  Marco Polo by Tan Dun
1997  Ad ora incerta : four orchestral songs from Primo Levi : 1994 by Simon Bainbridge
1996  Double concerto for violin, cello, and orchestra by Ivan Tcherepnin
1995  Violin concerto : for violin and orchestra by John Adams
1994  Fantasma/Cantos for clarinet and orchestra by Toru Takemitsu
1993  Concerto for violoncello and orchestra by Karel Husa
1992  Adagio : 4. Sinfonie für grosses Orchester (1989) by Krzysztof Penderecki
1991  Symphony no. 1 by John Corigliano
1990  Silver ladders by Joan Tower
1989  Inner voices : for full orchestra by Chinary Ung
1988  Not Awarded
1987  The mask of Orpheus by Harrison Birtwistle
1986  Études pour piano, premier livre (1985) by Gyorgy Ligeti
1985  Symphony no. 3 by Witold Lutosławski

Association of American Publishers PROSE Award
Music and the Performing Arts

Click Association of American Publishers for more information about the sponsors of this award.

2024  On Music Theory, and Making Music More Welcoming for Everyone by Philip Ewell
2023  Black Ephemera: The Crisis and Challenge of the Musical Archive by Mark Anthony Neal
2022  Liner notes for the revolution : the intellectual life of Black feminist sound by Daphne A. Brooks
2021  Switched on pop : how popular music works, and why it matters by Nate Sloan and Charlie Harding
2020  Decomposed : the political ecology of music by Kyle Devine
2019  Guillaume Du Fay : the life and works by Alejandro Planchart
2018  The politics of opera : a history from Monteverdi to Mozart by Mitchell Cohen; When genres collide : Down Beat, Rolling Stone, and the struggle between jazz and rock by Matt Brennan (honorable mention)
2017  Mozart's music of friends : social interplay in the chamber works by Edward Klorman; a pure solar world : Sun Ra and the birth of Afrofuturism by Paul Youngquist (honorable mention)
2016  Listening to war : sound, music, trauma, and survival in wartime Iraq by J. Martin Daughtry; Music and the exotic from the Renaissance to Mozart by Ralph P. Locke (honorable mention); The guitar in Tudor England : a social and musical history by Christopher Page (honorable mention)
2015  Music and the making of modern science by Peter Pesic; In tune : Charley Patton, Jimmie Rodgers, and the roots of American music by Ben Wynne (honorable mention)
2012  Modernist mysteries : Perséphone by Tamara Levitz
2011  Music for silenced voices : Shostakovich and his fifteen quartets by Wendy Lesser
2010  Making the scene : a history of stage design and technology in Europe and the United States by Oscar G. Brockett, Margaret Mitchell, & Linda Hardberger; Duke Ellington's America by Harvey G. Cohen (honorable mention)
2009  Digging : the Afro-American soul of American classical music by Amiri Baraka; Sound and space in Renaissance Venice by Deborah Howard and Laura Moretti (honorable mention)
2008  All you have to do is listen : music from the inside out by Rob Kapilow; Being watched : Yvonne Rainer and the 1960s by Carrie Lambert-Beatty (honorable mention); A power stronger than itself : the AACM and American experimental music by George E. Lewis (honorable mention)
2007  Digital performance : a history of new media in theater, dance, performance art, and installation by Steve Dixon ; with contributions by Barry Smith

Click Association for Recorded Sound Collections (ARSC) for more information about the sponsor of these awards.

2023

Best historical research in recorded rock and popular music
Best history:   Chuck Berry: An American Life by R. J. Smith
Best discography:  Dean Martin: A Discography by Bernard H. Thorpe

Best historical research in recorded jazz
Best History:  Jazz á la Creole: French Creole Music and the Birth of Jazz by Caroline Vézina  

Best historical research in recorded country, folk, roots or world music
Best history:  Sixteen Tons: The Merle Travis Story by Merle Travis and Deke Dickerson
Best discography:  Hank Williams' Discography: The Enhanced Version by Ed Guy

Best historical research in recorded blues, gospel, hip hop, soul, or R&B
Best history:  Wasn't That a Mighty Day: African American Blues and Gospel Songs on Disaster by Luigi Monge
Best discography:  Recorded Solo Concert Spirituals, 1916-2022 by Randye Jones

Best historical research in recorded classical music
Best History:  The Voice of the Century: The Culture of Italian Bel Canto in Luisa Tetrazzini's Recorded Interpretations by Massimo Zicari
Best discography:  Zabelle Panosian: I Am Servant of Your Voice by Ian Nagoski, Harry Kezelian and Harout Arakelian

Best historical research on record labels or general recording topics
Best History:  Record Store Day: The Most Improbable Comeback of the 21st Century by Larry Jaffee

2022

Best historical research in recorded rock and soul music
Best history:  Prince and the Parade and Sign o' the times era studio sessions : 1985 and 1986 by Duane Tudahl
Certificate of Merit:  My melancholy baby : the first ballads of the Great American Songbook, 1902-1913 by Michael G. Garber
Certificate of Merit:  Cream : a people's history by Richard Houghton
Certificate of Merit:  Dead man's curve : the rock 'n' roll life of Jan Berry by Mark A. Moore
Certificate of Merit:  Atomic tunes : the Cold War in American and British popular music by Tim and Joanna Smolko

Best historical research in recorded jazz
Best History:  Soundscapes of liberation : African American music in postwar France by Celeste Day Moore
Certificate of Merit:  The lady swings : memoirs of a jazz drummer by Dottie Dodgion and Wayne Enstice
Certificate of Merit:  Texas jazz singer : Louise Tobin in the golden age of swing and beyond by Kevin Mooney
Certificate of Merit:  Soundtrack to a movement : African American Islam, jazz, and Black internationalism by Richard Brent Turner

Best historical research in recorded country, folk, roots or world music
Best history:  An American singing heritage : songs from the British-Irish-American oral tradition as recorded in the early twentieth century, edited by Norm Cohen, Carson Cohen and Anne Dhu McLucas
Certificate of merit:  Czech songs in Texas by Frances Barton and John K. Novak
Certificate of Merit:  Colm Ó Caodháin : an Irish singer and his world by Ríonach uí Ógáin

Best historical research in recorded blues, gospel, hip hop, soul, or R&B
Best history:  Homer Rodeheaver and the rise of the gospel music industry by Kevin Mungons and Douglas Yeo
Best discography:  Smithsonian anthology of hip hop and rap, edited by Cey Adams
Certificate of merit:  R&B in D.C. 1940-1960 by Jay Bruder
Certificate of merit:  Peace be still : how James Cleveland and the Angelic Choir created a gospel classic
by Robert M. Marovich
Certificate of merit:  Love factory : the history of Holland Dozier Holland by Howard Priestley

Best historical research in recorded classical music
Best History:  Recording the classical guitar by Mark Marrington
Best discography:  Gigli : the master tenor by Colin Bain
Certificate of Merit:  José Serebrier : portraits of the maestro by Michael Faure
Certificate of Merit:  Jean Sibelius : life, music, silence by Daniel M. Grimley

Best historical research on general recording topics
Best History:  Orlando R. Marsh : Chicago's pioneer of electrical recording by Richard Raichelson
Best Discography:  “Eritis mihi testes” : sound recordings of the 1938 International Eucharistic Congress/„Eritis mihi testes” Az 1938-as budapesti Nemzetközi Eucharisztikus Kongresszus hangfelvételei by Ferenc János Szabó and Marietta B. Kaskötő, trans. Zsófia Hutai
Certificate of Merit:  Liner notes for the revolution : the intellectual life of Black feminist sound by Daphne A. Brooks
Certificate of Merit:  Mixtape nostalgia : culture, memory, and representation by Jehnie I. Burns
Certificate of Merit:  Contributions to the history of the record industry, vol. 11; Papers from the Shanghai Conference 28-29, 2019 by Du Jun Min and Pekka Gronow
Certificate of Merit:  Inventing the recording : the phonograph and national culture in Spain, 1877-1914 by Eva Morena Rodríguez

Best historical research on record labels
Best history:  It ain't retro : Daptone Records and the 21st-century soul revolution by Jessica Lipsky
Best discography:  The famous Charisma discography, 2nd ed. by Mark Jones
Certificate of merit:  Columbia 15000-D series discography (1924-1933) : familiar tunes old & new by Cary Ginell
Certificate of merit:  Etching the voice : Emile Berliner and the first commercial gramophone discs, 1889-1895 by Stephan Puille, David Giovannoni and Richard Martin

2021
Best historical research in recorded rock and soul music
Best history:  A new day yesterday : UK progressive rock and the 1970s by Mike Barnes
Certificate of Merit:  Knock! Knock! Knock! On wood : my life in soul by Eddie Floyd and Tony Fletcher
Certificate of Merit: Heart full of soul : Keith Relf of the Yardbirds by David French
Certificate of Merit:  All my yesterdays : the autobiography of Steve Howe by Steve Howe
Certificate of Merit:  Black diamond queens : African American women and rock and roll by Maureen Mahon
Certificate of Merit:  Rock 'n' roll fantasy : the musical journey of Free and Bad Company by David Roberts
Certificate of Merit:  Ted Templeman : a platinum producer's life in music by Ted Templeman, as told to Greg Renoff

Best historical research in recorded popular music
Best History:  Eubie Blake : rags, rhythm, and race by Richard Carlin and Ken Bloom
Best Discography:  The Paul McCartney catalog : a complete annotated discography of solo works, 1967-2019 by Ted Montgomery
Certificate of Merit:  God Rock Inc. : the business of niche music by Andrew Mall
Certificate of Merit:  Cornstars : rube music in swing time : the rise and fall of Freddie Fisher and his Schnickelfritz Band, Stan Fritts and his Korn Kobblers, and the hillbilly, cornball, novelty jazz of the 1930s, 40s, 50s by Jack Norton
Certificate of Merit:  Nat Brusiloff and his orchestra : out of a clear blue sky (1930-1934) by David Sager

Best historical research in recorded jazz
Best History:  Heart full of rhythm : the big band years of Louis Armstrong by Ricky Riccardi
Certificate of Merit:  Better days will come again : the life of Arthur Briggs, jazz genius of Harlem, Paris, and a nazi prison camp by Travis Atria
Certificate of Merit:  Straighten up and fly right : life and music of Nat King Cole by Will Friedwald
Certificate of Merit:  This is bop : Jon Hendricks and the art of vocal jazz by Peter Jones
Certificate of Merit: "Playing for the King: Ziggy Elman, Benny Goodman, and 1930s Klezmer Swing,” Jazz and Culture 3/1 (2020): 22-44 by Sarah Caissie Provost
Certificate of Merit:  Keith Jarrett : a biography by Wolfgang Sandner ; translated by Chris Jarrett
Certificate of Merit:  Sun Ra's Chicago : Afrofuturism and the city by William Sites

Best historical research in recorded roots or country music
Best history:  The music of The Statler Brothers : an anthology by Don Reid
Best discography:  The Texas blues of Smokey Hogg by Guido van Rijn
Certificate of Merit:  Joan Baez : the last leaf by Elizabeth Thomson and Arthur Levy

Best historical research in recorded classical music
Best History:  Listening to Charles Ives : variations on his America by J. Peter Burkholder
Certificate of Merit: "The changing aesthetics of vocal registration in the age of 'verismo,'" Music & Letters, vol. 102, no. 1, pp. 54-79 by Barbara Gentili
Certificate of Merit:  Les Grands Quatuors a Cordes du XX Siecle by Jean-Michel Molkhou
Certificate of Merit:  Music by Max Steiner : the epic life of Hollywood's most influential composer by Steven C. Smith

Best historical research on record labels and general recording topics
Best History:  Record cultures : the transformation of the U.S. recording industry by Kyle Barnett
Best Discography:  Columbia, Regal, and Phoenix : 10-inch masters issued in the UK by Bill Dean-Myatt and Mike Langridge
Certificate of Merit:  Kick It : a social history of the drum kit by Matt Brennan
Certificate of Merit:  Mind over matter : the myths and mysteries of Detroit's Fortune Records by Billy Miller and Michael Hurtt
Certificate of Merit:  Making sense of recordings : how cognitive processing of recorded sound works by Mads Walther-Hansen
Certificate of Merit:  Excavated shellac : an alternate history of the world's music (1907-1967) by Jonathan Ward

2020
Best historical research in recorded and popular rock music
Best history: Status Quo : mighty innovators of 70s rock by Andrew L. Cope
Best discography: The complete Misfits discography : authorized releases and bootlegs, including recordings by Danzig, Samhain and the Undead by Robert Michael "Bobb" Cotter
Certificate of Merit: Get tusked : the inside story of Fleetwood Mac's most anticipated album by Ken Caillat and Hernan Rojas
Certificate of Merit: Classic keys : keyboard sounds that launched rock music by Alan Lenhoff and David Robertson
Certificate of Merit: Henry Cow : the world is a problem by Benjamin Piekut
Certificate of Merit: Solid state : the story of “Abbey Road” and the end of the Beatles by Kenneth Womack

Best historical research in recorded jazz
Best History: Adrian Rollini : the life and music of a jazz rambler by Ate van Delden
Best Discography: The recordings of Andy Kirk and his Clouds of Joy by George Burrows
Certificate of Merit: Rabbit's blues : the life and music of Johnny Hodges by Con Chapman
Certificate of Merit: Jazz diaspora : new approaches to music and globalisation by Bruce Johnson
Certificate of Merit: Jazz from Detroit by Mark Stryker

Best historical research in recorded country, folk, or roots music
Best history: South to Louisiana : the music of the Cajun bayous (2nd ed) by John Broven
Certificate of Merit: The Bakersfield sound by Scott B. Bomar
Certificate of Merit: Country music : an illustrated history by Dayton Duncan and Ken Burns

Best historical research in recorded blues, soul, gospel, or R&B
Best History: Mahalia Jackson and the Black gospel field by Mark Burford
Best Discography: The Flamingos : a complete history of the doo-wop legends by Todd R. Baptista
Certificate of Merit: Up jumped the devil : the real life of Robert Johnson by Bruce Conforth and Gayle Dean Wardlow
Certificate of Merit: The blues come to Texas : Paul Oliver and Mack McCormack's unfinished book by Alan B. Govenar and Kip Lornell

Best historical research in recorded classical music
Best History: Stravinsky in the Americas : transatlantic tours and domestic excursions from wartime Los Angeles, 1925-1945 by H. Colin Slim
Certificate of Merit: England resounding : Elgar, Vaughan Williams, Britten and the English musical renaissance by Keith Alldritt
Certificate of Merit: The other Toscanini : the life and works of Héctor Panizza by Sebastiano De Filippi and Daniel Varacalli Costas

Best historical research on record labels and general recording topics
Best History: The blackface minstrel show in mass media : 20th century performances in radio, records, movies, and television by Tim Brooks
Best Discography: The Gramophone Company’s Persian recordings, 1899-1934 by Michael Kinnear
Certificate of Merit: Das Bilderlexikon der Deutschen Schellack-Schallplatten: Geschichte der Historischen Tonträger in Deutschland by Rainer Lotz, Michael Gunrem and Stephan Puille
Certificate of Merit: Wobbly sounds : a collection of British Flexi Discs by Johnny Trunk

2019
Best historical research in recorded and popular rock music
Best history (tie): Bing Crosby : swinging on a star : the war years, 1940-1946 by Gary Giddins; American sabor: Latinos and Latinas in U.S. popular music/Latinos y latinas en la musica popular estadounidense by Marisol Berrios-Miranda, Shannon Dudley, and Michelle Habell-Pallán
Best discography: The big note : a guide to the recordings of Frank Zappa by Charles Ulrich
Certificate of Merit: The Hopefuls : chasing a rock ’n’ roll dream in the Minnesota music scene by Paul V. Allen
Certificate of Merit: Long distance voyagers : the story of the Moody Blues, 1965-1979 by Marc Cushman
Certificate of Merit: Original Jethro Tull : the glory years, 1968-1980 by Gary Parker
Certificate of Merit: Why should the devil have all the good music? : Larry Norman and the perils of Christian rock by Gregory Thornbury

Best historical research in recorded jazz
Best History: Bill Russell and the New Orleans jazz revival by Ray Smith and Mike Pointon
Best Discography: This is hip : the life of Mark Murphy by Peter Jones
Certificate of Merit: DC jazz : stories of jazz music in Washington D.C., edited by by Maurice Jackson and Blair A. Rolde
Certificate of Merit: The jazz pilgrimage of Gerald Wilson by Stephen Loza

Best historical research in recorded country and folk music
Best history: The Bakersfield sound : how a generation of displaced Okies revolutionized American music by Robert E. Price
Best Discography: The Blue Sky Boys by Dick Spottswood
Certificate of Merit: Folk music in overdrive : a primer on traditional country and bluegrass artists by Ivan Tribe

Best historical research in recorded roots and world music
Best History: Don't stop the carnival : Black music in Britain by Kevin LeGendre
Best Discography: Field recordings of Black singers and musicians : an annotated discography of artists from West Africa, the Caribbean and the Eastern and Southern United States, 1901–1943 by Craig Martin Gibbs
Certificate of Merit: A&R pioneers : architects of American roots music on record by Brian Ward and Patrick Huber

Best historical research in recorded classical music
Best History: 2000 Jahre Musik auf der Schallplatte – Two Thousand Years of Music. Alte Musik anno 1930. Eine diskologische Dokumentation zur Interpretationsgeschichte, edited by Martin Elste and Carsten Schmidt
Certificate of Merit: Chopin's piano : in search of the instrument that transformed music by Paul Kildea
Certificate of Merit: Marino Zuccheri & friends : Milan RAI Studio di Fonologia Musicale, 1955-1983 by Maria Maddalena Novati

Best historical research on record labels and general recording topics
Best history: American record companies & producers, 1888-1950 by Allan Sutton
Best Discography: Speeds & keys, vol. 1 (Gramophone Co., 1898-1921) by Christian Zwarg
Certificate of Merit: Alpine dreaming : the Helvetia Records story, 1920-1924 by James P. Leary

2018
Best research in recorded rock music
Best history: Prince and the Purple Rain era studio sessions : 1983 and 1984 by Duane Tudahl
Certificate of Merit: Goodnight, L.A. : the rise and fall of classic rock : the untold stories from inside the legendary recording studios by Kent Hartman
Certificate of Merit: Music lessons : a musical memoir, volume 1 by Norbert Putnam

Best research in recorded popular music
Best History: Reckless daughter : a portrait of Joni Mitchell by David Yaffe
Best Discography: Abba : the complete recording sessions, revised and expanded edition by Carl Magnus Palm
Certificate of Merit: Talking machine west : a history and catalogue of Tin Pan Alley's western recordings, 1902–1918 by Michael A. Amundson

Best historical research in recorded jazz
Best History: Queen of bebop : the musical lives of Sarah Vaughan by Elaine M. Hayes
Best Discography: The Herbie Mann picto-discography (1952-2003) by Cary Ginell
Certificate of Merit: Tatum's town : the story of jazz in Toledo, Ohio (1915-1985) by Bob Dietsche
Certificate of Merit: New Orleans remix by Jack Sullivan
Certificate of Merit: The Godfather of British jazz : the life and music of Stan Tracey by Clark Tracey

Best historical research in recorded roots, folk, or world music
Best History: So much things to say : the oral history of Bob Marley by Roger Steffens
Best Discography: Cajun Records 1946-1989 by Nick Leigh
Certificate of Merit: Welcome to Zamrock! : how Zambia's liberation led to a rock revolution by Eothen Alapatt and Leonard Koloko
Certificate of Merit: Modal modernities : formations of Persian classical music and the recording of a national tradition by Mohsen Mohammadi
Certificate of Merit: Chinatown opera theatre in North America by Nancy Yunhwa Rao

Best historical research in recorded blues, gospel, soul, or R&B
Best History: Otis Redding : an unfinished life by Jonathan Gould
Certificates of Merit: The original blues : the emergence of the blues in African American vaudeville by Lynn Abbott and Doug Seroff; Got to be something here : the rise of the Minneapolis sound by Andrea Swennson; The new Paramount book of blues by Alex van der Tuuk

Best Historical Research in Recorded Classical Music
Best History: Toscanini : musician of conscience by Harvey Sachs
Best Discography: "Cantigas de Santa Maria" discography by Jerome F. Weber
Certificate of Merit: Treatise on musical objects : an essay across disciplines by Pierre Schaeffer, Christine North, and John Dack

Best Historical Research in Record Labels and General Recording Topics
Best History: Edouard-Léon Scott de Martinville, inventor of sound recording : a bicentennial tribute by David Giovannoni, Patrick Feaster, and Anne Thiollier
Certificates of Merit: Vocalion Records by Frank Andrews; Democracy of sound : music piracy and the remaking of American copyright in the twentieth century by Alex Sayf Cummings; Sonic technologies : popular music, digital culture and the creative process by Robert Strachan

2017
Best Research in Recorded Rock Music
Best history: Lonely boy : tales from a Sex Pistol by Steve Jones with Ben Thompson
Best discography: The Immediate discography : the first 20 years by Mark Jones
Certificate of merit: Never say no to a rock star : in the studio with Dylan, Sinatra, Jagger, and more by Glenn Berger

Best Research in Recorded Popular Music
Best history: Kika kila : how the Hawaiian steel guitar changed the sound of modern music by John W. Troutman
Best discography: Four boys and a guitar : the story and music of the Mills Brothers by Douglas E. Friedman
Certificate of merit: A Cole Porter companion by Don M. Randel, Matthew Shaftel, and Susan Forscher Weiss

Best Historical Research in Recorded Jazz
Best history: Whisper not : the autobiography of Benny Golson by Benny Golson and Jim Merod
Certificate of merit: Blue rhythm fantasy : big band jazz arranging in the swing era by John Wriggle

Best Research in Recorded Country Music
Best history: Whisperin' Bill Anderson : an unprecedented life in country music by Bill Anderson and Peter Michael Cooper
Certificate of merit: The Knoxville sessions, 1929-1930 : Knox County stomp by Ted Olson and Tony Russell
Certificate of merit: Foggy Mountain troubadour : the life and music of Curly Seckler by Penny Parsons

Best Historical Research in Recorded Roots, Folk or World Music
Best history: American epic : the first time America heard itself by Bernard McMahon, Allison McGourty and Elijah Wald

Best Historical Research in Recorded Blues, Gospel, Soul or R&B
Best history: The art of the blues : a visual treasury of Black music's golden age by Bill Dahl
Best discography: Michael Bloomfield : the rise and fall of an American guitar hero by Ed Ward
Certificate of merit: Slim Harpo : blues king bee of Baton Rouge by Martin Hawkins
Certificate of merit: Waxing the gospel : mass evangelism & the phonograph, 1890-1900 by Richard Martin
Certificate of merit: Race records and the American recording industry, 1919-1945 : an illustrated history by Allan Sutton

Best Historical Research in Recorded Classical Music
Best history: Barbirolli : a chronicle of a career by Raymond Holden
Certificate of merit: Performing life : the story of Ruth Posselt, American violinist by Diana Lewis Burgin

Best Historical Research on General Recording Topics
Best history: Uproot : travels in twenty-first-century music and digital culture by Jace Clayton (aka DJ Rupture)
Best discography: Australia's most comprehensive vinyl record guide : a definitive catalogue of music released by artists and bands who shaped the music industry around the world for 70 years by Thomas Balacco
Certificate of merit: Recorded sound in Czech lands, 1900-1946 by Gabriel Gössel and Filip Šír
Certificate of merit: The untold story of the talking book by Matthew Rubery

Best Historical Research in Record Labels
Best history: Godfather of the music business : Morris Levy by Richard Carlin
Best discography: The Gramophone Company's first Indian recordings, 1899-1907 by Michael Kinnear
Certificate of merit: "The 1898 Gramophone Co. Studio : new perspectives" (A three part series) by Peter Adamson, in For the record : the journal of the City of London phonograph and gramophone society, 56: 448-456; 59: 147-156; 60: 206-213
Certificate of merit: Attractive Hebrews : the Lambert Yiddish cylinders, 1901-1905 by Henry Sapoznik and Richard Martin, with the assistance of Mayrent Institute for Yiddish Culture and the Mills Music Library at the University of Wisconsin-Madison
Certificate of merit: Motown : the sound of young America by Adam White, Barney Ales, and Andrew Loog Oldham

2016
Best Research in Recorded Rock Music
Best history: Sam Phillips : the man who invented rock 'n' roll by Peter Guralnick
Certificate of merit: Beatles gear by Andy Babiuk
Certificate of merit: Everybody's heard about the bird : the true story of 1960s rock 'n' roll in Minnesota by Rick Shefchik

Best Research in Recorded Popular Music
Best history: Dan W. Quinn: Anthology : the king of comic singers, 1894-1917 (liner notes by Richard Martin)
Best discography: L'Argus DALIDA : discographie mondiale et cotations by Daniel Lesueur
Certificate of merit: The underground is massive : how electronic dance music conquered America by Michaelangelo Matos

Best Historical Research in Recorded Jazz
Best history: Swingin' on Central Avenue : African-American jazz in Los Angeles by Peter Vacher
Best discography: Bobby Hackett : his life in music by George Hulme and Bert Whyatt
Certificate of merit: Jazz tales from jazz legends : oral histories from the Fillius Jazz Archive at Hamilton College by Monk Rowe, with Romy Britell
Certificate of merit: The long shadow of the little giant : the life, work, and legacy of Tubby Hayes by Simon Spilett

Best Research in Recorded Country Music
Best history: Mac Wiseman : all my memories fit for print by Walt Trott
Best discography: The music of the Stanley Brothers by Gary B. Reid
Certificate of merit: Bluegrass in Baltimore by Tim Newby
Certificate of merit: West Virginia's traditional country music by Ivan M. Tribe and Jacob L. Bapst

Best Historical Research in Recorded Folk or World Music
Best history: Folksongs of another America : field recordings from the Upper Midwest, 1937-1946 by James P. Leary
Certificate of merit: Ola Belle Reed and southern mountain music on the Mason-Dixon Line by Clifford Murphy
Certificate of merit: Hear my sad story : the true tales that inspired "Stagolee," "John Henry," and other traditional American folk songs by Richard Polenberg

Best Historical Research in Recorded Blues, Gospel, Soul, or R&B
Best history: Say no to the devil : the life and musical genius of Rev. Gary Davis by Ian Zach
Certificate of merit: Country soul : making music and making race in the American south by Charles L. Hughes
Certificate of merit: A city called heaven : Chicago and the birth of gospel music by Robert Marovich
Certificate of merit: Early blues : the first stars of blues guitar by Jas Obrecht

Best Historical Research in Recorded Classical Music
Best history: Svetik : a family memoir of Sviatoslav Richter by Walter Moskalew
Best discography: The Philadelphia Orchestra : an annotated discography by Richard A. Kaplan
Certificate of merit: Joseph Holbrooke : composer, critic, and musical patriot by Paul Watt and Anne-Marie Forbes

Best Historical Research on General Recording Topics
Best history: How music got free : the end of an industry, the turn of the century, and the patient zero of piracy by Stephen Witt
Certificate of merit: Noise uprising : the audiopolitics of a world musical revolution by Michael Denning
Certificate of merit: The great British recording studios by Howard Massey
Certificate of merit: Sounding the color line : music and race in the southern imagination by Erich Nunn

Best Historical Research in Record Labels
Best history: Popkiss : the life and afterlife of Sarah Records by Michael White

2015
Best Research in Recorded Blues, Gospel, Rhythm & Blues
Best history: 100 books every blues fan should own by Edward Komara and Greg Johnson
Certificate of merit: Blues all day long : the Jimmy Rogers story by Wayne E. Goins
Certificate of merit: I'll take you there : Mavis Staples, the Staple Singers, and the march up freedom's highway by Greg Kot
Certificate of merit: Preaching on wax : the phonograph and the shaping of modern African American religion by Lerone A. Martin

Best Historical Research in Classical Music
Best history: Jascha Heifetz : early years in Russia by Galina Kopytova
Best discography: Sounding authentic : the rural miniature and musical modernism by Joshua S. Walden
Certificate of merit: Constant Lambert : beyond the Rio Grande by Stephen Lloyd
Certificate of merit: Perspectives on the performance of French piano music by Scott Mccarey and Lesley A. Wright
Certificate of merit: Sir George Dyson : his life and music by Paul Spicer
Certificate of merit: Nikolay Myakovsky : the conscience of Russian music by Gregor Tassie

Best Historical Research in Recorded Country, Folk, or World Music
Best history: Bluegrass Hall of Fame inductee biographies, 1991-2014 by Fred Bartenstein, Neil V. Rosenberg, Gary Reid, Steve Spence, et al.
Best discography: Creole music of the French West Indies : a discography, 1900-1959 by Alan Boulanger, John Cowley, and Marc Monneraye
Certificate of merit: Vibe merchants : the sound creators of Jamaican popular music by Ray Hitchens

Best Research in Recorded Rock and Popular Music
Best history: Southbound : an illustrated history of Southern rock by Scott B. Bomar
Certificate of merit: Brothas be, yo like George, ain't that funkin' kinda hard on you? : a memoir by George Clinton and Ben Greenman
Certificate of merit: Encyclopedia of great popular song recordings by Steve Sullivan

Best Research in Recorded Jazz Music
Best history: Softly, with feeling : Joe Wilder and the breaking of barriers in American music by Edward Berger
Certificate of merit: Louis Armstrong, master of modernism by Thomas Brothers
Certificate of merit: An unholy row : jazz in Britain and its audience, 1945-1960 by Dave Gelly
Certificate of merit: Once was jazz : the cry of the jazz band in interwar Poland by Krzysztof Karpinski

Best Research in Record Labels
Best history/discography: Eli Oberstein's United States Record Corporation : a history and discography, 1939–1940 by Allan Sutton and Record Research Associates
Certificate of merit: The Victor discography : special labels, 1928-1940 by John Bolig
Certificate of merit: Ajax Records : a history and discography by William R. Bryant and Record Research Associates

2014
Best Research in Recorded Blues, Hip-Hop, Rhythm & Blues
Best history: Southern soul-blues by David G. Whiteis
Certificate of merit: The amazing Jimmi Mayes : sideman to the stars by Jimmi Mayes and V. C. Speek
Certificate of merit: Mojo hand : the life and music of Lightnin' Hopkins by Timothy O'Brien

Best Historical Research in Classical Music
Best history: Forbidden music : the Jewish composers banned by the nazis by Michael Haas
Best discography: Antal Doráti and his recorded legacy by Richard Chlupaty
Certificate of merit: Giacomo Meyerbeer : a discography of vintage recordings 1889-1955 by Richard Arsenty and Robert Ignatius Letellier
Certificate of merit: The great orchestrator : Arthur Judson and American Arts Management by James M. Doering
Certificate of merit: Alec Wilder by Philip Lambert

Best Historical Research in Country Music
Best history: Buck 'em! : the autobiography of Buck Owens by Buck Owens and Randy Po
Certificate of merit: The Johnson City sessions, 1928-1929 : can you sing or play old-time music? by Ted Olson and Tony Russell
Certificate of merit: Hidden in the mix : the African American presence in country music, edited by Diane Pecknol

Best Historical Research in Recorded Folk or World Music
Best history: Longing for the past : the 78 rpm era in southeast Asia by David Murray
Best discography: The history and evolution of the bouzouki and its first recordings (1926-1932) by Stavros Kourousis
Certificate of merit: Robert Lachmann's oriental music broadcasts, 1936-1937 : a musical ethnography of Mandatory Palestine by Ruth F. Davis

Best Research in Recorded Rock Music
Best history: Jethro Tull's "Thick as a Brick" and "A Passion Play" : inside two long songs by Tim Smolko
Certificate of merit: Assimilate : a critical history of industrial music by S. Alexander Reed

Best Historical Research in Recorded Popular Music
Best history: Nilsson : the life of a singer-songwriter by Alyn Shipton
Certificate of merit: Late life jazz : the life and career of Rosemary Clooney by Ken Crossland and Malcolm Macfarlan

Best Research in Recorded Jazz Music
Best history: Mingus speaks! by Charles Mingus and John F. Goodman
Certificate of merit: The jazz life of Dr. Billy Taylor by Billy Taylor and Teresa L. Reed
Certificate of merit: More important than the music : a history of jazz discography by Bruce D. Epperson

Best Research in Record Labels
Best history: The John Fahey handbook : with a complete illustrated discography and labelography of Fonotone & Takoma Records by Claudio Guerrieri
Best discography: Emerson records : a history and discography, part 1: complete 10" & 12" issues by William R. Bryant ; edited by Allan Sutton
Certificate of merit: Edison Amberol cylinders, 1908-1913 by Allan Sutton

Best Historical Research on General Recording Topics
Best history: Recording history : the British record industry 1888-1931 by Peter Martland
Best discography: A Scottish vernacular discography, 1888-1960 by Bill Dean-Myatt
Certificate of merit: Dyskopedia poloników 1919-1939 by Katarzyna Janczewska-Solomko
Certificate of merit: Black Europe by Jeffrey P. Green, Rainer Lotz et al.
Certificate of merit: Triple entendre : furniture music, Muzak, Muzak-Plus by Herve Vanel

2013
Best Research in Recorded Blues, Gospel, Rhythm & Blues, or Soul Music
Best history: When I left home : my story by Buddy Guy and David Ritz
Certificate of merit: Bounce : rap music and local identity in New Orleans by Matt Miller

Best Research in Recorded Classical Music
Best history: Charles Munch by D. Kern Holoman
Best discography: Giacomo Puccini : a discography by Roger Flury
Certificate of merit: The Bjorling sound : a recorded legacy by Stephen Hastings
Certificate of merit: Frosch : critical discography of the Strauss opera "Die frau ohne schatten" by John Hunt
Certificate of merit: Great Wagner conductors : a listener's companion by Jonathan Brown

Best Research in Recorded Country Music
Best history: Satan is real : the ballad of the Louvin Brothers by Charlie Louvin
Certificate of merit: Bluegrass bluesman : a memoir by Josh Graves

Best Research in Recorded Folk, World, or Ethnic Music
Best history: The beautiful music all around us : field recordings and the American experience by Stephen Wade
Best discography: The Arhoolie Foundation's Strachwitz Frontera Collection of Mexican and Mexican American recordings by Agustin Gurza
Certificate of merit: Recording culture : Powwow music and the Aboriginal recording industry on the Northern Plains by Christopher Scales
Certificate of merit: Ancestral imprints : histories of Irish traditional music and dance by Therese Smith

Best Research in Recorded Rock Music
Best history: Revolver : how The Beatles reimagined rock 'n 'roll by Robert Rodriguez
Certificate of merit: Teen beat mayhem! by Mike Markesich
Certificate of merit: Bruce Springsteen and the promise of rock 'n' roll by Marc Dolan

Best Research in Recorded Popular Music
Best history: A natural woman : a memoir by Carole King
Best discography: Paul Whiteman : pioneer in American music, volume 2: 1930-1967 by Don Rayno
Certificate of merit: Arlo Guthrie : the Warner/Reprise years by Hank Reineke

Best Research in Recorded Jazz Music
Best history: Mr. P.C. : the life and music of Paul Chambers by Rob Palmer
Certificate of merit: Pepper Adams' Joy Road : an annotated discography by Gary Carner
Certificate of merit: Big band jazz in black West Virginia by Christopher Wilkinson
Certificate of merit: Born to play : the Ruby Braff discography and directory of performances by Thomas Hustad
Certificate of merit: The Boston jazz chronicles : faces, places and nightlife, 1937-1962 by Richard Vacca
Certificate of merit: Vince Guaraldi at the piano by Derrick Bang

Best Research in Record Labels
Best discography: The Capitol Records Childrens' Series: 1944 to 1956, the complete discography by Jack Mirtle
Certificate of merit: 360 Sound: The Columbia Records Story by Sean Wilentz
Certificate of merit: Always in trouble : an oral history of ESP-Disk', the most outrageous record label in America by Jason Weiss
Certificate of merit: The American Zonophone discography, volume I : ten- and twelve-inch popular series (1904–1912) by William R. Bryant

Best General Research in Recorded Sound
Best history: Pictures of sound : one thousand years of educed audio : 980-1980 by Patrick Feaster
Best discography: Patrick Conway and his Famous Band by Mark Fonder
Certificate of merit: MP3 : the meaning of a format by Jonathan Sterne
Certificate of merit: Music, sound, and technology in America : a documentary history of early phonograph, cinema, and radio, edited by Timothy D. Taylor, Mark Katz and Tony Grajeda

2012
Best Research in Recorded Blues, Gospel, Rhythm & Blues, or Soul Music
Best history: Mississippi John Hurt : his life, his times, his blues by Philip R. Ratcliffe
Best discography: The blues discography 1971-2000 : the later years : a selective discography by Robert Ford and Bob McGrath
Certificate of merit: I feel so good : the life and times of Big Bill Broonzy by Bob Riesman
Certificate of merit: The chitlin' circuit and the road to rock and roll by Preston Lauterbach

Best Research in Recorded Classical Music
Best history: George Szell : a life of music by Michael Charry
Best discography: Concert Hall : discography of the Concert Hall Society and Concert Hall Society Record Club, by John Hunt
Certificate of merit: Richard Strauss : a musical life by Raymond Holden
Certificate of merit: Dennis Brain : a life in music by Stephen J. Gamble and William C. Lynch

Best Research in Recorded Country, Ethnic, or Folk Music
Best history: Crowe on the banjo : the music life of J. D. Crowe by Marty Godbey
Certificate of merit: Jim Reeves : his untold story : the life & times of country music's greatest singer by Larry Jordan

Best Research in Recorded Rock or Popular Music
Best history: Pop song piracy : disobedient music distribution since 1929 by Barry Kernfeld
Certificate of merit: Tori Amos : in the studio by Jake Brown
Certificate of merit: Everything is an afterthought : the life and writings of Paul Nelson by Kevin Avery
Certificate of merit: Had me a real good time : The Faces before and after by Andrew Neill

Best Research in Recorded Jazz Music
Best history: Norman Granz : the man who used jazz for justice by Tad Hershorn
Certificate of merit: Clark : the autobiography of Clark Terry by Clark Terry
Certificate of merit: What a wonderful world : the magic of Louis Armstrong's later years by Ricky Riccardi
Certificate of merit: The studio recordings of the Miles Davis Quintet, 1965-68 by Keith Waters

Best Research in Record Labels
Best history: The last sultan : the life and times of Ahmet Ertegun by Robert Greenfield
Best discography: Beka Records : a discography by Frank Andrews and Bill Dean-Myatt
Certificate of merit: Indestructible and U-S Everlasting Cylinders : an illustrated history and cylinderography by Kurt Nauck and Allan Sutton
Certificate of merit: The Starday story : the house that country music built by Nathan D. Gibson

Best General Research in Recorded Sound
Spoken word : postwar American phonograph cultures by Jacob Smith

2011
Best Research in Recorded Blues, Gospel, Rhythm & Blues, or Soul Music
Best history: Lightnin' Hopkins : his life and blues by Alan Govenar
Certificate of merit: Long lost blues : popular blues in America, 1850-1920 by Peter C. Muir
Certificate of merit: Raisin' Cain : the wild and raucous story of Johnny Winter by Mary Lou Sullivan and Johnny Winter

Best Research in Recorded Classical Music
Best history: Adolf Busch : the life of an honest musician by Tully Potter
Best discography: Mahler discography by Peter Fülöp
Certificate of merit: Gregor Piatigorsky : the life and career of the virtuoso cellist by Terry King

Best Research in Recorded Country, Ethnic, or Folk Music
Best history: My name is Gauhar Jaan : the life and times of a musician by Vikram Sampath
Certificate of merit: Gone to the country : the new Lost City Ramblers and the folk music revival by Ray Allen

Best Research in Recorded Rock or Popular Music
Best history: Restless giant : the life and times of Jean Aberbach and Hill and Range Songs by Bar Biszick-Lockwood
Certificate of merit: A biographical guide to the great jazz and pop singers by Will Friedwald
Certificate of merit: I don't sound like nobody : remaking music in 1950s America by Albin J. Zak

Best Research in Recorded Jazz Music
Best history (tie): That's got 'em! : the life and music of Wilbur C. Sweatman by Mark Berresford; Hot jazz for sale : Hollywood's Jazz Man Record Shop by Cary Ginell
Certificate of merit: African rhythms : the autobiography of Randy Weston by Randy Weston

Best Research in Record Labels
House of hits : the story of Houston's Gold Star/Sugar Hill Recording Studios by Bradley and Charles Roger Wood

Best Ongoing Research in Business of Recorded Sound
The Lindström project : contributions to the history of the record industry/Beiträge Geschichte der Schallplattenindustrie, volume 2 by by Pekka Gronow and Christiane Hofer

2010
Best Research in Recorded Blues, Gospel, Rhythm & Blues, or Soul Music
Best work: Chuck Berry international directory by Morten Reff
Certificate of merit: Give my poor heart ease : voices of the Mississippi blues by William Ferris
Certificate of merit: Hand me my travelin' shoes : in search of Blind Willie McTell by Michael Gray

Best Research in Recorded Classical Music
Best work: Kirill Kondrashin : his life in music by Gregor Tassie
Certificate of merit: Othmar Schoeck : life and works by Chris Walton

Best Research in Recorded Country Music
Best work: Man of constant sorrow : my life and times by Ralph Stanley and Eddie Dean
Certificate of merit: The songs of Jimmie Rodgers : a legacy in country music by Jocelyn R. Neal

Best Recorded Folk, Ethnic, or World Music
Best discography: La musique antillaise en France discographie 1929-1959 / French-Caribbean Music in France a Discography 1929-1959 by Alain Boulanger, John Cowley, and Marc Monneraye
Best history: Wildman of rhythm : the life and music of Benny Moré by John Radanovich
Certificate of merit: Ramblin' Jack Elliott : the never-ending highway by Hank Reineke

Best Research in General History of Recorded Sound
Best work: How does it sound now? : legendary engineer and vintage gear by Gary Gottlieb
Certificate of merit: Selling sounds : the commercial revolution in American music by David Suisman

Best Research in Record Labels
Best work: Three score & ten : topic records at 70 by David Suff
Certificate of merit: King of the Queen City : the story of King Records by John Hartley Fox

Best Research in Recorded Jazz Music
Best history: Jade visions : the life and music of Scott LaFaro by Helene LaFaro-Fernández; The ghosts of Harlem : sessions with jazz legends by Hank O’Neal
Certificate of merit: From Harlem to Hollywood : my life in music by Van Alexander and Stephen Fratallone

Best Research in Recorded Rock and Popular Music
Best work: American dance bands on record and film, 1915-1942 by Richard J. Johnson and Bernhard H. Shirley
Best history: Perry Como : a biography and complete career record by Malcolm Macfarlane and Ken Crossland
Certificate of merit: Sonic boom : the history of Northwest rock, from "Louie Louie" to "Smells like teen spirit" by Peter Blecha
Certificate of merit: Record makers and breakers : voices of the independent rock 'n' roll pioneers by John Broven

Click Association for Recorded Sound Collections (ARSC) for more information about the sponsor of these awards.

2009
Best Research in Recorded Blues, Rhythm & Blues, or Soul Music
Best discography: I got two wings : incidents and anecdotes of the two-winged preacher and electric guitar evangelist, Elder Utah Smith by Lynn Abbot
Certificate of merit: Texas blues : the rise of a contemporary sound by Alan B. Govenar

Best Research in Recorded Classical Music
Best Discography: Boston Symphony Orchestra : an augmented discography by James H. North
Best history: Charles Ives omnibus by James Mack Burk
Certificate of merit: After the golden age : romantic pianism and modern performance by Kenneth Hamilton
Certificate of merit: Sprechstimme in Arnold Schoenberg's Pierrot Lunaire : a study of vocal performance practice by Aidan Soder

Best Research in Recorded Country Music
Best work: Linthead stomp : the creation of country music in the Piedmont South by Patrick Huber
Certificate of merit: Working girl blues : the life and music of Hazel Dickens by Hazel Dickens and Bill C. Malone
Certificate of merit: Liner notes to "Merle Haggard: Concepts Live…1968-1976" by Deke Dickerson

Best Recorded Folk, Ethnic, or World Music
Best work: Mexican American mojo : popular music, dance, and urban culture in Los Angeles, 1935–1968 by Anthony Macias
Certificate of merit: Lemko folk music on wax cylinders and American recordings, 1901-1930 by Bogdan Horbal and Walter Maksimovich

Best Research in General History of Recorded Sound
Best work: Den talande maskinen : de forsta inspelade ljuden i Sverige och norden (The talking machine : the first recorded sounds in Sweden and Scandinavia) by Tony Franzén, Gunnar Sundberg, and Lars Thelander
Certificate of merit: Sound media : a theory of live journalism and musical recording by Lars Nyre

Best Research in Record Labels
Best Discography: Montgomery Ward records : a discography by Allan Sutton
Best history: Revolutionizing children's records : the Young People's Records and Children's Record Guild Series, 1946-1977 by David Bonner
Certificate of merit: The Edison discography (1926-29) by Raymond R. Wile

Best Research in Recorded Jazz Music
Best work: The John Coltrane reference by Chris DeVito, David Wild, Yasuhiro Fujioka, and Wolf Schmaler; edited by Lewis Porter
Best history: A power stronger than itself : the AACM and American experimental music by George E. Lewis
Certificate of merit: Backstory in blue : Ellington at Newport '56 by John Fass Morton
Certificate of merit: Playing the changes : Milt Hinton's life in stories and photographs by Milt Hinton, David Berger and Holly Maxson
Certificate of merit: Miles Davis, Miles smiles, and the invention of post bop by Jeremy Yudkin
Certificate of merit: Luck's in my corner : the life and music of Hot Lips Page by Todd Bryant Weeks
Certificate of merit: Delightfulee : the life and music of Lee Morgan by Jeffrey McMillan
Certificate of merit: Monk's music : Thelonious Monk and jazz history in the making by Gabriel Solis

Best Research in Recorded Rock and Popular Music
Best work: Sgt. Pepper and the Beatles : it was forty years ago today by Olivier Julien
Certificate of merit: Mondo exotica : sounds, visions, obsessions of the cocktail generation by Francesco Adinolfi
Certificate of merit: So you want to be a rock 'n' roll star : The Byrds day-by-day, 1965-1973 by Christopher Hjort
Certificate of merit: Hot burritos : the true story of The Flying Burrito Brothers by John Einarson and Chris Hillman

2007
Best Research in Recorded Blues, Rhythm & Blues, or Soul Music
Best discography: The blues discography 1943-1970, comp. Les Fancourt; Encyclopedia of the blues, edited by Edward Komara
Certificate of merit: Presence and pleasure : the funk grooves of James Brown and Parliament by Anne Danielsen

Best Research in Recorded Classical Music
Best Discography: New York Philharmonic : the authorized recordings, 1917-2005 : a discography by James H. North
Best history: Lionel Tertis : the first great virtuoso of the viola by John White
Certificate of merit: Women composers and music technology in the United States : crossing the line by Elizabeth Hinkle-Turner

Best Research in Recorded Country Music
Best discography: Old Shep : the Red Foley recordings 1933-1950, liner notes by Cary Ginell
Best history: How Nashville became Music City, U.S.A. : 50 years of Music Row by Michael Kosser
Certificate of merit: No one to cry to : a long, hard ride into the sunset with Foy Willing of The Riders of the Purple Sage by Sharon Lee Willing

Best Recorded Folk, Ethnic, or World Music
Best discography: West Indian rhythm : Trinidad Calypsos, 1938-1940, discography by John Cowley, Donald R. Hill, Dick Spottswood
Best history: The dawn of Indian music in the West by Peter Lavezzoli
Certificates of merit: Arsenio Rodriguez and the transnational flows of Latin popular music by David F. García; America's polka king : the real story of Frankie Yankovic and his music by Bob Dolgan; Texas zydeco by Charles Roger Wood

2006
Blues/Rhythm & Blues/Soul
Dream boogie : the triumph of Sam Cooke by Peter Guralnick
Certificate of merit: Dewey and Elvis : the life and times of a rock 'n' roll deejay by Louis Cantor

Classical
Best discography: While spring and summer sang : Thomas Beecham and the music of Frederick Delius by Lyndon Jenkins
Best history: Rachmaninoff : life, works, recordings by Max Harrison

Country
King of the cowboys, queen of the West : Roy Rogers and Dale Evans by Ray White

Folk/Ethnic/World
Bob Marley and the Wailers : the definitive discography by Roger Steffens and Leroy Jodie Pierson
Certificate of merit: The encyclopedia of native music : more than a century of recordings from wax cylinder to the Internet by Brian Wright-McLeod

Rap/Hip hop
Can't stop won't stop : a history of the hip-hop generation by Jeff Chang

Rock
Grit, noise, and revolution : the birth of Detroit rock 'n' roll by David Carson
Certificate of merit: Soft Machine : Out-bloody-rageous by Graham Bennett
Certificate of merit: Dream a little dream of me : the life of "Mama" Cass Elliot by Eddi Fiegel

Jazz
Best discography: Stan Getz : an annotated bibliography and filmography with song and session information for albums by Nicholas Churchill
Best history: Take five : the public and private lives of Paul Desmond by Doug Ramsey and Paul Caulfield (discography); The last Miles : the music of Miles Davis 1980-1991 by George Cole
Certificate of Merit: Pioneers of jazz : the story of the Creole Band by Lawrence Gushee
Certificate of Merit: Bix : the definitive biography of a jazz legend : Leon "Bix" Beiderbecke (1903-1931) by Jean Pierre Lion
Certificate of Merit: The uncrowned king of swing : Fletcher Henderson and big band jazz by Jeffrey Magee

Labels/General history
Best history: Echo and reverb : fabricating space in popular music recording, 1900-1960 by Peter Doyle
Best discography: Edison blue Amberol cylinders by Allan Sutton

2005
Best research in recorded blues
Moanin' at midnight : the life and times of Howlin' Wolf by James Segrest and Mark Hoffman
Certificate of Merit: Robert Johnson : mythmaking and contemporary American culture by Patricia R. Schroeder

Best research in recorded classical music
Best discography: Leroy Anderson : a bio-bibliography by Burgess Speed, Eleanor Anderson, and Steve Metcalf
Best history: Performing music in the age of recording by Robert Philip

Best research in recorded folk or country music
Country music records : a discography, 1921-1942 by Tony Russell

Best research in recorded world music
Git Zaman Gel Zaman by Cemal Unlu
Certificate of Merit: Albanian urban lyric song in the 1930s by Eno Koco

Best research in general history of recorded sound
Lost sounds : Blacks and the birth of the recording industry, 1890-1919 by Tim Brooks
Certificate of Merit: Capturing sound : how technology has changed music by Mark Katz

Best research in recorded jazz
Albert Ayler : holy ghost by Ben Young, editor
Certificate of Merit: Tom Talbert : his life and times by Bruce Talbot
Certificate of Merit: Queen : the life and music of Dinah Washington by Nadine Cohodas
Certificate of Merit: The complete Columbia recordings of Woody Herman, 1945 -1947 by Loren Schoenberg

Best research in record labels
Discography of OKeh Records, 1918-1934 by  Ross Laird and Brian Rust
Certificate of Merit: Fonotipia Recordings : a centennial survey by Michael E. Henstock
Certificate of Merit: Syrena Record : Poland's first recording company, 1904-1939 by Tomasz Lerski
Certificate of Merit: Victor Red Seal discography, volume I : single-sided series (1903-1925) by John R. Bolig

Best research in recorded popular music
That moaning saxophone : the six Brown brothers and the dawning of a musical craze by Bruce Vermazen

Best research in recorded rhythm & blues, soul, or gospel music
People get ready! : a new history of Black gospel music by Robert Darden
Certificate of Merit: House on fire : the rise and fall of Philadelphia soul by John A. Jackson

Best research in recorded rock or rap music
Freddy Fresh presents the rap records by Freddy Fresh
Certificate of Merit: Nirvana : the complete recording sessions by Rob Jovanovic

2004
Best research in recorded popular music
Best discography: Paul Whiteman : pioneer in American music, volume 1 : 1890-1930 by Don Rayno
Best history: Sondheim on music : minor details and major decisions by Mark Eden Horowitz and Stephen Sondheim (2d ed. (2010) here)

Best research in recorded classical music
Performing Brahms : early evidence of performing style, edited by Michael Musgrave and Bernard D. Sherman

Best research in recorded rock, rhythm & blues or soul
The holy profane : religion in Black popular music by Teresa L. Reed; tied with Swinging the machine : modernity, technology and African-American culture between the world wars by Joel Dinerstein

Best research in recorded jazz music
Best history: Good vibes : a life in jazz by Terry Gibbs and Cary Ginell
Best discography: Jean "Django" Reinhardt : a contextual bio-discography, 1910-1953 by Paul Vernon

Best research in recorded blues and gospel music
Great God a'mighty! the Dixie Hummingbirds : celebrating the rise of soul gospel music by Jerome Zolten

Best research in record labels or manufacturers
Folkways Records : Moses Asch and his encyclopedia of sound by Anthony Olmstead

2003
Best Research in Recorded Popular Music
Encyclopedia of contemporary Christian music by Mark Allan Powell

Best Research in Recorded Folk or Ethnic Music
Reggae & Caribbean music by Dave Thompson
Certificate of merit: Sam Manning : the Complete Output, 1924-1930, vols. 1 & 2 by John Cowley and Steve Shapiro, liner notes to Jazz Oracle CD set

Best Research in Recorded Country Music
Will you miss me when I'm gone? : the Carter Family and their legacy in American music by Mark Zwonitzer and Charles Hirshberg; Country music sources : a biblio-discography of commercially recorded traditional music by Guthrie T. Meade, Richard K. Spottswood, and Douglas S. Meade

Best Research in Recorded Classical Music
George Crumb: a bio-bibliography by David Cohen; tied with Emanuel Feuermann by Annette Morreau

Best Research in Rock, Rhythm & Blues, or Soul
Every sound there is : the Beatles' Revolver and the transformation of rock and roll by Russell Reising; Brown eyed handsome man : the life and hard times of Chuck Berry : an unauthorized biography by Bruce Pegg

Best Research in Recorded Jazz
Rat race blues : the musical life of Gigi Gryce by Noal Cohen and Michael Fitzgerald; Something to live for : the music of Billy Strayhorn by Walter van de Leur
Certificate of merit: A love supreme : the story of John Coltrane's signature album by Ashley Kahn
Certificate of merit: Charlie Barnet : an illustrated biography and discography of the Swing Era big band leader by Dan Mather

Best Research in Recorded Blues and Gospel Music
Blues with a feeling : the Little Walter story by Tony Glover, Scott Dirks, and Ward Gaines
Certificate of merit: Can't be satisfied : the life and times of Muddy Waters by Robert Gordon
Certificate of merit: The Pilgrim Jubilees by Alan Young

Best Research in General Discography and History of Recorded Sound
Music inspired by art : a guide to recordings by Gary Evans

Best Research in Record Labels or Manufacturers
Motown : music, money, sex, and power by Gerald L. Posner

2002
Best Research in Recorded General Popular Music
Bing Crosby : a pocketful of dreams : the early years, 1903-1940 by Gary Giddins

Best Research in Recorded Folk or Ethnic Music
Yellow music : media culture and colonial modernity in Chinese Jazz Age by Andrew F. Jones

Best Research in Recorded Country Music
Discography of Western swing and hot string bands, 1928-1942 by Cary Ginell and Kevin Coffey

Best Research in Recorded Classical Music
Best Discography: Witold Lutoslawski : a bio-bibliography by Stanislaw Bedkowski and Stinislaw Hrabia
Best History: Sviatoslav Richter : notebooks and conversations by Bruno Monsaingeon; translated by Stewart Spencer
Certificate of Merit: Pietro Mascagni : a bio-bibliography by Roger Flury

Best Research in Recorded Rock, Rhythm & Blues, or Soul
Orbison by Colin Escott; discography by Richard Weize. liner notes to Bear Family CD set

Best Research in Recorded Jazz
Best History: The Miller companion to jazz in Canada : and Canadians in jazz by Mark Miller
Best Discography: Brilliant corners : a bio-discography of Thelonious Monk compiled by Chris Sheridan
Certificate of Merit: Before Motown : a history of jazz in Detroit, 1920-1960 by Lars Bjorn with Jim Gallert

Best Research in Recorded Blues
Screamin' and hollerin' the blues : the worlds of Charley Patton by David Evans, John Fahey, Edward Komara, and Dick Spottswood, liner notes to Revenant CD set

Best General Research in Recorded Sound
Beyond recall : a record of Jewish musical life in Nazi Berlin, 1933-1938 by Rainer E. Lotz, Horst J. P. Bergmeier, and Ejal Jakob Eisler, liner notes to Bear Family CD set
Certificate of Merit: Aural history : essays on recorded sound, edited by Andy Linehan

Best Research in Record Labels or Manufacturers
Brunswick Records : a discography of recordings, 1916-1931 [in 4 volumes] by Ross Laird
Certificate of Merit: Okeh race records : the 8000 "race" series by Laurie Wright (self-published)

Best Research in the Preservation or Reproduction of Recorded Sound
Broadcast transcription discs by James R. Powell, Jr.; Phonographs with flair : a century of style in sound reproduction by Timothy C. Fabrizio and George F. Paul

2001
Best Research in Recorded General Popular Music
Popular American recording pioneers, 1895-1925 by Tim Gracyk and Frank Hoffmann
Certificate of Merit: Mel Torme : a chronicle of his recordings, books and films by George Hulme

Best Research in Recorded Folk or Ethnic Music
Romancing the folk : public memory and American roots music by Benjamin Filene
Certificate of Merit: Can't you hear me callin' : the life of Bill Monroe, father of bluegrass by Richard D. Smith

Best Research in Recorded Classical Music
Best Discography: Tristan und Isolde on record : a comprehensive discography of Wagner's music drama with a critical introduction to the recordings by Jonathan Brown
Best History: Meilensteine der Bach-Interpretation 1750-2000 : eine werkgeschichte im wandel by Martin Elste

Best Research in Recorded Rock, Rhythm & Blues, or Soul
The Who on record : a critical history, 1963-1998 by John Atkins
Certificate of Merit: Race, rock, and Elvis by Michael T. Bertrand

Best Research in Recorded Jazz or Blues
Best History: Kind of blue by Ashley Kahn
Best Discography/History: Artie Shaw : a musical biography and discography by Vladimir Simosko
Certificate of Merit: An unsung cat : the life and music of Warne Marsh by Safford Chamberlain
Certificate of Merit: The half ain't been told : an Otis Spann career discography by Bill Rowe; revised and updated by Chris Smith and Howard Rye

Best Research the General History of Recorded Sound
Off the record : the technology and culture of sound recording in America by David Morton

Best Research in Record Labels or Manufacturers
Best Discography: The R & B indies by Bob McGrath
Best History: Spinning the blues into gold : the Chess brothers and the legendary Chess Records by Nadine Cohodas
Certificate of Merit: American record labels and companies : an encyclopedia (1891-1943) by Allan Sutton and Kurt Nauck
Certificate of Merit: Suomalaitsen äänilevyjen luettelo, 1901-1945 by Rainer Strommer

Best Research in Phonographs
Discovering antique phonographs by Timothy C. Fabrizio and George F. Paul

2000
Recorded General Popular Music
Sessions with Sinatra : Frank Sinatra and the art of recording by Charles L. Granata
Certificate of Merit: Marigold : the music of Billy Mayerl by Peter Dickinson

Recorded Classical Music
More EJS : a discography of the Edward J. Smith recordings by William Shaman and William J. Collins

Recorded Rock, Rhythm & Blues, or Soul
Careless love : the unmaking of Elvis Presley by Peter Guralnick
Certificate of Merit: The great alternative rock and indie discography by Martin Strong

Recorded Jazz
Groovin' high : the life of Dizzy Gillespie by Alyn Shipton; Jimmy Dorsey : a study in contrasts by Robert L. Stockdale

Recorded Blues
A blues life by Henry Townsend as told to Bill Greensmith

Recorded Folk or Ethnic Music
Klezmer! : Jewish music from old world to our world by Henry Sapoznik

General History of Recorded Sound
A spiral way : how the phonograph changed ethnography by Erika Brady

Record Labels or Manufacturers
The Columbia master book discography (4 vols.) by Tim Brooks and Brian Rust
Certificate of Merit: Little Wonders records : a history and discography edited by Tim Brooks

Phonographs
Antique phonograph gadgets, gizmos, and gimmicks by Timothy Fabrizio and George Paul

1999
Recorded General Popular Music
"Lotte Lenya : a centenary tribute," by Richard Weize, Rainer E. Lotz, et al., liner notes to Bear Family CDs (1998)

Recorded Classical Music
"Budapest String Quartet", discography by Phil Hart in the ARSC Journal: Part 1 1924-1940, in vol. 28/2 (1997), Part 2 1941-1954, in vol.29/1 (1998), Part 3 1955-1966, in vol. 29/2 (1998)

Recorded Rock, Rhythm & Blues, or Soul
Elvis Presley : a life in music : the complete recording sessions by Ernst Jorgensen
Certificate of Merit: The Deadhead's taping compendium, volume 1 : 1959-1974 by Michael M. Getz and John R. Dwork

Recorded Jazz, Blues, or Gospel
John Coltrane : his life and music by Lewis Porter
Certificate of Merit: Dixonia : a bio-discography of Bill Dixon compiled by Ben Young

Recorded Country Music
The encyclopedia of country music : the ultimate guide to the music, edited by Paul Kingsbury

Recorded Folk or Ethnic Music
Music of Hindu Trinidad : songs from the India diaspora by Helen Myers

Record Labels or Manufacturers
Making people's music : Moe Asch and Folkways Records by Peter D. Goldsmith

1998
Recorded General Popular Music
Hitler's airwaves : the inside story of Nazi radio broadcasting and propaganda swing by Horst J. P. Bergmeier and Rainer E. Lotz

Recorded Classical Music
The orchestra on record, 1896-1926 : an encyclopedia of orchestral recordings made by the acoustical process by Claude Arnold
Certificate of Merit: The London Philharmonic discography by Philip Stuart

Recorded Rock, Rhythm & Blues, or Soul
American Bandstand : Dick Clark and the making of a rock 'n' roll empire by John A. Jackson

Recorded Jazz or Blues
The birth of bebop : a social and musical history by Scott DeVeaux
Certificate of Merit: Space is the place : the lives and times of Sun Ra by John F. Szwed

Recorded Gospel Music
Roosevelt's blues : African-American blues and gospel songs on FDR by Guido van Rijn
Certificate of Merit: Woke me up this morning : Black gospel singers and the gospel life by Alan Young

Recorded Country Music
Ramblin' Rose : the life and career of Rose Maddox by Jonny Whiteside
Certificate of Merit: "Cliff Bruner and His Texas Wanderers," liner notes by Kevin Coffey to the 5-CD set (Bear Family Records [BCD 15932] 1997)
Certificate of Merit: The Statler Brothers discography, compiled by Alice Y. Holtin

Recorded Folk or Ethnic Music
A day for the hunter, a day for the prey : popular music and power in Haiti by Gage Averill

Record Labels or Manufacturers
Soulsville U.S.A. : the story of Stax Records by Rob Bowman

Phonographs
The talking machine : an illustrated compendium by Timothy C. Fabrizio and George F. Paul

1997
Recorded General Popular Music
"Friedrich Hollander", liner notes by Viktor Rotthaler for the CD release by Bear Family Records (1996)

Recorded Classical Music
Otto Klemperer : his life and times by Peter Heyworth, discography by Michael Gray

Recorded Rock, Rhythm & Blues, or Soul
Doowop : the Chicago scene by Robert Pruter

Recorded Jazz, Blues, or Gospel
Stan Getz : a life in jazz by Donald L. Maggin

Recorded Country Music
Ernest Tubb : the Texas troubadour by Ronnie Pugh

Recorded Folk or Ethnic Music
"Songs for Political Action: Folk Music, Topical Songs and the American Left, 1926-1953," liner notes by Ronald D. Cohen and Dave Samuelson for the CD set issued by Bear Family Records (1996)

Record Labels or Manufacturers
Stage to studio : musicians and the sound revolution, 1890-1950 by James P. Kraft

Phonographs
Columbia phonograph companion, volume 2 : the Columbia disc graphophone and the grafonola by Robert W. Baumbach

1996
Recorded General Popular Music
Tommy Dorsey : on the side by Robert L. Stockdale

Recorded Classical Music
Guillaume de Machaut : a guide to research by Lawrence Earp

Recorded Jazz, Blues, or Gospel
A life in ragtime : a biography of James Reese Europe by Reid Badger

Recorded Rock, Rhythm & Blues, or Soul
Rock Mr. Blues : the life and music of Wynonie Harris by Tony Collins

Recorded Country Music
The Waylon Jennings discography, compiled by John L. Smith

Recorded Folk or Ethnic Music
Ethnic and vernacular music, 1898-1960 : a resource and guide to recordings by Paul Vernon

Record Labels or Manufacturers
Berliner Gramophone Records : American issues, 1892-1900 by compiled by Paul Charosh

1995
Recorded General Popular Music
Television theme recordings : an illustrated discography, 1951-1994 by Steve Gelfand

Recorded Classical Music
Glyndebourne recorded : sixty years of recordings, 1934-1994 by Paul Campion and Rosy Runciman

Recorded Rock, Rhythm & Blues, or Soul
The Kinks, part one : you really got me, an illustrated world discography of the Kinks, 1964-1993 by Doug Hinman with Jason Brabazon
Certificate of Merit: Last train to Memphis : the rise of Elvis Presley by Peter Guralnick

Recorded Jazz, Blues, or Gospel
Thinking jazz : the infinite art of improvisation by Paul F. Berliner

Recorded Country Music
Milton Brown and the founding of western swing by Cary Ginell

Recorded Folk or Ethnic Music
Cuba canta y baila : discografia de la musica Cubana, vol. 1 : 1898-1925 by Cristobal Diaz Ayala

Record Labels or Manufacturers (Histories)
Directory of American disc record brands and manufacturers, 1891-1943 by Allan Sutton

Record Labels or Manufacturers (Discographies)
EJS, discography of the Edward J. Smith recordings : the golden age of opera, 1956-1971 by William Shaman, William J. Collins, and Calvin M. Goodwin
Certificate of Merit: His Master's Voice / Die Stimme seines Herrn : the German catalog (1898-1929), compiled by Alan Kelly.

Vintage Phonographs
The Edison cylinder phonograph companion by George Frow

1994
Recorded General Popular Music
Frank Munn : a biodiscography of the golden voice of radio by Rodney Steiner and Thomas A. Delong

Recorded Classical Music
Adelina Patti : queen of hearts by John Frederick Cone

Recorded Rock, Rhythm & Blues, or Soul
Louie, Louie : the history and mythology of the world's most famous rock 'n' roll song by Dave Marsh

Recorded Jazz, Blues, or Gospel
Going to Cincinnati : a history of the blues in the Queen City by Steven C. Tracy

Recorded Country Music
The Stonemans : an Appalachian family and the music that shaped their lives by Ivan M. Tribe

Recorded Folk or Ethnic Music
Lydia Mendoza : a family autobiography, compiled and introduced by Chris Strachwitz and Jim Nicolopulos

Record Labels or Manufacturers
The Mercury Labels : a discography by Michael Ruppli and Ed Novitsky

Recording Technology
Playback equalizer settings for 78 RPM recordings by James R. Powell, Jr. and Randall G. Stehle

General Reference in the Field of Recorded Sound
The banjo on record : a bio-discography by Uli Heier and Rainer E. Lotz

1993
Recorded General Popular Music
Dino : living high in the dirty business of dreams by Nick Tosches

Recorded Classical Music
Early recordings and musical style : changing tastes in instrumental performance, 1900-1950 by Robert Philip

Recorded Rock, Rhythm & Blues, or Soul
England's dreaming : anarchy, Sex Pistols, punk rock, and beyond by Jon Savage

Recorded Jazz, Blues, or Gospel
"Louis Jordan," liner notes by Peter Grendysa to the Bear Family Records CD set (1992)

Recorded Country Music
"Johnnie & Jack," liner notes by Eddie Stubbs and Walt Trott to the Bear Family Records CD set (1992)

Recorded Folk or Ethnic Music
A passion for polka : old-time ethnic music in America by Victor R. Greene

Record Labels or Manufacturers
Trumpet Records : an illustrated history with discography by Marc Ryan

Cataloging and Access to Recordings
Archival information processing for sound recordings by David A. Thomas (MLA Technical Report no.21, Music Library Association, 1992)

1992
Recorded General Popular Music
A Gershwin companion : a critical inventory & discography, 1916-1984 by Walter Rimler

Recorded Classical Music
Igor Stravinsky--the composer in the recording studio : a comprehensive discography by Philip Stuart

Recorded Rock, Rhythm & Blues, or Soul
For discography:  Positively Bob Dylan : a thirty-year discography, concert, and recording guide, 1960-1991 by Michael Krogsgaard
For historical research:  Big beat heat : Alan Freed and the early years of rock & roll by John A. Jackson

Recorded Jazz or Blues
The song of the Hawk : the life and recordings of Coleman Hawkins by John Chilton

Recorded Country Music
"Johnny Horton," liner notes by Colin Escott to the Bear Family Records CD set (BCD 15470, 1991)

Recorded Folk or Ethnic Music
"Michael Coleman," liner notes by Harry Bradshaw to the Viva Voce 2-cassette set (Viva Voce 004, 1991) [Later released on CD: Gael-Linn/Viva Voce CEFCD 161]

Record Labels or Manufacturers
Chicago soul by Robert Pruter

1991
Recorded General Popular Music
The complete Judy Garland : the ultimate guide to her career in films, records, concerts, radio, and television, 1935-1969 by Emily R. Coleman

Recorded Classical Music
A Gregorian chant discography by Jerome F. Weber

Recorded Rock, Rhythm & Blues, or Soul
"The Classic Carl Perkins", liner notes by Colin Escott to the Bear Family Records CD set (BCD 15494, 1990)

Recorded Jazz or Blues
You got to be original, man : the music of Lester Young by Frank Buchmann-Moller

Recorded Country, Folk, or Ethnic Music
Ethnic music on records : a discography of ethnic recordings produced in the United States, 1893 to 1942 by Richard Spottswood

Recorded Spoken Word
"The Jack Kerouac Collection", liner notes by David Perry and James Austin to the Rhino WordBeat set (R 70939, 1990)

Record Labels or Manufacturers
His Master's Voice/La voix de son maître, the French catalog : a complete catalogue of French gramophone recordings made from 1898 to 1929 in France and elsewhere by the Gramophone Company Ltd. by Alan Kelly

Preservation or Reproduction of Recordings
A manual of sound archive administration by Alan Ward