Newspapers as a Source for Studying the Music Business in England, 1660–1750

Examines some of the factors that aided the emergence and development of music as a business in London in the late seventeenth and early eighteenth century. Focusing on one of these factors, the burgeoning publishing industry and the associated increase in the number of newspapers that were published, the article discusses the rich source of information concerning the music business in London that is provided by the growing number of advertisements for musical performances contained within the newspapers. It also describes briefly the computer database known as the Register of Music in London Newspapers 1660–1750 that was developed at Royal Holloway University of London by Professor Rosamond McGuinness, this in effect created a second level archive from the original newspaper archive preserved in newspaper collections in the British Library and Bodleian Library.