MISSION

Detroit Sound Conservancy is a community-based archive dedicated to preserving, activating, and celebrating Detroit’s musical heritage. 

DSC shares its resources to support archival practices that amplify this heritage and safeguard its history—of people, movements, legends, and lore. Through archival preservation practices, education initiatives and intergenerational live performance programming, DSC preserves and provides access to the vivid memory of musical movements, uplifts artistic legacies, counteracts reductive representation, and centers the act of listening as a cornerstone of community. 

VISION

Detroit is the greatest musical city in the world. Driven by Black voices and creativity, Detroiters innovated techno, funk, rock and jazz, and have shaped nearly every musical genre, from punk and rap to soul and blues. Across generations, deep commitment and fearlessness mark the essence of the Detroit sound. DSC stands in sonic solidarity with that fearlessness and commitment.

Detroit Sound Conservancy will ensure our vital heritage of musical innovation is not lost, neglected or forgotten. Championing and preserving Detroit’s powerful legacy means looking ahead, too. DSC will connect our past to Detroit music’s present and future.

How We’ll Achieve This Vision – Bringing it All Back Home: 

DSC will safeguard artifacts, recordings, and oral histories, ensuring the continuity and connection between the past, present, and future of Detroit music.

We will educate, convene, and mentor, fostering a deep understanding and appreciation for Detroit’s musical heritage among students, scholars, tourists, and the public. 

We will honor and nurture musical talent through supporting live experiences that embody the essence of Detroit. 

We will share our knowledge locally, regionally, nationally, and globally as a proud leader and collaborator in the effort to preserve musical and artistic heritage.

We will cultivate community pride and connectivity by providing access to historic cultural spaces serving as beacons that illuminate our rich history and heritage– with our vibrant thriving home, the Blue Bird Inn.

GOALS

PRESERVATION

Acquire, catalog, conserve, and curate historical artifacts and oral histories to safeguard Detroit’s musical past, present, and future.

EDUCATION

Convene, teach, and mentor students, scholars, tourists, and the general public through our collections and programs.

PERFORMANCE

Honor, maintain, and incubate musical talent and experience live, on the bandstand, in the club, and intergenerationally—the Detroit way.

PLACEKEEPING

Build relationships and bolster community pride by providing access to a historic cultural space that focuses attention on history and heritage.

Updated 14 June 2019