09/24/2024 | Press release | Distributed by Public on 09/24/2024 13:27
WASHINGTON - Today, Congressman Joaquin Castro (TX-20) released his annual nomination list of songs, sounds, and albums by Latino voices that should be preserved in the National Recording Registry at the Library of Congress.
Established by the U.S. Congress in 2000, the National Recording Registry is designed to preserve sounds and recordings with cultural, historic, or aesthetic significance to life in the United States. As of 2024, the National Recording Registry includes 650 recordings, with 25 additional recordings added each year. Less than five percent of current recordings can be attributed to Latinos or Hispanics, who make up nearly 20 percent of the population of the United States.
Since Congressman Castro began submitting nomination lists in 2022, the National Recording Preservation Board has inducted recordings by four of his nominated artists - Juan Gabriel's "Amor Eterno" (1990), Héctor Lavoe's "El Cantante" (1978), Irene Cara's "Flashdance…What A Feeling" (1983), and Daddy Yankee's "Gasolina" (2004). "Gasolina" made history in 2023 as the first Reggaeton song to be preserved in the National Recording Registry.
To ensure that his nomination list reflects a wide range of music, genres, and generations, Congressman Castro solicited public feedback and received hundreds of suggestions from across the United States and the world. For the first time, Congressman Castro's 2024 nomination list includes a radio recording to honor the first full-time Spanish language radio broadcast in the United States, which aired on KCOR / KWEX in San Antonio, Texas in 1946. The Library of Congress will continue to collect public nominations for 2025 online through October 1, 2024.
"The National Recording Registry's existence speaks to the importance of music and audio in American culture and society. Latino music and its influence can be found across languages, geographical boundaries, and genres. Further, Spanish-language broadcasts demonstrate the diversity of culture in the United States…. The list below was selected with feedback from the public and each played a significant creative and cultural impact worthy of selection. I hope you will carefully consider each recording listed," Castro wrote in his nomination letter.
See the full letter here.