The Center for Popular Music

The Center for Popular Music Archive, research, and programming center for the study of American popular music broadly defined.

The Center's mission is to promote research in American vernacular music, and to foster an understanding and appreciation of America's diverse musical culture. Thus, the Center:
- manages and provides public access to a research archive
- presents public programs that interpret various aspects of American vernacular music
- engages in original research projects
- disseminates the results of resear

ch via publications in various media
- maintains a state-of-the-art recorded media preservation laboratory
sustains the educational mission of Middle Tennessee State University

The CPM is sad to mourn the passing of singer, songwriter, actor, philanthropist, entrepreneur, and Tennessean Dolly Par...
08/25/2026

The CPM is sad to mourn the passing of singer, songwriter, actor, philanthropist, entrepreneur, and Tennessean Dolly Parton. Her songs were unforgettable, and her charitable work in communities in Eastern Tennessee (Especially with ) had an impact on the lives of millions.

Here is a promotional standee of Dolly from her iconic 1980 film 9 to 5 that is pretty much the mascot of our archive.

Feel free to share your memories of Dolly and her music in the comments, and we'll share more items relating to her from our archive in the coming days.

Our first LP staff pick of the Fall semester is from our audio curator, Martin! It's the 1967 album It's Only the Good T...
08/25/2026

Our first LP staff pick of the Fall semester is from our audio curator, Martin!

It's the 1967 album It's Only the Good Times from Mr. Entertainment (Later Mr. Las Vegas) himself, Wayne Newton.

This album was one of four (!!) LPs that Newton put out for Capitol Records in 1967 and has some nice easy listening vibes with a mix of covers of standards, songs from movies, and more.

Happy first day of the Fall Semester!The CPM is open from 8:30-4:00, Monday to Friday, for all your popular music resear...
08/24/2026

Happy first day of the Fall Semester!

The CPM is open from 8:30-4:00, Monday to Friday, for all your popular music research needs!

We also have a charging station, listening station with a turntable, printer, and some comfy chairs in our Reading Room if you need a place to chill between classes.

Stop by and say hi and grab our new Fall Semester button!

We got a new CPM button before GTA6 came out!!Come by our reading from 8:30-4:00 to snag one while supplies last!
08/21/2026

We got a new CPM button before GTA6 came out!!

Come by our reading from 8:30-4:00 to snag one while supplies last!

Thanks to a generous donation from retired English faculty member Bill Levine, we have free copies of the latest issue o...
08/19/2026

Thanks to a generous donation from retired English faculty member Bill Levine, we have free copies of the latest issue of the Oxford American at the CPM reading room.

Come by, pick up a copy, and read some scrumptious articles about everything from wine and country music to Texas BBQ and trees and even recipes from Kentucky horseback librarians!

Wild Pokémon have invaded the CPM (Break room)! Who's your favorite Pokémon?
08/18/2026

Wild Pokémon have invaded the CPM (Break room)!

Who's your favorite Pokémon?

Happy . (Or Hartford Monday?)Continuing from last's week installment, here is a more in-depth look at Martin's work wit...
08/17/2026

Happy . (Or Hartford Monday?)

Continuing from last's week installment, here is a more in-depth look at Martin's work with the John Hartford Audio Collection and a peek into the archive.

This photo is the John Hartford "processing" shelf area. (Not everything pictured is Hartford.) The small rectangular boxes on the top three shelves are full of cassettes waiting to be digitized.

The second shelf from the top is a variety of sundry things, Hartford and otherwise. The third, fourth, and fifth down are tapes, and boxes of tapes, that have already been digitized and had their relevant and available print information scanned and matched up with the audio on our server.

Come back in a couple weeks for more information about Martin's work with this wonderful collection that you can learn more in the finding aid at the below link.

https://w1.mtsu.edu/popmusic/findingaids/pdfaids/JohnHartfordAudio.pdf

Happy birthday to the late MTSU English professor and scholar of American vernacular and traditional music, Charles K. W...
08/14/2026

Happy birthday to the late MTSU English professor and scholar of American vernacular and traditional music, Charles K. Wolfe. Dr. Wolfe passed away in 2006, and would have turned 83 today.

Charles Wolfe's accomplishments and publications are too numerous to mention in a social media post. He wrote or co-wroteover 20 books, including the award-winning 1999 title A Good-Natured Riot: The Birth of the Grand Ole Opry, and received the Association for Recorded Sound Collections (ARSC) Lifetime Achievement Award in 2000.

The CPM houses the Charles K. Wolfe Audio Collection, which contains over 3,000 tapes of interviews and oral histories that Wolfe conducted with musicians ranging from Maybelle Carter and Kitty Wells to Bill Monroe and Alison Krauss and much more.

You can find out more about the Wolfe Audio Collection at this link. https://popmusic.mtsu.edu/wolfeaudiogrammygrant

Before arriving at My Chemical Romance's show at Nissan Stadium tonight, the MCR Trans Flag is making a pit stop at the ...
08/13/2026

Before arriving at My Chemical Romance's show at Nissan Stadium tonight, the MCR Trans Flag is making a pit stop at the Center for Popular Music, one of the oldest and biggest archives of American popular and vernacular. (This includes My Chemical Romance CDs and DVDs as well as books and magazines about them.)

This flag features stories and signatures from transgender and gender non-conforming fans of My Chemical Romance and will be proudly carried by CPM librarian Logan at tonight's concert.

Here are some more additions to our Reading Room collection!We've got Kathleen A. Abromeit's An Index to Spirituals that...
08/12/2026

Here are some more additions to our Reading Room collection!

We've got Kathleen A. Abromeit's An Index to Spirituals that will be invaluable to anyone doing research on traditional African American music, the wonderful edited volume Black Star Rising and the Purple Reign that explores the legacy of the late Prince and David Bowie.

There's also Dan DiPiero's Big Feelings that explores the indie pop music of Vagabon, Soccer Mommy, boygenius, and more through a q***r and feminist theory lens.

Address

1735 Blue Raider Drive (Bragg Media And Entertainment Building)
Murfreesboro, TN
37132

Opening Hours

Monday 8:30am - 4pm
Tuesday 8:30am - 4pm
Wednesday 8:30am - 4pm
Thursday 8:30am - 4pm
Friday 8:30am - 4pm

Telephone

+16158982449

Website

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