Very sadly in early March 2019, Michael Kinnear passed away. More recently he had been engaged as a special consultant to major record companies and he had liaised with other discographic researchers on private projects, with an interest in preserving and promoting the musical heritage of a number of cultures as represented in sound recordings made over the past century. The primary main sources while living overseas of his research were from EMI Archives, London, The National Sound Archives, London, The British Library, Oriental and British Office Collections, London, The Gramophone Company of India Ltd., Dum Dum, also their offices in Mumbai, Kolkata and London and Phonotheque Nationale, Paris or out on some ‘field-trip’ in search of some long forgotten musician or recording artist, or persons connected with the sound recording industry. He had collected a large number of rare and unusual recordings as the result of numerous visits to India and other countries. Over the past several years, he has published numerous articles in “The Record News”, the Journal of the Society and a variety of journals with a specialized interest in sound recordings along with giving talks on the subject in Australia, England and India. In 1990, Michael helped establish The Society of Indian Record Collectors, in Mumbai, as a forum for other record collectors and music lovers to share their interest. He has also written and published ‘The Zon-o-phone Record’ in collaboration with Ernie Bayly. His published works include ‘A Discography of Hindustani and Karnatic Music’ ‘The Gramophone Company’s First Indian Recordings, 1899 to 1907’, ‘The Gramophone Company’s Indian Recordings 1908 to 1910’, ‘The 78 rpm Record Labels of India”, ‘The Gramophone Company’s Persian Recordings, 1899 to 1934’, ‘Nicole Record’ – ‘ Sangeet Ratna – The Jewel of Music, a Bio-Discography of Khan Sahib Abdul Karim Khan’.
He has published several comprehensive discographies of early Indian Recordings and to detailing the activities of numerous sound recording expeditions and companies that have been active in India, Asia and the Middle East.
Over the past forty five years he had been deeply involved in research into the origins and development of the sound recording industry, particularly in regard to annotating the sound recordings of India, Asia and the Middle East, along with investigating which companies and manufacturers produced the recordings on a vast array of labels. He had worked in all aspects of the sound recording industry, including, recording, producing, marketing, research into all types and styles of music, record labels and companies, as well as involvement in the presentation and production of live concerts and tours of Western and ‘Oriental’ musicians. This exposure led him to an interest in the recordings of various countries, including India, Asia and the Middle East. MICHAEL KINNEAR (1945 – 2019) – a discographer and private researcher into the early sound recording industry with particular emphasis on documenting the Recording Industry of India, Asia and the Middle East and a discographic analysis of all sound recordings from these regions.īorn in Adelaide, South Australia, started his working career with EMI Records, Australia, in 1962, attached to the dispatch department, and later worked in the research section, detailing incoming releases from around the world.
Welcome to ‘bajakhana’, Michael Kinnear’s website into research on Indian and Persian sound recordings, along with research on early sound recording companies.