Soundies Music Of The 1940s

Between 1940 and 1946 the Soundies Distributing Corporation of America produced three-minute musical 16mm films, each containing a song, dance and/or band or orchestral number in collections of eight to a reel. They were called "soundies"

African-American artists had fewer opportunities to perform in films so soundies are the only format in which some of their rare performances are preserved.