Records which conform to these standards can then be transferred to the archive with much of the initial processing and preservation already paid for. This is management of the record at the time of creation or before it ever comes into the archive. It must be remembered however that commercial manufacturers are just that - they do not consider or cater for archival needs. They record, experiment, entertain if you will, but not necessarily with the future in mind. This is especially true of recordings of musical works.
Sound recordings tend to become a private or personal entertainment.
Therefore we do have to ask in appraising sound recordings for archive purposes just why and for what purpose we are preserving the material. Archives may be in a reasonable position to keep up with the acquisition of current or recent material, but historical commercial recordings and the non-commercial recordings pose additional and serious problems. This, in turn, meant that a very large number of early recordings did not survive. Most sound recordings were not primarily designed with preservation in mind, but to produce reasonable quality playback combined with low-cost manufacture. Hence the problems presented to the technician for restoration or re-recording.