ABOUT

SYNOPSIS

There are few cultural universals quite like music. It has the power to invoke the entire gamut of human emotions in a way almost nothing else can. For The Record: An Incomplete History of Music is an epic new nine part docuseries from the award winning The Cosmic Shambles Network exploring the history of music like no series ever has before.

Over four years in the making, and presented by Charlotte Ritchie (Ghosts, You, Taskmaster) viewers will take a jam packed journey from the very first sound waves at the beginning of the known Universe to the future of music in a world of streaming and AI. On the way we’ll look at everything from birdsong to blues, jazz to jungle and pianos to prehistory. This is the ultimate mixtape of music history.

Featuring over 100 exclusive interviews with leading musicians, scientists, and historians from around the world, alongside rare archival recordings, For The Record: An Incomplete History of Music tells the ultimate story of how, when, and why music came to be.

DIRECTOR’S NOTE

“As a non-musician I have always been fascinated by, and enamoured with music. Some of my fondest memories are either attached to music or involve being at a music event. So when choosing the next topic for our ‘Incomplete History of…’ series it seemed such a natural choice as a way to explore a thing I loved so much but knew little of beyond what I enjoyed. It didn’t take too long into the research period to realise that the story of music, is the story of humanity itself in many ways. 

And so, in true Shambles style, we couldn’t do it by half measures. With every interview we did, it led me to another corner of music history I wanted to explore, another person I wanted to talk to, and then another, and then another, and then another, and at some point you just have to embrace the ‘incomplete’ moniker and keep researching in your spare time or the series would never get finished. 

By the time Glastonbury fallow weekend rolls around, and the series is released, It will be over four years in the making, our biggest project yet, and I’m incredibly excited for people to take a look at the history of music in a way that has never been told before because, let’s be honest, no-one else is foolhardy enough to try.”

– Trent Burton, Director

For a longer read, here is the story of how the series came to be written by director and producer Trent Burton. This is An Incomplete History of An Incomplete History of Music. Read it here.