Discography is the study and cataloging of published sound recordings, often by specified artists or within identified music genres. The exact information included varies depending on the type and scope of the discography, but a discography entry for a specific recording will often list such details as the names of the artists involved, the time and place of the recording, the title of the piece performed, release dates, chart positions, and sales figures.
A discography can also refer to the recordings catalogue of an individual artist, group, or orchestra. This is distinct from a sessionography, which is a catalogue of recording sessions, rather than a catalogue of the records, in whatever medium, that are made from those recordings. The two are sometimes confused, especially in jazz, as specific release dates for jazz records are often difficult to ascertain, and session dates are substituted as a means of organizing an artist's catalogue.
Another, more recent, definition of discography refers to a collection of musical recordings by a performer or composer, considered as a body of work. For instance, all studio albums by a performer could collectively be considered their discography.
A compilation of a performer's piano rolls is called a "rollography."
History
The term "discography" was popularized in the 1930s by collectors of jazz records, i.e. 'to study and write about the discs of music'. Jazz fans did research and self-published discographies about when jazz records were made and what musicians were on the records, as record companies did not commonly include that information on or with the records at that time. Two early jazz discographies were Rhythm on Record by Hilton Schleman and Hot Discography by Charles Delaunay.
Notable books of discography
The following books list detailed information on the complete discographies of specific record labels, music scenes or genres. Allen, Walter C. - Hendersonia: The Music of Fletcher Henderson and his Musicians, A Bio-discography, Jazz Monographs No. 4, Highland Park, N.J.: Walter C. Allen, 1973. Andrews, Frank - Columbia 10" records, 1904-30. [London]: City of London Phonograph and Gramophone Society, 1985 Arnold, Claude Graveley - The Orchestra on Record, 1896-1926: An Encyclopedia of Orchestral Recordings Made by the Acoustical Process, Greenwood Press 1997 Badrock, Arthur and Andrews, Frank - The "Cinch" Record (September 1913 - January 1916) [London]: City of London Phonograph and Gramophone Society, 2000 Badrock, Arthur - Tower Records (1920-1922) published by the author, Norwich, 2001 Balacco, Thomas - Aussie Vinyl Record Guide published by Hardshell Publishing, 2016 - Barr, Steven C. - The (Almost) Complete 78 r.p.m. Record Dating Guide. Second ed. [Toronto, Ont.]: S.C. Barr, 1980. 51 p. Without ISBN Barr, Steven C. - Canadian and Canadian-U.S. Label Numerical Correlations [of] 78 r.p.m. [disc recordings. Toronto, Ont.: S.C. Barr] 1983. 4 p. Bauer, Roberto - The New Catalogue of Historical Records, 1898-1908/09. London: Sidgwick & Jackson, 1947. 494 p. SBN (as found in the 1972 printing) 283-48420-9 Brooks, Tim - Little Wonder Records, The New Amberola Phonograph Company 1999 Connor, D. Russell and Hicks, Warren W. - BG On The Record; A bio-discography of Benny Goodman, Arlington House 1969