The archive was officially launched on 30 March 2006,[3] with a day of music from numerous contemporary performers including the Brian Irvine Ensemble.

At its launch, it contained approximately 400 recordings and a number of scanned sheet music of pieces by 20th-century and contemporary/classical composers born or settled in Northern Ireland.

[4] The Arts Council planned to enlarge this collection in the future, with the hope of expanding into other genres of music such as folk, rock and pop.

The new additions were profiled at an official event at the library, which featured live music from local traditional musicians and a speech and song from veteran folk/traditional singer, Len Graham.

[5] The Northern Ireland Music Archive features digitised materials of numerous formats: Recordings date from the 1960s up to the present.