[1][2] It was founded in 2007 by its current editor, Justin A. Brummer, a historian with a PhD in contemporary Anglo-American relations from University College London.

[3][4] The project analyses the lyrics, and collects data on the genre, location, ethnicity, nationality, language, and time period of the recordings.

Additional items collected include cassette tapes, CDs, MP3s, record label scans, and sheet music.

[11] Hugo Keesing, adjunct professor of American Studies at the University of Maryland, and the producer of the 13 CD box-set compilation Next Stop Is Vietnam is also a major contributor of songs and record scans.

[25] Furthermore, McCoy remarks "Dr. Brummer...combs record stores around the world looking for obscure and unique songs written about the war, and the collection he's continually building is some serious and important work".

[35] Franklin Fantini, founder of the Dollar Country archive, wrote "The VWSP is amazing to behold, containing thousands of discs that are organized, researched, and written about.