More than 700 albums from the Soviet Union's major record company, Melodiya, will be released through the iTunes media library, with the first half becoming available Tuesday.
The next portion is due to be released in November, the company said in an statement Monday. The albums will also be available in other online libraries next year.
The move is a part of the company's effort to digitize its vast collection of records by Soviet and Russian singers. Recently, the company started selling music from its archive on its website on its 50th birthday.
"Digitizing the company's catalog is a logic step toward selling its content worldwide. With time, old records are getting more and more affected by the environment," Melodiya general director Andrei Krichevsky said. "It is now a critical moment to save them and preserve the unique sound for future generations."
