日本蓄音器商會是日治時期臺灣唱片界中經營時間最早最久的一家唱片公司，並首開灌錄臺灣音樂唱片的風氣。該公司以古倫美亞爲商標所製作的臺灣唱片之母盤目前全數完整地收藏在日本國立民族學博物館，成爲研究日治時期臺灣音樂的珍貴寶庫。由於以老唱片和歷史錄音探討臺灣音樂史和臺灣音樂社會史，恰好呼應了目前國際學界的新興研究趨勢，因此本文先簡述此研究趨勢，接着回顧過去以來有關日治時期臺灣唱片的研究現況，再勾勒古倫美亞唱片在臺灣的發展歷史以及與臺灣社會的密切互動關係，最後則指出該批唱片作爲臺灣音樂史料的意義，並提出一些可能的研究方向，包括當時的樂種曲目、演出人員、演出風格、音樂觀念、樂種劇種之互文關係、傳統音樂戲曲與流行歌演出者的模糊界限、對於中日和西洋音樂元素的挪用、與廣播工業相輔相成的關係、所反映出的殖民政策和臺灣社會變遷、臺灣文化的多重性格、日臺中西唱片工業和流行文化的交流、臺灣人民的音樂認同和文化認同等等。

Nippon Chikuonki Shoukai (Japan Gramophone Company) was the record company that started the earliest and lasted the longest during the Japanese colonial period in Taiwan. It was also the company that pioneered the making of records featuring Taiwan music. The originals of the records that the company issued in colonial Taiwan under the Columbia label are all deposited at the National Museum of Ethnology of Japan and constitute the treasure bank of Taiwan music during the Japanese period. Since using old records and historical recordings to study Taiwan music history and the social history of music in Taiwan coincides with the current trends in international academic community, this paper first introduces these current trends, then reviews the literature on the study of records issued in colonial Taiwan and gives an overview of the development of Columbia record in Taiwan and its close interaction with Taiwan society. Finally, the paper highlights the significance of Columbia records as the primary sources for Taiwan music history, and then suggests topics for further studies, such as musical genres and repertory, performers, style, musical concept, intertexuality among various musical and operatic genres, the blurred boundaries between performers of traditional music and operas and those of pop songs, the appropriation of Chinese, Japanese, and western musical elements, the close relationship between record and broadcasting industries, Japan's colonial policy and the social change in Taiwan as reflected through Columbia records, the multi-faceted character of Taiwan culture, the intercultural exchanges of the record industries and popular cultures among Taiwan, China, Japan, and the West, the question of musical and cultural identities of Taiwanese people, and so on.