STEF was founded in 1948 on the initiative of composer Jón Leifs and the full name of the association was the Union of Composers and Owners of the Rights to Perform. The archive contains letters, minutes and other documents that shed light on the history of the association and thus on the musical history of Iceland.

An agreement was made that the National Archives of Iceland will receive STEF data, clean it, classify, register and scan for publication in the National Archives’ file. The picture shows National Archives Director Hrefna Róbertsdóttir and STEF Director Guðrún Björk Bjarnadóttir signing the agreement. They are accompanied by Ólafur Arnar Sveinsson, Director of Communication and Research at the National Archives and Gudmundur Þór Guðjónsson, STEF Director of Finance.