Research Guides: How To Find...: Music

Music Databases

Alexander Street Music Online
Consists of American Music, Classical Music Library, Contemporary World Music, Jazz Music Library, Popular Music Library, and Smithsonian Global Sound for Libraries.
Oxford Music Online
Comprehensive music reference resource providing access to Grove Music Online, The Oxford Dictionary of Music, and The Oxford Companion to Music. Content includes composer biographies, music theory terms and concepts, information about regional and cultural styles, and much more. Oxford Music Online also offers multimedia content, including hundreds sound files and thousands of images, including photographs and notation examples.

Live Music Archive (Internet Archive)
A community committed to providing the highest quality live concerts in a lossless, downloadable format. Preserves and archives as many live concerts as possible for current and future generations to enjoy. "All music is from trade-friendly artists and is strictly non-commercial, both for access here and for any further distribution."
Archival Sound Recordings (British Library)
Note: As of Dec. 2023, the British Library resources are temporarily unavailable due to a cybersecurity breach. Digital access to selected recordings from the British Library Sound Archive. U.S. researchers can search all recordings on the site, listen to recordings where copyright permits (currently over 22,900 items), and view notes and tags added by other users.
Classical Cat
Free MP3 recordings of compositions across the world
Library of Congress: National Jukebox
At launch, the Jukebox includes more than 10,000 recordings made by the Victor Talking Machine Company between 1901 and 1925. Jukebox content will be increased regularly, with additional Victor recordings and acoustically recorded titles made by other Sony-owned U.S. labels, including Columbia, OKeh, and others.

Idagio
Idagio is a music streaming service focused specifically on classical music. They offer a free plan or subscription options.
Spotify
Spotify offers both a free and subscription service which allows users to create playlists, browse artists, and stream audio from a number of devices.
YouTube Music
YouTube's music streaming platform. You can use YouTube Music for audio and for music videos. There is a free option and a subscription option.