Music Appreciation: Citing

Music: MLA Citation Examples (Carnegie Mellon University Libraries)

Single Audio Track

General Format
Songwriter/Composer.[Use Performer if no songwriter credit]. “Title of Song.” Title of Album if named. Perf. [name them]. [If Conductor or Bandleader, name them.] Label if named. Date of recording. Repository Name. Date of Access.
Example 1
Prince “When Doves Cry.” Purple Rain. Perf. Prince. Paisley Park Records. 1984. Spotify. 3 August 2020.

Example 2
Bernstein, Leonard and Stephen Sondheim. “Prologue.” West Side Story. The Original Broadway Cast Recording. Musical Dir: Max Goberman. Sony (SK 60724). 1957. Naxos. Web. 3 Aug. 2020.  

Liner Notes

General Format
Author. Liner Notes. Album Title. Album Information as appropriate. Date. Media Type. Access information where relevant.

Classical Album/CD Example
Goodwin, Noël. Liner notes. Symphony No. 1 in D, Op. 25 'Classical.' Music by Sergey Prokofiev. Perf. Scottish National Orchestra. Cond. Neeme Järvi. Chandos, 1985. CD.

Folk/Online Database Example
Lornell, Kip. Liner notes. Virginia Traditions: Tidewater Blues. Perf. Carl Hodges,John Cephas, et. al. Smithsonian Folkways Recordings, 1982. Smithsonian Global Sound for Libraries Database. Web. 18 Nov. 2019
 

Full Audio Albums

CD Recording Example
Prokofiev, Sergey. Symphony No. 1 in D, Op. 25 'Classical.'  Perf. Scottish National Orchestra. Cond. Neeme Järvi. Chandos, 1985. CD.

Online Database Recording Example 1
Prokofiev, Sergey. Symphony No. 1, 'Classical.' Ukraine National Symphony Orchestra. Cond. Theodore Kuchar. Naxos, 1997. Naxos. Web. 17 Sept. 2013.

Online Database Recording Example 2
Tuva, Among the Spirits: Sound, Music, and Nature in Sakha and Tuva, produced by Theodore Levin, fl. 1989 (Smithsonian Folkways Recordings, 1998). Smithsonian Folkways. Web. 3 Aug. 2020