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Music
Music Resources
Getting Started
Keywords
Think about words that describe your topic and the variations of that word as well as artists and groups that are involved in the musical genre you are studying. Boundaries are not clear-cut between styles and some artists cross musical styles (rock n' roll can get country radio airplay) and many artists attribute other music and musicians with influencing their own style and development (the members of the Rolling Stones admit to being influenced by many of the earlier African-American blues musicians.) This can give you great angles for your research, but can also make it hard to stay focused on a small enough topic for a paper.
Encyclopedias
Encyclopedias are a good place to start your research. They can help you identify a topic for your paper, and often include useful bibliographies.
The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians
REFERENCE ML 100 .N48 2001
More than a dictionary, this is actually one of the premier encyclopedic resources on music and musicians. If you don't look at anything else, look at this. An older edition of this is in the Book Stacks at the same call number and the volumes can be checked out.
Encyclopedia of Rhythm & Blues and Doo-Wop Vocal Groups
REFERENCE ML 102 .P66 R67 2000
New Grove Gospel, Blues and Jazz
BOOK STACKS ML 3556 .O456 1986b
New Grove Dictionary of Jazz
REFERENCE ML 102 .J3 N48 2001
South America, Mexico, Central America, and the Caribbean
REFERENCE ML 100 .G16
Music Index
BOOK STACKS and REFERENCE ML 118 .M84
Yearly indexes from 1961-on which help you in research for articles published before 1969 (the RILM database found in our Research Databases collection begins coverage with 1969).
Useful Subject Terms
Can't think of terms to accurately describe your topic? Library catalogs use specific subject headings to group related books together. 'Music' is such a large topic, you will want to think of ways to narrow it down, by time, geography, musical genre, specific performer, etc. Ask a librarian to help, or here are some examples to think about:
- Music -- 20th century -- History
- Music -- Caribbean area -- Video recordings
- Coltrane, John, 1926-1967 (note the last name, first name when looking for a person as subject)
- Musical instruments
- Reggae Music
Genre Searches
If you are interested in a specific type of resource, such as video recordings of music performances, we have the tool for you! In the library catalog, change the search field label to GENRE/FORM and type in "music". This is a growing category, but right now you will find:
- Music Electronic Journals (all full-text journals we have in electronic format, we do have print titles as well)
- Music Video Recordings (these may be documentaries or offer interviews and analysis compared to the Music Videos category)
- Music Videos (these are recordings of performances and there is some overlap of titles as in the Music Video Recordings category)
- Musical Films (films where music plays an important role in mood, plot development or other aspect of storytelling.)
Browse the Book Stacks
Sometimes, just looking through the shelves can turn up works you would not have considered otherwise. Using the Library of Congress subject system, Music is shelved in the M call number area. The Wikipedia online encyclopedia provides a list of the subclasses in the M area so you can see how this is organized.
Articles
Music journals include some of the latest research in the field as well as discussion of performances, styles and historical developments. They're a good source for finding very detailed information on your topic. It's best to start with a couple of books before diving into journals to get ideas on terms to use in your search. To find articles, you need to start with research databases and the databased best for research in the arts will be found in the Visual Arts Databases link.
Some databases do not offer full text of the articles. Use the 
button to check our other resources for full text.
Special note: See the Lexis Nexis Academic help page on Reviews for instructions to quickly locate reviews (not scholarly.)
Internet
Your instructor may allow use of some web pages you find on the Wild Wild Web. NOT ALL SITES ARE OF EQUAL VALUE TO YOU AS A RESEARCHER. Exercise caution with statements you find and discographies as well as downloading any songs you might come across. You don't know without careful checking what is truth and what is fiction, but the instructor grading your paper is going to know!
As for downloading, between harmful viruses and lawsuits being brought by the RIAA (Recording Industry of Association of America) who is aggressively pursuing users who download illegally, it just isn't worth the risk.
Organizations & Associations
ASCAP American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers
BMI Broadcast Music Incorporated
International Music Council (part of UNESCO)
Music Related Associations A-M and N-Z
Musical Associations and Professional Societies(list maintained by Indiana University)
NAMMInternational Music Products Association, formerly National Association of Music Merchants
National Association for Music Education and its California Chapter
Other Sources
Center for Black Music Research
The Library & Archives link is the portal to various resources including descriptions of various musical styles in African and African-American music, bibliographies and discographies.
Copyright for Music Librarians This isn't just for librarians, but can help answer questions you may have about using music in class presentations, art installations and more. Also see the thorough treatment at Stanford University's Copyright & Fair Use site.
Cylinder Preservation and Digitization Project This is a collection of music recorded on cylinders and digitized to play either on-site or download as an i-tune. Text is provided on the history of the cylinder recording.
Digital Sheet Music Collection (University of Colorado)
This collection has an emphasis on regional (Colorado and the West) music with a collection of ragtime sheet music. Digitized covers and music cover the time period 1890-1922.
Directory Of Open Access Journals Click on "music" for access to freely-available full text online journals.
International Foundation for Music Research A limited and not-frequently updated site with the goal of examining the relationship of music to physical and emotional wellness. Some useful topics are addressed in the MuSICA Research Notes, but each issue must be searched individually.
Music Career Resources (maintained by Berkelee School of Music) An extensive list of books, directories and online resources.
Music Journals and Magazines, Newspapers and Periodicals From Indiana University School of Music, an extensive alphabetical list of journals and other publications found online. Not all will provide full-text of the journals, but what is available is noted.
Music Reference Online Resources From Rider University Libraries, a list of links to online reference tools and sites on a variety of musical topics including sacred and religious music, popular music, history, composers and music education.
Ographies (Society for Ethnomusicology) Bibliographies, discographies, filmographies and videographies of ethnic music as published in Ethnomusicology: The Journal of the Society of Ethnomusicology.
Performing Arts Encyclopedia (Library of Congress) Providing links to digitized collections and exhibits as well as bibliographies to lead to more. Both searchable and browseable to find the rich variety of resources.
Video On Demand A collection of performances, lectures, interviews, and installations recorded at UCSD. These are free to watch using RealPlayer. Use the video finder subject divisions to look at the offering (advise using the Arts & Music collection and then using the "by subject" tab". A title/keyword search option is available also. Of interest are the various music sections.
Worldwide Internet Music Resources (Indiana University School of Music) offers an extensive list of links to museums, publications, genres and commercial aspects of music research.
Archives & Collections
Archive of Dissertation Abstracts in Music
Short listing of dissertations in music with access to abstracts.
British Library Sound Archive
This site focuses on describing the collections available at the British Library, but offers a large number of sound recordings available online and an extensive list of links to related European and American web sites on classical, popular and world music.
Doctoral Dissertations in Musicology
Listing of dissertations, both completed and in progress from around the world. List is maintained by Vanderbilt University.
International Guitar Research Archive (CSU Northridge)
Extensive bibliography of holdings and discography. The site is currently under development and more is being added all the time.
Music Theory Online Dissertation Index
Compilation of dissertations specifically on music theory maintained by the journal Music Theory Online. Click on the author link to access the abstract and content descriptors.
Other Resource Lists
Alternative
American
Classical
Jazz/Blues
Reggae, Ska, Rap and Hip-Hop
World Music & Ethnomusicology
Alternative music
Alternative music encompasses a wide variety of styles, political thought and purposes and has been recognized as a genre of music since the 1980's. As defined by the 2001 edition of The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, alternative music is 'Music that may be defined in opposition to other musics'. Some groups originally identified as alternative have moved into the current popular music mainstream, so whether they can still be identified as alternative is up to the performer and the listener. Some of the better known styles are punk, grunge, riot grrrl, indie (independent), emo, and post-rock.
Books
Due to the shifting nature and definition of alternative music, most materials in book format will be chapters within a larger work or studies on smaller movements (e.g., grunge) or related social movements (feminism) as there hasn't been a large body of scholarly study published on the genres. Here are some titles to explore:
American Popular Music: From Minstrelsy to MTV
4th Floor Stacks ML3477 .S73 2003
New Grove Dictionary of American Music
Reference ML101 .U6 N48
Rockin' Out of the Box: Gender Maneuvering in Alternative Hard Rock
4th Floor Stacks ML3918 .R63 S35 2002
Articles
Videos and sound recordings may be included as part of your research. Our collection can be keyword searched, and then limited to type of media (video or music recording). If you search under GENRE/FORM for music, you will note two different listings for 'music video recordings' and 'music videos'. Music videos are normally performances of music while the video recordings can be recorded interviews or instruction on music. The world of alternative music is moving so quickly that the subject heading labels created by the Library of Congress (the classification system used by most academic libraries) can't keep up. The most successful searches will be for particular performers or groups.
Journals devoted specifically to alternative music are mostly found on the Internet and consist of album and performance reviews, rarely presented in the objective and scholarly sense that you will need for a research paper. Some full-text sources available to CSUSM users are:
Billboard (available through Academic Search Elite, although articles are generally not scholarly)
Popular Music (in Periodicals 1991-on, or online 2000-on through CSUSM catalog)
Popular Music & Society (available through Academic Search Premier for materials older than 6 months, paper subscription for current articles will begin in 2004)
Postmodern Culture (available through Project Muse)
Rolling Stone (Recommend using the hard copy in Periodicals 1967-on to get the images as well as text. Online material older than most recent 4 weeks is available through Academic Search Premier)
Internet
Online journal for the genre, with lots of opinion-based text, but offers good resource lists to the independent labels, book and CD reviews and some interviews with artists. Some copyright-compliant downloads are offered.
Alternative Rock
From DMOZ, the Open Directory Project, a short list of sites for bands and artists, genres, e-zines and more.
BBC Radio 1-Alternative
Alternative music, recorded interviews, charts and more about the British indie scene.
Grammy Awards: Alternative Music Album
While this site is not the official Grammy site, the authors have listed each year's winning album (starting with 1991) with links to brief information about the group/artist and a timeline of their work.
Composers & Performers
Look for the musicians home page--but be sure it is the authorized site and not one put up by a fan. Frequently, the home page will be hosted by the record label of the artist.
Artists and Bands
Provided by About.com, this site provides links to a variety of alternate performers' sites, but since the page is viewed within the About.com frame, it is difficult to tell where you are or get the accurate citation information for your paper.
Individual Musicians (All Genres) and Popular Groups
Assembled by Indiana University, this covers a broad range of musical artists with alternative artists mixed in with pop and classical.
List of Alternative Music Artists
Provided by Wikipedia, the most useful part of the entry on alternative music is this list of artists, leading to entries discussing the group's history, influences and recordings.
American Music
Books
African-American Jazz Musicians in the Diaspora
On order
Century of American Popular Music: 2000 Best-Loved and Remembered Songs (1899-1999)
Reference ML128 .P63 J37 2002
Introducing American Folk Music
Book Stacks ML3551 .L67 1992
"Music of American Folk Song" and Selected Other Writings on American Folk Music
Book Stacks ML3551.1 .S44 2001
New Grove Dictionary of American Music
Reference ML101 .U6 N48
Recorded Music in American life: The Phonograph and Popular Memory, 1890-1945
On order
Three Centuries of American Music: A Collection of American Sacred and Secular Music
Reference M2.3 .U6 T47 v.1-12
Traditional American Folk Songs
Reference M1629.6 .A7 T7 1984
Articles
Materials held at CSUSM include the following titles along with others located through our library catalog:
-
Rolling Stone Magazine
-
Billboard
-
Electronic Musician
-
Popular Music
-
Journal of the American Musicological Society
Non-Book materials
CSUSM Media Library has a wide variety of sound recordings of American music. Of special note are the recordings made by Alan Lomax of early 20th Century American music. As his recordings have been released under several labels (including the Library of Congress and Rounder Records), the best way to find all the music he recorded and books he wrote is to do a KEYWORD search on Alan Lomax or AUTHOR search on Lomax, Alan.
If you search under GENRE/FORM for music, you will note two different listings for 'music video recordings' and 'music videos'. Music videos are normally performances while the video recordings can be recorded interviews or instruction on music.
Internet Sources
111 Greatest (Anglo-American) Folk Music Artists
An informed, but subjective list of 111 (plus more honorable mentions) British and American folk musicians. Each entry includes a link to a website containing more information.
American Memory
Brought to you by the Library of Congress, this is a collection of digitized documents, photographs and sound files covering a variety of America music (slave, depression, war) among other history topics. Look under the Collection Finder's Performing Arts section or use the home page search to gather information from all collections.
American Music Center
Focuses on contemporary American music including a listening room and webzine on new music.
American Music on the World Wide Web
A limited collection of links, but they have been peer-reviewed by members of the Society for American Music before being added.
American Musicological Society (AMS)
A huge site, with a focus on American music, but the Web sites of interest to musicologists link provides extensive lists of links under headings such as 'Women in Music', 'Jazz', 'Music in Latin America' as well as practical matters such as job vacancies, music libraries, and publishers.
American Popular Culture: Music
A list of websites, online articles and a bibliography to a variety of sources on popular music in American culture.
American Roots Music
Website to accompany a 2001 series on American music by PBS. Also see the site for
Jazz: A Film by Ken Burns on the PBS site.
American Popular Music Before 1900
A very easy to use site from Kingwood College Library, there are additional sites for 1900-1950 and 1950-present
ARChive of Contemporary Music
A well-intentioned site, but difficult to read text due to colored backgrounds. Some study guides on the blues are available through the Keith Richards collection. A project in process and not yet available is a National Discography.
Experience Music Project
The interactive web site for the interactive museum/exhibit space in Seattle, WA for popular American music and musicians.
Folkstreams: The Best of American Folklore Films
Documentaries and recordings of aspects of American folk culture including music and musicians.
Honkytonks, Hymns and the Blues
Presented on National Public Radio's Morning Edition program during 2003, this site offers text, sound files and images of the music and musicians from the early 1900's including recorded interviews with performers.
InfoUSA: Music Overviews
Compiled by the US Department of State to provide information on American music by general views and specific genres, as well as resources and audio collections.
Internet Resources for Music, Theater and Dance
Site list assembled by the Library of Congress with an emphasis on music in America.
Museum of Making Music
Located in the International Music Products Association Headquarters in Carlsbad, CA. This museum offers a timeline survey of American music with many hands-on features.
National Endowment for the Arts: Music Resources
Links to funding opportunities and music organizations and associations.
Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
Well-written biographies on the Hall of Fame inductees, previous exhibitions, timeline and more provide good starting information.
UCLA's Digital Sheet Music Archive
A small collection, but the page "Other Digital Sheet Music Collections" is useful for finding more sheet music images.
Video On Demand
A collection of performances, lectures, interviews, and installations recorded at UCSD. These are free to watch using RealPlayer. Use the video finder subject divisions to look at the offering (advise using the Arts & Music collection and then using the "by subject" tab". A title/keyword search option is available also. Of interest are the Jazz & Popular and New Music sections.
Composers & Performers
General searching on the internet for individual performers will retrieve lots of hits, but use with caution. Some are fan-create sites which may not provide proven information based on fact and reliable research. Here are some of the better sources.
American Memory
Brought to you by the Library of Congress, this is a collection of digitized documents, photographs and sound files covering a variety of America music (slave, depression, war) and individual performers among other topics. The Collection Finder's Performing Arts section has collections of specific American composers such as Leonard Bernstein.
Dmoz Open Directory Project: Arts: Music: People offers a collection of links categorized by genre, instrument, and more leading to a variety of pages, use with care as not all are official or show the source of the information provided.
Individual Musicians (All Genres) and Popular Groups
Assembled by Indiana University, this covers a broad range of musical artists
NewMusicJukebox: Composer Directory
Information on composers and their works, sometimes with audio clips and links to websites.
New Music Now
Limited collection of 'new' American composers, but notable for the interviews and background offered on the works collected on this site.
US Opera
A web page devoted to American opera composers with links to biographies on composers, information on their operas, and scores.
Classical Music
Classical music is such a broad description, you may find it useful to have more specific terms or particular composers as your search terms. Terms such as baroque, chamber, romantic, opera and orchestral can work well in retrieving more useful material than just the term 'classical'.
Books
Classical Style: Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven
BOOK STACKS ML195 .R68 1972
Da Capo Catalog of Classical Music Compositions
BOOK STACKS ML113 .C59 1996
NPR Classical Music Companion: Terms and Concepts from A to Z
ELECTRONIC RESOURCE, access through library catalog or the NetLibrary collection in the Research Databases
Pelican History of Music (vol 1)
BOOK STACKS ML160 .R665 1960 v.1
Western Classical Music: The Da Capo Guide History of Western Classical Music
OVERSIZE ML160 .B107 1999
Non-Book Materials
CSUSM Media Library has a variety of sound recordings of classical music. Try a SUBJECT search on Orchestral Music to retrieve many of our holdings and limit the search to sound or video recordings by LIMITING the search to location=>MEDIA.
CSUSM Media Library has a variety of videos on classical music and musicians. Try a SUBJECT search on Orchestral Music to retrieve many of our holdings and limit the search to sound or video recordings by LIMITING the search to location=>MEDIA. If you search under GENRE/FORM for music, you will note two different listings for 'music video recordings' and 'music videos'. Music videos are normally music performances of while the video recordings can be recorded interviews or instruction on music.
Articles
RILM is the most comprehensive music resource offered in the CSUSM databases. There are other music-related titles are available in JSTOR and Project Muse databases as well.
Journal of Seventeenth Century Music is available electronically in full text beginning with vol. 1, issue 1.
Internet
British Library Sound Archive: Classical Music
This site focuses on describing the collections available at the British Library, but offers sound recordings for online listening and a list of links to record companies and organizations.
Classical Music Archives Limited free access or full access with membership. Listen to music and find short attributed biographies. While not the only source to use for research papers, it is a good start on the classical composers and their music as well as current performers.
Classical Music Navigator
Information is arranged in 5 categories: a composers list of basic data, major works; a list of works sorted by musical genre; composers listed by geographical area; an index of forms and styles for each composer; and a glossary.
Classical Music on the Web A web site directory with divisions for type of music, geographic divisions, instruments and more.
Essentials of Music While created to accompany a book and music publisher's commercial products, this site is used for brief overviews and explanations.
Sibelius Academy Music Resources Internationally renowned school of music, this site offers links to high-quality early music websites. Some pages are in Finnish, but much of the site is in English.
Symphony: An Interactive Guide While geared towards the younger student, this site offers a starting place for research.
Video On Demand
A collection of performances, lectures, interviews, and installations recorded at UCSD. These are free to watch using RealPlayer. Use the video finder subject divisions to look at the offering (advise using the Arts & Music collection and then using the "by subject" tab". A title/keyword search option is available also. Of interest are the Classical & Symphonic Music, Chamber Music, Opera, and Artist Profiles sections.
Composers & Performers
A word of warning here! Many composers have alternate spellings of their names dependent on the variation in the historical record and the conversion from non-Roman alphabets. An example is the Russian composer Tchaikovsky Peter Ilich 1840 1893. Although Tchaikovsky is the authorized form and used in the library catalog, his name can also be spelled as Tchaikovski, Tchaikovsky Piotr Ilitch, Tchaikovsky Pyotr Ilyich, or Tchaikowsky Peter Iljitch (and more). Ask a librarian for help if you are not finding what you need.
Africlassical.com Website devoted to Black history and African composers and performers of classical music (historical and modern.) Brief biographies are provided.
American Musicological Society (AMS) A huge site, with a focus on American music, but the Web sites of interest to musicologists collection has a set of links to classical composers. Baroque Composers and Musicians While the information provided does not show the references used, the information appears accurate (as accurate as it can be when discussing people of an era that didn't record information well and in some cases, impartially.)
Classical Music on the Web A web site directory with divisions for composers, type of music, instruments and more, including a large section on women composers. Classical Net: Composer Master Index An alphabetically-arranged list of composers' page with links to other information. Use with care as not all content is maintained by the Classical Net group.
Essentials of Music As noted in the Electronic Resources section, this site also has information on individual composers and musicians. Individual Musicians (All Genres) and Popular Groups Assembled by Indiana University, this covers a broad range of musical artists
Rough Guide to Music (Classical) While the site has commercial intent and does not provide reference sources for the biographies of composers provided, it is a source for short overviews from which to start.
Jazz/Blues
Books
Encyclopedias are a good place to start your research. They can help you identify a topic for your paper, and often include useful bibliographies.
Jazz Milestones: A Pictorial Chronicle of Jazz 1900-1990
Reference ML3506 .J43 1993 Living the Jazz Life: Conversations with Forty Musicians About Their Careers in Jazz On Order New Grove Dictionary of Jazz Reference
ML102 .J3 N48 2001New Grove Gospel, Blues, and Jazz: With Spirituals and Ragtime
ML3556 .O456 1986b Oxford Companion to Jazz Book Stacks
ML3507 .O94 2000 Up From the Cradle of Jazz: New Orleans Music Since World War II
ML3521 .B47 1992 What Is This Thing Called Jazz? African American Musicians as Artists, Critics and Activists>ML3508 .P67 2002
Non-Book Resources
CSUSM Media Library has a wide variety of sound recordings on jazz. To get all 330+ items, type 'jazz' as a keyword search and then modify the search to look only for the material type: MUSIC RECORDINGS. If you have a more specific version of jazz you are looking for, try typing that term in the search box as well, such as 'jazz and Cuba' to get more focused results.
The Media Library also has a wide variety of videos on jazz. To get all 70+ items, type 'jazz' as a keyword search and then modify the search to location: VIDEO. If you search under GENRE/FORM for music, you will note two different listings for 'music video recordings' and 'music videos'. Music videos are normally music performances while the video recordings can be recorded interviews or instruction on music.
Journals
Although Callaloo is oriented towards literature and arts, there are a number of articles addressing music, specifically jazz, in this publication. Available electronically through Project Muse (more recent) and JSTOR (issues older than 5 years).
Popular Music addresses a variety of topics in music and performance. This title is available in the library's periodical stacks starting with vol. 10 (1991) and online to CSUSM users through the library catalog starting with vol 19 (2000.)
Journals on music in electronic format can be found by using the GENRE/FORM search option in the library catalog. Type in music as your search term and look for the 'music electronic journals' entry to access the list of all journals we own in electronic full-text.
Internet Resources
American Memory Brought to you by the Library of Congress, this is a collection of digitized documents, photographs and sound files covering a variety of America music including jazz and blues.
American Music Center Focuses on contemporary American music including a listening room and webzine on new music.
American Musicological Society (AMS) A huge site, with a focus on American music, but the Web sites of interest to musicologists link provides extensive lists of links under headings such as 'Women in Music', 'Jazz', 'Music in Latin America' as well as practical matters such as job vacancies, music libraries, and publishers.
British Library Sound Archive: Pop Music: Jazz Collection
This site focuses on describing the collections available at the British Library, but offers a large number of sound recordings available online and an extensive list of links to European and American web sites on jazz.
Jazz: A History of America's Music The site supplementing the PBS series by Ken Burns, the links of special value are the "Biographies" and the "Jazz in Time" sections. Jazz: All About Jazz While not research-based, the interviews with jazz performers and reviews of recordings are valuable for primary source information on the artist's interpretations and inspirations for their work.
National Public Radio: Jazz
This site offers a wide variety of information based on prior broadcast programs. Of special note is the Basic Jazz Record Library, offering recordings of the artists discussed in the program transcripts.
Passion for Jazz: Music History and Education Assembled by a jazz musician, the site has a useful glossary, timeline and information on music theory. The value is weakened by the lack of references provided to support the information.
Red Hot Jazz Archive Like most .coms, this has a commercial component, but an extensive and accessible list of bands with sound and video clips. The essays do not offer bibliographies, but information on books written by the essay author. Useful features are the dates given for the band and star performers.
Video On Demand
A collection of performances, lectures, interviews, and installations recorded at UCSD. These are free to watch using RealPlayer. Use the video finder subject divisions to look at the offering (advise using the Arts & Music collection and then using the "by subject" tab". A title/keyword search option is available also. Of interest are the Jazz & Popular Music and Artist Profiles sections.
Composers
African American Music Collection Transcripts of approximately 60 of the artists recorded through videotaped interviews by James Standifer. Other materials are referred to, but are not available through online access.
American Memory Brought to you by the Library of Congress, this is a collection of digitized documents, photographs and sound files including collections focusing on individual performers and composers.
Individual Musicians (All Genres) and Popular Groups Assembled by Indiana University, this covers a broad range of musical artists. Not all names given have active links, but the page offers individuals, groups and at the bottom, links to "The Standards", "Women in Jazz" (2 parts) and "Today's Generation".
Jazz Profiles from National Public Radio provides biographical material, interviews and performance clips to a number of different performers over time.
Video Oral History Project (Selected Clips from the Louis Armstrong Jazz Oral History Project) Mostly short video clips and transcripts of interviews with some of the jazz greats, there are several full-length (1 hour+) streaming video interviews as well.
...For More
Increasing numbers of sites dedicated to performers and genres are being made available on the internet. Look for reliable and established research-oriented sites, such as those hosted by universities (on .edu servers) or museums and historical societies (frequently found on .org servers). Here are some examples:
Blues Music: Overview From the New Georgia Encyclopedia, this focuses on performers who lived in the state.
The Eubie Blake Collection at the Maryland Historical Society
Jefferson, Blind Lemon from the Handbook of Texas Online. A short entry with references for further research.
Reggae, Ska, Rap & Hip-Hop
Books
Much of this music is geographically attributed to the Caribbean region, but contains influences from African and other world music, so look at the World Music section also.
Garland encyclopedia of world music (with accompanying CDs)
Reference ML100 .G16 (multiple volumes of major geographic areas, vol. 10 is general perspectives)
Selected reports in ethnomusicology
Book Stacks ML3799 .C34 (some have accompanying cassettes)
World beat: A listener's guide to contemporary world music on CD
Book Stacks ML3470 .S65 1992
World music: The rough guide (see the Non-book section for information on the Rough Guide series of CDs
Book Stacks ML3545 .W66 1994
Non-Book
CSUSM Media Library has a variety of sound recordings and videos on reggae and related music and performers. Search the catalog on your desired term (reggae, hip-hop, etc.) and modify the search to location: MEDIA to view the CDs and videos available.
Journals
Black Music Research Journal is indexed in RILM, our music subject database, full text is available in the Periodicals stacks at ML3556 .B58
Internet
AfroCubaWeb: Music & Dance Much of this page is devoted to groups' schedules, but the lower part of the page offers an extensive list of links on AfroCuban music. If you use the sources listed, be sure to verify the information with scholarly resources.
AMG All Music Guide While the site is for selling CD's, information such as important releases and artists in the RAP and REGGAE categories are within this site.
Center for Black Music Research The Musical Styles and Genres page is a doorway to information, sound clips, bibliographies and discographies of various styles of "black music and the black musical experience".
Dread Library USE WITH CAUTION: This site offers student-created papers and the content may not be fully accurate or have been subject to interpretation your professor may not agree with. The useful part of this site are the bibliographies to help you locate resources!
Music: A Celebration of Blues, Hip Hop, Jazz, Rap, Reggae and Everything Else About Africans and African Americans Love of Music An annotated list of sites about music and artists, the page name says it all.
Readings for Rhetoric of Reggae The suggested source list from a university professor's class on reggae, most of these titles can be obtained here at CSUSM or from the Circuit.
Reggae and Ska The School of Music, Indiana University, has assembled a short list of some of the more comprehensive Reggae and Ska web pages.
Rhythm Web: Caribbean Percussion Traditions Focused on instruments used in a variety of world musics.
Composers
Look for the musicians home page--but be sure it is the authorized site and not one put up by a fan. Frequently, the home page will be hosted by the record label of the artist. If the subject artist is from a developing nation, reliable information could be very difficult to come by.
Individual Musicians (All Genres) and Popular Groups Assembled by Indiana University, this covers a broad range of musical artists including Bob Marley and a few other artists in these genres.
Jammin Reggae Archives The content is not scholarly as it is a mix of fan sites, festival announcements, reviews and more, but could lead to interesting sources for your topic.
World Music Central While much of the site is not scholarly or provided with means to verify the content;s accuracy or currency, the ARTISTS BIOGRAPHIES section offers brief commentary, but more importantly, links to the artist's official website.
World Music
Books
World music encompasses a wide variety of traditional and new music and can be performed for both sacred and secular purposes.
Garland Encyclopedia of World Music (with accompanying CDs) Reference ML100 .G16 (multiple volumes, each of a major geographic area, vol. 10 is general perspectives)
Selected Reports in Ethnomusicology Book Stacks ML3799 .C34 (some have accompanying cassettes) World Beat: A Listener's Guide to Contemporary World Music on CD Book Stacks ML3470 .S65 1992
World Music: The Rough Guide (see the Non-book section for information on the Rough Guide series of CDs) Book Stacks ML3545 .W66 1994
Non-Book Resources
The CSUSM Media Library holds a large number of CDs of world and ethnic music. Of special note is the Rough Guide series, try typing "rough guide" as your search term to see the entire collection.
The Media Library also holds a variety of music videos. If you search under GENRE/FORM for music, you will note two different listings for 'music video recordings' and 'music videos'. Music videos are normally performances of music while the video recordings can be recorded interviews or instruction on music.
Journals
Ethno-musicology Periodicals ML1 .E77 (some older issues on microform at C-934)
World of Music Periodicals ML5 .W67 (in print format, our holdings begin with vol. 1 in 1959)
Journals on music in electronic format can be found by using the GENRE/FORM search option in the library catalog. Type in Music and look for the 'music electronic journals' entry to access the list of all journals we own in electronic full-text. Of special interest will be Ethnomusicology Online
Internet
AfroPop Worldwide While much of this site is commercially-oriented, it is informative about artists, CD and book reviews and current events concerning African popular music and performance.
American Folklife Center Originally founded to collect American folk music, the scope has expanded to include a limited amount of historical world folk music, much of which is available through the American Memory collection.
British Forum for Ethnomusicology Focus on British and Irish folk music. The "What is Ethnomusicology? and Related Links" page is the most useful for Western European music sources online.
British Library Sound Archive: World and Traditional Music This site focuses on describing the collections available at the British Library, but offers sound recordings for online listening and links to websites of sound archives, organizations and more.
Echoes of Africa From the BBC, start with a geographic region and look at instruments, read about artists (limited collection) and listen to audio clips.
Ethnomusicology, Folk Music, and World Music Contents Extensive portal of sites on organizations, journal titles, record labels, and web pages from the University of Washington.
National, International and World Music Extensive list of links by country, leading to a variety of commercial, academic, and personal sites, there is something for everyone's focus here from the Indiana University School of Music
Strachwitz Frontera Collection of Mexican and Mexican-American Recordings Browseable and searchable collection. One-minute samples are available to all, full recordings are for UCLA use.
UCLA Ethnomusicology Archive While frustrating to find that much of their holdings are not available online, the trip to UCLA to access these extensive holdings could be worth it. Be sure to read "Access Policies"
Video On Demand
A collection of performances, lectures, interviews, and installations recorded at UCSD. These are free to watch using RealPlayer. Use the video finder subject divisions to look at the offering (advise using the Arts & Music collection and then using the "by subject" tab". A title/keyword search option is available also. Of interest is the World Music section, other useful materials may be found in the "Humanities" area under African & African-American Studies and Ethnic Studies.
World Music Central This site offers a variety of materials based on reader input as well as articles from a variety of publications and biographies.
Composers & Performers
Look for the musician's home page--but be sure it is the authorized site and not one put up by a fan who can easily post misinformation and misinterpretation of the artist and their intent. Frequently, the home page will be hosted by the record label of the artist. If the artist is from a developing nation, reliable information could be very difficult to come by.
While offering a limited number of links for world music artists, there are sound clips, brief biographical information notes, reviews, and links to related sites and further reading.
Individual Musicians (All Genres) and Popular Groups
Assembled by Indiana University, this covers a broad range of musical artists.
Mondomix: The online world music magazine
Interviews, reviews and where available, links to the performer's web site.
Rough Guide to Music (World)
While basically a site to promote purchase of books and videos, there is some brief information offered about artists, their instruments, and the style of music they play.