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List of online music databases
List article

Below is a table of online music databases that are largely free of charge. Many of the sites provide a specialized service or focus on a particular music genre. Some of these operate as an online music store or purchase referral service in some capacity. Among the sites that have information on the largest number of entities are those sites that focus on discographies of composing and performing artists.

Performance rights organisations (PRO) typically have their own databases as per country they represent, in accordance with CISAC, to help domestic artists collect royalties. Information available on these portals include songwriting credits, publishing percentage splits, and alternate titles for different distribution channels. It is one of the most accurate and official types of databases because it involves direct communication between the artists, record labels, distributors, legal teams, publishers and a global governing body regulating PRO's. Many countries that observe copyright have an organisation established, currently there are 119 CISAC members, and they may be not-for-profit. The databases are typically known as 'repertory searches' or 'searching works' and may require an account while others are open to view for free as public including the USA's ASCAP Songview and Ace services, Canada's SOCAN, South Korea's KOMCA, France's SACEM, and Israel's ACUM.

General databases

DatabaseServicesNo. of tracksNo. of releasesNo. of artistsNotesLicenseFull free access
Album of the YearMusic database, critic ratings and reviews, community ratings, reviews and lists~219,588~1,192,533~443,792
AllMusic (AMG)Music information and reviews.~20,000,0007~2,200,0008Song samples only.
Discogs• Database: user-generated cross-referenced database of physical & digital releases, artists, and labels. With catalogue numbers, codes, and other markings taken directly from each release.• Companies/organisations: cross-referencing those involved in music production (record companies, manufacturers, distributors, publishers, rights holders, venues, studios, etc.)• Images: for releases, artists, labels, and other companies/organisations listed.• Marketplace: for trade of physical music releases.151,200,000915,000,000108,000,00011• Multi-lingual.• Free membership (which also removes all site ads).• Marketplace lists over 35 million items (largest physical music items marketplace online).• 1 billion edits.PD/CC012Free API and XML data dumps.13
SongLyricsUpdated daily with lyrics, reviews, features, meanings and more.400,000,000400,000,000CCYes
Internet ArchiveLarge live music archive, hosts hundreds of free music netlabels13 million (as of 2021)14CC/PDYes
JaxstaOnline database of official music credits19,000,00015• 115,000,000+ Individual Music Credits• 100,000+ Credits Ingested DailyAPI available.
Last.fmMusic community website.~26,484,58716~3,304,568~1,383,340Automatically creates online library/collection of listened to music and generates recommendations.
The MLCComplete publicly available database of all recordings and musical works for payment purposes. The Music Modernization Act requires The MLC to make its database of musical works available in a bulk, machine/computer-readable format and through a widely available software application.17~110,000,00018Streaming services are required by law to provide full information.19Free API Available20
MusicBrainzOpen content music database.45,520,390213,258,314222,371,60323GPL/LGPL/PD/CC BY-NC-SA.Free API24 and XML data dumps.25
MusicIDOfficial charts and indicative revenue data going back to 190026Aggregator of chart data from sources such as Billboard, OCC and more27
Rate Your MusicMusic database, community ratings, reviews and lists23,335,038286,415,864291,777,39730API is planned but not functional as of 2024[update].3132No special rights granted. Web scraping is prohibited.33
SoundchartsAirplay, charts and social media tracking data.45,000,0003411,500,00035Cites major record labels as customers. API available.36Freemium

Music genre specific

DatabaseServicesNo. of tracksNo. of releasesNo. of artistsNotesLicenseFull free access
Encyclopaedia MetallumA heavy metal encyclopedia with information, complete discography, links, images, and reviews.~1,900,00037~265,00038~102,000 bands, ~535,000 artists39
Jazz Music ArchivesJazz discography and reviews.
Prog ArchivesProgressive rock discography and reviews.63,9784011,30841No special rights granted42Yes. Log on to submit band information
RollDaBeatsDrum N Bass music database, physical releases only.175,9694362,10344
Riddim GuideReggae and dancehall database; catalogues riddims57,875 454878 (riddims) 465937 472570 record labels 48Yes
VGMdbDatabase for soundtracks and related music, with a primary focus on video games.2,576,98549130,7265058,59851
vkgy (ブイケージ)Visual kei database.14,578 52
VocaDBDatabase for vocaloid artists, releases and events.558,1095325,39354102,15855Yes

Specialized areas

DatabaseSpecializationServicesNo. of tracksNo. of releasesNo. of artistsNotesLicenseFull free access
The Freesound ProjectAudio samplesRepository of Creative Commons-licensed audio samples.445,0005657CC Sampling Plus.
GeniusLyricsAllows users to provide annotations and interpretation of song lyrics.
MusixmatchLyricsAudio based music recognition and provision of song lyrics.Yes.
SecondHandSongsCoversUser-generated database of covers and samples of songs, with links to public recordings.>1,100,000 performances>100,000 worksMultilingual recordings.No special rights granted
SIMUCChilean music and musiciansNon-profit organisation that collects data on composers, academics, institutions, people and other topics related to classical music and Chile.Managed by the organization and subscribers.
SongLyricsLyricsMusic website that has established itself as a go-to platform for finding lyrics.
Sound CreditCreditsMultimodal platform for entering and editing music credits with a datahub that includes a database upload option.Database uploads are free, and is free to view.
WhoSampledSample identificationUser-generated database of comparison between original tracks and covers, remixes, or songs that use samples.1,100,000338,000

Printed music (sheets) databases

DatabaseServicesNo. of tracksNo. of releasesNo. of artistsNotesLicenseFull free access
Choral Public Domain LibrarySheet music archive of choral and vocal music in the public domain or otherwise freely available for printing and performing36,86958Yes
International Music Score Library ProjectMusic scores and parts, mostly scanned from publications now in the public domain; some recordings.42,000 (370,000 scores)14,500 composers, 387 performers.59PD/CC BY-NC-SA.
MuseScoreSheet music6,487,2236078061Also includes free music notation software to enable a wide range of instrumental music scores to be created, printed and sharedMusic is available under a variety of licenses. It is tagged and searchable by license.Music protected by copyright is only downloadable by obtaining a paid Pro subscription.
MusipediaSearch by melody (entering notes, Parsons code, whistling, or tapping rhythm)Yes, but via other sources.
Mutopia Projectrepository of free content sheet music.2,2476232863
Répertoire International des Sources Musicales (RISM)Database of historical music manuscripts and music printed editions that includes full descriptions and current physical locations in libraries worldwide.>1,400,000~40,000 composersSearch available in 5 languages. Link to digitized images when available.CC BYYes

Metadata providers and distributors

DatabaseServicesNo. of tracksNo. of releasesNo. of artistsNotesLicenseFull free access
ACRCloudMusic recognition & audio based music retrieval~40,000,00064Commercially available with SDKs, APIs for file scanning, airplay monitoring, shazam-liked featuresFree trial available in 15 days
GracenoteIdentification service for CDs and other media.~100,000,00065~8,000,000661 billion "submissions".67
QuantoneDatabase of physical/digital products, venues, photos, artists, participants, composers, movements, labels, publishers and rights.12,000,00068301,000For commercial business-to-business usage only.API available.

Non-functioning databases

DatabaseServicesNo. of tracksNo. of releasesNo. of artistsNotes
freedbIdentification service for CDs.Licensed under GPL. freedb.org and its services shut down in June 2020; succeeded by gnudb.org.
LyricWikiLyrics wiki on Fandom.~1,653,41669~159,74970~82,22671Founded in 2006, API-restricted since 2016, closed in 2019. Deleted in September 2020.
MetroLyricsLyrics lookup.1,000,000+16,000+The site abruptly went offline in late June 2021, and as of November 2022 its owners and maintainers have made no explanation.
MusicMightBiographies and discographies.659,00092,00059,400Was active from 2005-2010.
WikifoniaFree lead sheets in MusicXML format, contributed and editable by users.6,23672Was active from 2006-2013.

See also

  • Music portal
  • Internet portal
  • Radio portal

References

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