Citing Music

Music citations may vary by style and nature of use. The book Music Research: A Handbook, by Laurie Sampsel, has detailed instructions for citing music sources in APA, Chicago, and MLA style.

APA Style

Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association, 7th edition, print. 

• Music album: See Section 10.13, Example 91 
• Single song or track: See Section 10.13, Example 92 

Online resources, 7th edition:

• Music recordings, Santa Fe College
• Musical scores, Santa Fe College

Chicago/Turabian style

Chicago Manual of Style Online, 17th edition

• Names and titles of musical works: see Section 8.193—8.197 
• Musical Scores, Notes-Bibliography System: see Section 14.25-14.256 
• Music Recordings, Notes-Bibliography System: see Section 14.263 
• Recordings and Multimedia, Author-Date System: see Section 15.57 

MLA Style

MLA Handbook, 8th edition, print

• Musical illustrations: see Section 4.2.6
• Librettos, performances, published scores, songs, and sound recordings in List of Works Cited: see Sections 6.8.2—6.8.5 
• Titles of musical works: see Sections 3.8.3—3.8.5

Online resources, 8th edition:

• Music recordings, Santa Fe College
• Musical scores, Santa Fe College

Research and Writing

The following manuals may also be helpful for researching and writing about music in general:

• Bellman, Jonathan. A Short Guide to Writing About Music
• Boyle, David. A Handbook for Preparing Graduate Papers in Music
• Holoman, D. Kern. Writing About Music: A Style Sheet
• Radice, Mark A. Irvine's Writing About Music [Also available online to members of the UNT community]
• Wingell, Robert and Silvia Herzog. Introduction to Research in Music
• Wingell, Robert. Writing About Music: An Introductory Guide