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Finding Music for the Community User

Finding music related materials can be difficult for those without an academic affiliation. This is a guide to tools available to you.

Finding Audio to Listen to Online

There are a lot of sites where you can listen to music online. Some are commercial and require a fee, others are free and make their money off of advertising. Some are a mix of the two - you can listen for free, but you can also buy the recordings from them.

 

Avant Guard Project - Recordings of 20th-century classical, experimental, and electroacoustic music digitized from LPs

British Library Sounds- Presents 50,000 recordings and their associated documentation from the Library’s extensive collections of unique sound recordings which come from all over the world and cover the entire range of recorded sound: music, drama and literature, oral history, wildlife and environmental sounds.

Cylinder Preservation Project at the University of California, Santa Barbara - Historical digitization project to preserve early recordings

50,000 recordings and their associated documentation from the Library’s extensive collections of unique sound recordings which come from all over the world and cover the entire range of recorded sound: music, drama and literature, oral history, wildlife and environmental sounds. - See more at: http://sounds.bl.uk/Information/About/#sthash.Fb1GsAdX.dpuf
Listen to a selection from the British Library’s extensive collections of unique sound recordings, which come from all over the world and cover the entire range of recorded sound: music, drama and literature, oral history, wildlife and environmental sounds. - See more at: http://sounds.bl.uk/#sthash.d6SnyR0W.dpuf

Free Music Archive - The Free Music Archive is an interactive library of high-quality, legal audio downloads.  The Free Music Archive is directed by WFMU, the most renowned freeform radio station in America.  Radio has always offered the public free access to new music. The Free Music Archive is a continuation of that purpose, designed for the age of the internet.

Magnatune - Broad range of music from electronica to classical music. The majority of the classical music is early music performed on period instruments. You can stream to your hearts' content, but you can buy from them as well, and the good thing is that the artist gets 50% of the proceeds.

Naxos Music Library - this is one you have to subscribe to, but they have a huge selection of music. Everything on the NAXOS label and then dozens of smaller labels as well. You can also buy recordings from them through Classics Online.

There are more resources listed at the UW-Milwaukee Music Collection Audio Sources

 

Another thing to check into is whether your music-related professional society might include access to some resources. For example, Early Music America membership includes access to NAXOS and New Grove Dictionary of Music & Musicians. The list of their member benefits is here.