About this guide
This is the pop and rock music quick guide. The main music research guide covers general topics. Related guides (listed in box at bottom right) cover other aspects of music.
Locate music books, recordings, scores, articles, & e-resources
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"Search Our Collections" (Classic catalog + e-resources)Searches MIT collections and most MIT-licensed e-resources, including full-text articles.
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"Search Our Collections" (MIT Libraries catalog)To find specific materials owned by MIT.
Browse the shelves for books about pop and rock music of the U.S.: ML3470-ML3479, ML3561.P6, ML3561.R6
Rap and hip-hop: ML3531; ML3918
Biographies of performers: ML419-ML421
Find music journal articles
These sources may list articles not listed in Search our Collections:
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Music Index Online (journal articles)Indexes music articles in journals 1970-present.
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RILM Abstracts of Music Literature with Full Text (journal articles and more)RILM Abstracts of Music Literature with Full Text expands and enhances the unrivaled global bibliography of writings on music with content from 260 key periodicals published from the early 20th century to the present. It offers articles and reviews as well as obituaries, editorials, correspondence, advertisements, and news in full text, which can be searched and browsed for each issue, cover to cover. Each year new journals are being added to the full-text collection.
Online dictionaries and encyclopedias (MIT access)
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Oxford Music Online (includes Grove's Dictionary of Music)Encyclopedia of Popular Music, Grove Music Online, Oxford Dictionary of Music, and Oxford Companion to Music.
Many print-only dictionaries and encyclopedias are available in the library; see Ref ML102.P66.
Finding songs in collections
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The Fake Book IndexSearchable index of over 75 "fake books"
Songs in collections may not be listed in Search Our Collections; use print-only bibliographies and indexes to locate these songs. See Ref ML128.S3 and Ref ML120.U5.S5
Collections of songs by more than one composer can be found under call numbers M1495-M1998.
Music charts, lists of hits, lyrics
The Rolling Stone magazine archive (1967-current)
The backfile of Rolling Stone covers the magazine from its launch in 1967 to the present. One of the most influential consumer magazines of the 20th and 21st centuries, it initially sought to reflect the cultural, social and political outlook of a generation of students and young adults. It soon became a leading vehicle for rock and popular music journalism, shaping and chronicling new trends and movements.
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Music Industry Data (MIT access)Statistical chart data across all music genres. Formerly Academic Charts Online (ACO).
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Charts All Over the WorldFrom the Latvian Academic Network.
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Joel Whitburn presents top R & B/hip-hop singles, 1942-2004Call Number: Ref ML156.4.B6.W25 2004
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Popular music, 1920-1979: a revised cumulation byCall Number: Ref ML120.U5.S529 1985
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Popular music: an annotated index of American popular songs.Call Number: Ref ML120.U5.S5291Continues Popular Music, 1970-1979; covers 1980-2002.
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The rock song index: essential information on the 7,500 most important songs of rock and roll byCall Number: Ref ML128.R6.P65 1997
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Variety music cavalcade, 1620-1969 byCall Number: Ref ML128.V7.M435 1971A chronology of vocal and instrumental music popular in the United States.
Streaming audio
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Music and Performing Arts (MIT access)Over 5 million tracks from Alexander Street Press: includes American Song, Classical Music Library, Contemporary World Music, Jazz Music Library, and Smithsonian Global Sound
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Naxos Music Library (MIT access)Over two million tracks of music.
Lewis Music Library Department Head
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Other library services
- Suggest a purchase (MIT only)
- Interlibrary borrowing (MIT only)
Related guides
Research guide: Theater Arts
Music quick guides:
- Electronic music
- Equipment available in the Lewis Music Library
- Jazz
- Music of the United States
- Musical theater
- Pop and rock music
- Social justice and music
- Songs
- World music