[Dixielandjazz] Searching for old music

[Robert S. Ringwald]

A friend and fellow musician sent this to me.  Thought it might be of 
interest to the List.

--Bob Ringwald

 This is from Kim Komando's Daily Tips, Aug. 6, 2007
Question:  I've never been good at remembering the names of songs and 
musical artists. Can you recommend some music sites? I'd like to search for 
music by era and style. I've tried Google and YouTube. I'm hoping there is 
an easier way.

Answer:  There are plenty of sites on the Internet that focus on music. Most 
of them are dedicated to newer music.
If you want to rediscover old music or find obscure artists, you'll need to 
do more work. There are many smaller sites dedicated to specific periods or 
artists.

allmusic is a comprehensive reference site dedicated to music. It covers 
many different genres of music. You can also search by subgenre. This lets 
you narrow down your searches greatly.

Additionally, you can search by theme, mood, instruments and more.

When you find an artist you like, you can read a biography and album 
reviews. You can also link to similar artists and related acts. There are 
also samples of songs.

I did not see a way to search by era. But this site is worth your time.

Y! Music is also a good place to read up on artists. There are biographies, 
song lyrics, discographies and videos. You can see other music recommended 
by an artist's fans.

Y! Music covers many different types of music. However, it doesn't offer 
searches by genres or era.

Billboard is another site you might want to check out. It is run by 
Billboard Magazine, which produces charts of album and single sales.

On Billboard's site, you can view charts by genres. There are also 
historical charts if you want to see what was popular in the past.

Billboard does limit access to the historical charts. If you want full 
access to Billboard's archived charts, you must pay.

As I mentioned, there are many specialized sites. These tend to be more 
difficult to find. Google Directory is a good place to start, though.

You can search for sites based on music style. There's even a section for 
searching for music sites by decade. The solution isn't ideal, but it is a 
good place to start.

You say that you're not good at remembering song titles or artist names. If 
you know a line from a song, try putting that in Google's search box. 
Surround the phrase in quotes so Google looks for the exact line. You might 
also try including "lyrics" as a second search term.

This will probably find a match on a music lyrics site. You can find out the 
name of the artist. Then, you can track down a store that sells the song.

The Internet is a great boon for music lovers. I have a free program that 
will help you track down music on the Internet. There are also sites that 
offer free, legal music. Try this one. Or here's another.