How to Cite a Song Found Online

How to Cite a Song Found Online (12) Music is an art formâ€"and just as you’d analyze a poem for a literary paper or cite a painting for an art history paper, you may find yourself using a song as a source, especially if you’re enrolled in music theory courses. Here, we’ve laid out how to cite a song, so if you’re deciding whether or not to include a song in your next paper based on whether you can figure out how to cite it, go for it! Citing songs, whether you’re working off the audio recording or using written lyrics, is actually a pretty similar process to what you might have done for other kinds of citations. Although citing a song might seem unfamiliar, there’s no need to worry. We’ve got you covered for both audio recordings and written song lyrics, whether you need to cite in MLA format,  APA format, or Chicago style. Citing an Audio Recording of a Song Found Online If you’ve ever cited a movie before, you’ll discover that citing an audio recording of a song is a pretty similar process. But even if you’ve only cited text before, you should be a pro at song citations in no time! We’ve included examples of how you would cite Ed Sheeran’s “Don’t” for each of the three styles as well. To cite an audio recording of a song, you should make note of the following pieces of information: 1. Singer’s name 2. Songwriter’s name 3. Title of the song (and subtitle, if there is one) 4. Title of the album (and subtitle, if there is one) 5. Albums Edition (if there is one) 6. Track Number 7. Publisher 8. Year of publication 10. Website or database where the song was found 11. URL 12. Date the song was accessed online 13. The names of any other contributors Use the following structure to cite an audio recording found online in MLA 8: Singer’s Last Name, Singer’s First Name. “Title of the Song.” Title of the Album, albums ed., Publisher, Year of publication, track number. Website or Database Name, URL (remove http:// or https://). Here’s how the above example would be cited in MLA 8: Sheeran, Ed. Don’t. X, deluxe ed., Asylum Records, 2014, track 4. Spotify, play.spotify.com/track/34gCuhDGsG4bRPIf9bb02f?play=trueutm_source=open.spotify.comutm_medium=open. Use the following structure to cite an audio recording in APA format: Songwriter’s Last Name, Songwriter’s First Initial. (Year of publication). Title of the song [Recorded by Singer’s First Initial, Singer’s Last Name if different from writer*]. On Title of the album [Audio file]. Retrieved from URL *Do not include the information in the brackets if the name of the songwriter is the same person as the singer or performer. Here’s how the above example would be cited in APA: Sheeran, E. (2014). Don’t. On X. [Audio file]. Retrieved from https://play.spotify.com/track/34gCuhDGsG4bRPIf9bb02f?play=trueutm_source=open.spotify.comutm_medium=open Use the following structure to cite an audio recording in Chicago: Singer’s Last name, Singer’s First name. Title of the Song. Publisher, Year of publication, Accessed Month Day, Year. URL. Here’s how the above example would be cited in Chicago: Sheeran, Ed. Don’t. Asylum Records, 2014, Accessed June 5, 2017. https://play.spotify.com/track/34gCuhDGsG4bRPIf9bb02f?play=trueutm_source=open.spotify.comutm_medium=open. Citing Song Lyrics Found Online Citing written song lyrics is pretty similar to citing an audio recording, but if you’re used to mostly citing written work, you may find this procedure a bit easier since you’re citing words off a page rather than audio. Here, we’ve cited “Imagine,” a song by John Lennon which you’ve surely heard beforeâ€"and one which could be the subject of rich analysis for your next paper. To cite written song lyrics, you should make note of the following pieces of information: 1. Singer’s name 2. Songwriter’s name 3. Title of the song (and subtitle, if there is one) 4. Title of the album (and subtitle, if there is one) 5. Albums Edition (if there is one) 6. Track number 7. Publisher 8. Year of publication 9. Website or Database where the lyrics were found 10. URL 11. Date the lyrics were accessed online 12. The names of any other contributors Use the following structure to cite written song lyrics in MLA 8: Singer’s Last Name, Singer’s First Name. “Title of the Song.” Title of the Album, Names of other contributors, Album’s Publisher, Year of publication, track Number. Name of Website, URL (remove http:// or https://). Here’s how the above example would be cited in MLA 8: Lennon, John. Imagine. Imagine, Ascot Sound Studios, 1971, track 1. Genius, genius.com/John-lennon-imagine-lyrics. Use the following structure to cite written song lyrics in APA format: Songwriter(s) Last Name, Songwriter(s) First Initial. (Year of publication). Title of song [Lyrics]. Retrieved from URL Here’s how the above example would be cited in APA: Lennon, J. (1971). Imagine [Lyrics]. Retrieved from https://genius.com/John-lennon-imagine-lyrics Use the following structure to cite an written song lyrics in Chicago: Singer’s Last Name, Singer’s First Name. “Title of the song.” Name of Website. Accessed Month Day, Year. URL. Here’s how the above example would be cited in Chicago: Lennon, John. “Imagine.” Genius. Accessed June 5, 2017. https://genius.com/John-lennon-imagine-lyrics.