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Citation Help for MLA, 8th Edition: Music Albums & Songs

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Music Album Examples

Blue Man Group. How To Be a Megastar Live! Rhino Records, 2008.

Gershwin, G. Gershwin Greatest Hits . Performance by Boston Pops Orchestra, Earl Wild, and Peter Nero. RCA, 2010.

Music Album Explanation

Artists Involved: Blue Man Group. or Gershwin, G. Either list the band name, lead performer, or composer, etc. If it is a person's name, list the last name followed by the first initial of first name. End with a period. Title & subtitle of the recording: How To Be a Megastar Live! or Gershwin Greatest Hits. The title & subtitle are separated by a colon. Capitalize the first and last words of the title and subtitle, and all proper nouns and important words. Place article title & subtitle in Italics and end with a period. If there is final punctuation like an exclamation point or a question mark, this will replace the final period.

Performers: Performance by Boston Pops Orchestra, Earl Wild, and Peter Nero. If listed, put the words Performance by and then give the names of the performers and end with a period. Publisher: Rhine Records or RCA, List the manufacturer or publisher of the sound recording. Place a comma after the publisher's name to separate it from the year of publication. Year of publication: 2008 or 2010. List the year of the publication of the recording. End citation with a period.

[The above information is based on p. 39 of the MLA Handbook 8th edition and Purdue OWL ].

Song Examples

Presley, E. "Jailhouse Rock." Essential Elvis Presley, BMG, 2007.

Song Explanation

Artists Involved: Presley, E. List either the band name, lead performer, or composer, etc. If it is a person's name, list the last name followed by the first initial of first name. End with a period.

Title & subtitle of the song: "Jailhouse Rock." The title & subtitle are separated by a colon. Capitalize the first and last words of the title and subtitle, and all proper nouns and important words. Place article title & subtitle in quotation marks and end with a period. Title & subtitle of the album: Essential Elvis Presley, The title & subtitle are separated by a colon. Capitalize the first and last words of the title and subtitle, and all proper nouns and important words. Place article title & subtitle in Italics and end with a comma. Publisher: BMG, List the manufacturer or publisher of the sound recording. Place a comma after the publisher's name to separate it from the year of publication. Year of publication: 2007. List the year of the publication of the recording. End citation with a period.

[The above information is based on p. 39 of the MLA Handbook 8th edition and Purdue OWL ].

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Last Updated: Feb 19, 2024 2:51 PM
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Writing Tips

How to Cite a Song or Album in MLA Referencing

3-minute read
7th April 2021

If you write about music in your work, you might have to cite a recording. But how do you cite a song or album in MLA referencing ? This post will explain the basics.

To cite a song or album in MLA referencing , simply give the artist’s last name or the band’s name in brackets in the relevant part of the text:

Her latest album has a strong environmental theme (Sturgeon).

“Wildlife in America” (Shearwater) comments on US culture.

And to cite a specific part of a song, you can add a timestamp :

The middle eight in “Air and Light” (Sturgeon 2:14–2:29) is truly haunting.

In the above citation, for example, we are citing a section that runs from 2 minutes 14 seconds to 2 minutes 29 seconds into the song.

Musical Recordings in an MLA Works Cited List

All references contain certain core elements in MLA style. And for a musical recording, each entry should include some or all of the following:

Artist or band name – For individual artists, give their surname first, followed by their first name (e.g., Young, Neil). For artists who don’t follow this naming convention (e.g., U2 or Lady Gaga), just use the full name they are known by.
Song title – If you are citing a specific song, give the title in quotation marks.
Album title – Give the name of the album you are citing (or that the song you are citing comes from) in italics.
Version – If relevant, include information on the version of the song next (e.g., if there are different versions of a song on different albums).
Publication details – The name of the publisher (i.e., the record label that released the album or song) and the year the recording was released.
URL – If you accessed the recording online, include the URL. For songs accessed via a streaming platform, give the platform name in italics.
Format – If it is relevant to your work, you can optionally add the format of the recording at the end of your reference (e.g., CD, vinyl, MP3).

You won’t always need all of this! For many references, the artist’s name, song and/or album title, the publisher, and the year of publication will be enough. But whatever you cite, make sure to include enough information in the Works Cited list to guide readers to the exact version of the recording you have used.

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Example References

Below, you can see example references for an album, a song on an album, an album accessed via a streaming platform, and a single song accessed online:

Talk Talk. The Colour of Spring , EMI, 1986.

Song on an Album

Shearwater. “Animals in America.” Jet Plane and Oxbow , Subpop, 2016.

Album on a Streaming Service

Sturgeon, Jenny. The Living Mountain , Hudson Records, 2020. Spotify , https://open.spotify.com/album/7Kt6kaJ8dGIo6cngVA7dcB

Single Song Online

Benin City. “Freaking You Out.” Bandcamp , https://benincity.bandcamp.com/track/freaking-you-out

Make sure to add a hanging indent for each line after the first in all references.

Expert MLA Referencing Proofreading

To ensure all your referencing is error free, get in touch with our expert proofreading team. You can even get your first 500 words checked for free !

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