Wikipedia:WikiProject Albums/Sources

The following list consists of recommended sources for expanding articles that primarily or exclusively cover musical topics. This list is merely a collection of suggestions, and other good sources may exist. Many of these sources include reviews or links to reviews that can be used to source critical reception sections in album articles, and to add ratings to the Music ratings template.

This list is not exhaustive. Additional websites and print sources may also be used, provided they meet the criteria at Reliable sources and WP:MOSALBUM. Specifically, reviews should be written by professional music journalists or DJs, or found within any online or print publication having a (paid or volunteer) editorial and writing staff (which excludes personal blogs), and must be from a source that is independent of the artist, record company, etc.

Note: While help in expanding this list is welcome, please be cautious and discuss possible additions on the talk page first. Take a look at the project archives for examples of how it has been done in the past; for example, see the discussions about adding The A.V. Club, MusicOMH, and various magazines.

Generally reliable sources
These sources are generally considered reliable for use in music-related articles on Wikipedia. Check the far right column for past discussions on the source and any limitations or warnings on a source's particular use.

This list is largely limited to music-centric sources, but well established general sources (such as The New York Times, ABC News Radio, or The Atlantic) are generally considered reliable for music too. For a list of reliable general sources, see Wikipedia: Perennial sources.

Aggregates
AnyDecentMusic? and Metacritic can be used to give an aggregate score of an album's reception. However, avoid citing the review excerpts listed below the aggregate score; instead, seek out the reviews in full and cite them individually. Album ratings has the ADM and MC parameters respectively that can be used to display the aggregate scores for an album. When describing the score in prose, be sure to note that the score is an aggregate and how many reviews it is based on. For example:

"The Devil's Rain received mixed reviews from critics. At Metacritic, the album has an average score of 46 out of 100, which indicates 'mixed or average reviews' based on 11 reviews."

You may use the Metacritic album prose template to standardize this language.

Music charts
For information on what charts to use or avoid, see WP:GOODCHARTS and WP:BADCHARTS.

Instrument-specific
Note that these publications may not only include information pertinent to the instrument or instruments to which they are dedicated, but also news coverage and reviews of performances and recordings featuring those instruments.

See mu:zines for an online archive of music magazines.

Other sources

 * Newspapers, periodicals, journals, and other online and print media publications often include coverage of music and its performers, and recordings. They can be excellent sources.
 * A physical album's liner notes are generally a good place to find writing and production credits for a personnel section. Some records are also released with additional writing that may be helpful with an article's recording and/or composing section. The album notes can be properly sourced with the Cite album-notes template.
 * As long as the information being contributed is not overly promotional, unduly self-serving or biased, the artist or record label's website may be acceptable sources. These sites often provide detailed information about an artist's discography. However, since many band websites are recreated entirely upon the release of a new studio album, URL's or information may be moved or deleted, and articles are left with the phenomenon known as link rot. To avoid this, try to find a different source with the same information, or a web archive of the original source. For assistance with web archiving, see Using the Wayback Machine.
 * Statements given in interviews with an artist, producer, or any other music personnel are reliable for statements about the person themselves and the work they are involved in, such as their band, compositions, etc. However, they are not reliable for statements about other living persons. Any statements about another person should be supported by the individual in question or else a reliable source.
 * If the artist in question was subject to any form of recorded audio or video in the possible form of a television documentary or an informational DVD/VHS, this may be an acceptable source of information. To cite information from a source like this, use either cite video or cite episode, whichever is most applicable.
 * If an artist or recording act has existed for a significant period of time and/or has made a great impact on their scene or music in general, it's likely that someone has written a book on the topic. An easy way to search through books is with a quick Google Books search. Google Books will provide links of several possible locations to obtain a copy, and will sometimes provide select passages of the book for previewing. To cite a book as a source, use the cite books template.

Non-English sources

 * For more, see Verifiability

English-language sources are preferred, as this is an English-language encyclopedia and languages other than English are not understood by a large number of readers. However, if few sources exist, those in languages other than English may be included, especially if the language is especially relevant to the subject in question. Sources in any language must meet the above guidelines, including Reliable sources and WP:ALBUMS.

Christian music
For sources pertaining primarily or specifically to Christian music of all genres, see WikiProject Christian music/Sources.

Korean music and K-pop
For sources that deal with South Korean culture, including K-pop and other forms of Korean music, see WikiProject Korea/Reliable sources.

Latin music
For sources that focus on Latin music and its subgenres, see WikiProject Latin music/Resources.

Search engine
The Music WikiProject maintains a Music Reliable Source Search Engine. The customizable search engine searches for sources that are listed in the WP:MUSICRS list.

Unreliable sources
There are a number of types of sources to generally avoid using on Wikipedia. Some examples include:
 * Per Wikipedia's guideline on user-generated sources, websites with user-generated content are generally unacceptable as sources since they have little or no editorial oversight. This may include other general wiki-style sites such as Fandom, and product-related sites such as 45cat.com, Discogs, Rate Your Music or Last.fm. It is also important to be cautious of websites that publish user-submitted album reviews. For sites such as AbsolutePunk, AllMusic, Jesus Freak Hideout, and Sputnikmusic, be sure to select only the staff-written reviews.
 * Self-published sources are generally unacceptable as references on Wikipedia. An artist's social networking site, such as Facebook or Twitter, in addition to personal blogs and forum posts, should largely be avoided. If the information being added from one of these websites is truly important enough for inclusion, a publication will likely report about it.
 * Online retailers such as iTunes and Amazon.com should also be avoided. It can be seen as inappropriate to directly link to a site where one can purchase the subject in question. Wikipedia's role should not be used to advance the sale of an album nor to promote one retailer over another. Generally speaking, all of the information found on online retailers can be found in other sources. Songwriters, track listings and lengths, producers, record label, etc., may be sourced directly from the actual album covers and liner notes. Template:Cite AV media notes is "used to create citations for print liner notes from albums, DVDs, CDs and similar audio-visual media". If AllMusic is used for dates, then check that the dates given are not contradictory – such as recording and release dates being the same – and consider finding another source for dates for pre-internet-era releases.
 * AllMusic's summary should be avoided. Previous discussions at WP:ALBUMS and RSN have evinced that genres can be incongruous with the reviewer's prose, which should take precedent over the summary (e.g. AllMusic's summary classifies Rhythm Killers as "reggae", while the reviewer observes "no reggae in sight"; likewise, AllMusic's summary says that Staind includes the post-grunge genre while the reviewer says that the band "no longer sound like post-grungers...").

Generally unreliable sources
Reviews and ratings which only summarize other reviews and ratings should not be included either, such as Artistdirect's reviews from AllMusic.

About.com
Some of About.com's writers have expertise in music criticism, some do not. Please consult the Table of critics to see if a particular writer is reliable. Do not cite critics that are marked as "No" in the discussion.