List of online music databases

Below is a table of online music databases that are largely free of charge. Many of the sites provide a specialized service or focus on a particular music genre. Some of these operate as an online music store or purchase referral service in some capacity. Among the sites that have information on the largest number of entities are those sites that focus on discographies of composing and performing artists.

Performance rights organisations typically have their own databases as per country they represent, in accordance with Confédération Internationale des Sociétés d'Auteurs et Compositeurs, to help domestic artists collect royalties. Information available on these portals include songwriting credits, publishing percentage splits, and alternate titles for different distribution channels. It is one of the most accurate and official types of databases because it involves direct communication between the artists, record labels, distributors, legal teams, publishers and a global governing body regulating performance rights organisations. Many countries that observe copyright have an organisation established, currently there are 119 CISAC members, and they may be not-for-profit. The databases are typically known as 'repertory searches' or 'searching works' and may require an account while others are open to view for free as public including the USA's ASCAP Songview and Ace services, Canada's SOCAN, South Korea's KOMCA, France's SACEM, and Israel's ACUM.

General databases

Database Service(s) No. of tracks No. of releases No. of artists Notes License Full free accessAllMusic (AMG)Music information and reviews.~20,000,000~2,200,000 Song samples only.Discogs• Database: user-generated cross-referenced database of physical & digital releases, artists, and labels. With catalogue numbers, codes, and other markings taken directly from each release.• Companies/organisations: cross-referencing those involved in music production (record companies, manufacturers, distributors, publishers, rights holders, venues, studios, etc.)• Images: for releases, artists, labels, and other companies/organisations listed.• Marketplace: for trade of physical music releases.151,200,00019,391,0659,420,968• Multi-lingual.• Free membership (which also removes all site ads).• Marketplace lists over 35 million items (largest physical music items marketplace online).• 1 billion edits.PD/CC0Free API and XML data dumps.Internet ArchiveLarge live music archive, hosts hundreds of free music netlabels13,943,799CC/PDYesJaxstaOnline database of official music credits19,000,000 • 115,000,000+ Individual Music Credits• 100,000+ Credits Ingested DailyAPI available.Last.fmMusic community website.~26,484,587Last.fm « CBS IMG~3,304,568~1,383,340Automatically creates online library/collection of listened to music and generates recommendations. MusicBrainzOpen content music database.57,437,0295,719,0962,963,914 CC0Free API and XML data dumps. Rate Your Music Music database, community ratings, reviews and lists 27,954,3257,487,460 1,948,076 API is planned but not functional . No special rights granted. Web scraping is prohibited.

Music genre specific Database Services No. of tracks No. of releases No. of artists Notes License Full free accessEncyclopaedia MetallumA heavy metal encyclopedia with information, complete discography, links, images, and reviews.4,392,794700,867200,184 bands; 974,613 artists Crispient Hand-curated music discovery catalogue with audio excerpts, release information, discogs and youtube links, and listening guides, organised by genre and subgenre. 547 (September 2026) Covers 25 styles across drum and bass/jungle, house, techno, hip-hop, lounge and rock, including drumfunk, atmospheric jungle, deep house, microhouse, dub techno, instrumental hip-hop, trip hop and krautrock. Free browsing and audio excerpts; no registration required.Prog Archives Progressive rock discography and reviews. 87,102 13,210 No special rights granted Yes. Log on to submit band informationRollDaBeatsDrum N Bass music database, physical releases only. 175,969 62,103 VkgyVisual kei music database16,924

Specialized areas Database Specialization Services No. of tracks No. of releases No. of artists Notes License Full free accessThe Freesound ProjectAudio samplesRepository of Creative Commons-licensed audio samples. 445,000 CC Sampling Plus.GeniusLyricsAllows users to provide annotations and interpretation of song lyrics. MusixmatchLyricsAudio based music recognition and provision of song lyrics.Yes.SecondHandSongsCoversUser-generated database of covers and samples of songs, with links to public recordings.>1,100,000 performances>100,000 worksMultilingual recordings.No special rights grantedSound CreditCreditsMultimodal platform for entering and editing music credits with a datahub that includes a database upload option.Database uploads are free, and is free to view.WhoSampledSample identificationUser-generated database of comparison between original tracks and covers, remixes, or songs that use samples.1,100,000 338,000

Printed music (sheets) databases Database Services No. of tracks No. of releases No. of artists Notes License Full free accessChoral Public Domain LibrarySheet music archive of choral and vocal music in the public domain or otherwise freely available for printing and performing36,869 YesInternational Music Score Library ProjectMusic scores and parts, mostly scanned from publications now in the public domain; some recordings.42,000 (370,000 scores) 14,500 composers, 387 performers.. PD/CC BY-NC-SA.MuseScore Sheet music 6,487,223 780Also includes free music notation software to enable a wide range of instrumental music scores to be created, printed and shared Music is available under a variety of licenses. It is tagged and searchable by license.Music protected by copyright is only downloadable by obtaining a paid Pro subscription.MusipediaSearch by melody (entering notes, Parsons code, whistling, or tapping rhythm)Yes, but via other sources.Mutopia ProjectRepository of free content sheet music. 2,247 328 Répertoire International des Sources Musicales (RISM)Database of historical music manuscripts and music printed editions that includes full descriptions and current physical locations in libraries worldwide.>1,400,000~40,000 composersSearch available in 5 languages. Link to digitized images when available.CC BYYes

Metadata providers and distributors Database Services No. of tracks No. of releases No. of artists Notes License Full free accessACRCloudMusic recognition & audio based music retrieval ~40,000,000Commercially available with SDKs, APIs for file scanning, airplay monitoring, shazam-liked features Free trial available in 15 daysGracenoteIdentification service for CDs and other media.~100,000,000Gracenote |~8,000,000 1 billion "submissions". QuantoneDatabase of physical/digital products, venues, photos, artists, participants, composers, movements, labels, publishers and rights.12,000,000 301,000For commercial business-to-business usage only. API available.

Non-functioning databases Database Services No. of tracks No. of releases No. of artists Notes freedb Identification service for CDs. Licensed under GPL. freedb.org and its services shut down in June 2020; succeeded by gnudb.org. LyricWiki Lyrics wiki on Fandom.~1,653,416~159,749~82,226 Founded in 2006, API-restricted since 2016, closed in 2019. Deleted in September 2020. MetroLyrics Lyrics lookup. 1,000,000+ 16,000+ The site abruptly went offline in late June 2021, and as of November 2022 its owners and maintainers have made no explanation. MusicMight Biographies and discographies. 659,000 92,000 59,400 Was active from 2005-2010. Wikifonia Free lead sheets in MusicXML format, contributed and editable by users. 6,236 Was active from 2006-2013.

List of online music databases

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