Music

Resources Requiring Login (Library card and password)

Freegal - A collection of popular MP3 music.  Allows residents of the Greater Victoria Public Library service area to download 3 songs each week and keep them permanently at no charge.

Open Resources (no login required)

Music Reference

All Music Guide - The most comprehensive online music resource. Includes information about artists, recordings and songs-musical works in almost any genre or style.  Also includes background information about each genre and style, links to explore artists similar to your favourites, thousands of audio clips and editorial content.

Canadian Music Periodical Index (CMPI) - Nearly 30,000 citations for articles dating from the late-19th century to the present day. Coverage includes 500 Canadian music journals, newsletters and magazines.

Classical Net - Comprehensive site that includes a core repertoire list for those wanting to build a classical music library, composer biographies, CD recommendations and reviews, articles about music, and book suggestions.

Encyclopedia of Music in Canada - Describes the breadth and depth of Canada’s musical culture, including historical and current aspects of popular, folk, religious, concert and other forms of music.

Ethnomusicology, folk music, and world music - Extensive links to information about the music of many regions and cultural groups.

Ricci Adams Musictheory.net - Includes interactive tutorials on many aspects of music theory from identifying clefs and notes, to chord structure and harmonic progression.

Lyrics

Need song lyrics? Try using Google and enter "your song title" (using quotations marks) followed by the word lyrics. For example: "mack the knife" lyrics

A-Z Lyrics Universe - Browse lists or search for a specific artist, album or song

LyricWiki - Browse lists of artists, albums and songs

The Lied, Art Song and Choral Texts Page - Valuable site for finding original and translated texts of classical art songs

Sheet Music

Choral Public Domain Library - A database containing over 8,000 free choral scores in downloadable and printable PDF format. Works include major choral works by composers such as Mozart, Bach, Handel, and Fauré, as well as smaller works. All musical periods are represented as well.

IMSLP-Petrucci Music Library - A great site for public domain music scores, with over 100,000 scores available.

The Mutopia Project - The Mutopia Project offers sheet music editions of classical music for free download. These are based on editions in the public domain, and include works by Bach, Beethoven, Chopin, Handel, Mozart, and many others. All of the music on Mutopia may be freely downloaded, printed, copied, distributed, modified, performed and recorded. Music is supplied as PDF files for easy printing on either A4 or US Letter paper.

Ultimate Guitar - A huge database of free tabulatures, chords, and lyrics, mainly for popular music.  Includes multiple versions of most songs.

Music Periodicals

Music magazines at GVPL.

Concert Information

Royal and McPherson Theatres - Calendar of events at two of Victoria's main performance venues. Online booking available.

Victoria Symphony - Concert listings and descriptions. Online booking available.

Save-On-Foods Memorial Centre - List of upcoming events. Online booking available.

Hermanns Jazz Club - The place for live jazz in Victoria for 25 years.

Pollstar - A great site for finding out who wil be playing in your city. This searchable concert schedule allows you to see concerts by city, band, or venue. Concerts range from club shows to arena shows and the site is kept well up to date.

Internet Radio/Streaming Audio

CBC Music - 40 web radio stations playing millions of tracks, 130,000 on-demand songs, and no subscription required!  

Grooveshark - Online music search engine and streaming music service. Includes internet radio.

Live365 Internet Radio - Links to hundreds of free radio stations in a wide range of genres and eras.

Radio Tower - Search over a thousand stations by country, type of music, or name of station.

Shoutcast - Thousands of stations; uses the WINAMP streaming system.

Music Copyright

Society of Composers, Authors and Music Publishers of Canada - A performing rights organization that explains the basics of copyright and performing rights.

Canadian Copyright Act ( R.S., 1985, c. C-42 )