Popular music

Search by subject heading

From the Basic Search screen of the Classic library catalogue, select Subject heading begins with... and enter one of the phrases below.

Popular music
Protest music
Punk rock music
Rock music
Folk music
Rap (Music)
Soul music
Country music
World music
Music and globalization
Rock musicians
Women rock musicians
Women in music
Gender identity in music
Feminism and music
Music and race
Music and technology
Sound recordings

Try adding these phrases to the headings above:

social aspects
political aspects
history and criticism
criticism and interpretation

For example: Punk rock music - history and criticism

Core and additional databases

The most efficient way of finding periodical literature is to search in literature databases, since individual articles are not indexed in the Library catalogue. Try the following databases:

Core music databases

• Rock's Backpages
  Provides a selection of full-text articles from some of the major magazines in pop music history as well as a collection of archival audio interviews.
• RILM: Répertoire international de la littérature musicale
  1967-
  Indexes the music scholarship of over 100 countries: journals, books, conference proceedings, and dissertations
• Music Index Online
  Indexes over 700 international music periodicals, both popular and scholarly
• IIMP: International Index to Music Periodicals
  1874-
  A database that indexes both scholarly and popular music periodicals, including over 80 with selective full-text

Chart databases

• Academic Charts Online
  (International coverage, 1952-) Charts from the US and the UK dating from the 50s, Germany (70s-), Canada (90s-), Australia, Spain, and Mexico (2000s-)
• RPM Weekly Charts
  (Canada, 1964-2000) Over 10,000 charts from the groundbreaking Canadian music periodical, RPM Weekly

Additional databases

Music—and popular music in particular—is a multidisciplinary area of study. You will find much relevant literature in other literature databases related to women studies, alternative presses, history, political science, communication/mass media studies. Access these from the McGill Library Article Indexes and Databases.

General

• Entertainment Industry Magazine Archive
  Offers full-text access to major music periodicals such as New Music Express as well as trade publications from other sectors of the entertainment industry
• Reader’s Guide (Canada and US)
  1890-present
  a database that indexes the most popular general-interest periodicals of Canada and the United States
• CPI.Q:Canadian Periodical Index (Canada)
  Provides citations and full-text to Canadian general-interest periodicals
• Alternative Press Index
  Indexes international alternative, radical, and left periodicals, newspapers, and magazines
• Expanded Academic
  Provides citations and often full-text and graphics to literature from across all academic disciplines. Includes scholarly publications, magazines, and newspapers
• Academic Search Premier
  Indexes over 8000 scholarly journals from nearly all academic disciplines; over 4500 journals are available in full text
• ProQuest Research Library
  Indexes citations and provides full-text access to journals, magazines, and newspapers on a broad range of general reference subjects

Discipline-specific

• America: History and Life
  Indexes scholarly history literature covering the United States and Canada from prehistory to the present
• Historical Abstracts
  Indexes over 1,500 journals dedicated to the history of the world (excluding the United States and Canada) from 1450 to the present
• Communication & Mass Media Complete
• Communication Abstracts
• Gender Studies
• Contemporary Women’s Issues
• Humanities Full Text
• Sociological Abstracts

Newspapers

Newspapers are often useful sources of profiles of popular musicians and performance reviews; or broader discussions of popular culture. Consult McGill Library's Newspapers page to gain online access to recent Canadian and international newspapers.

The full text of free Quebec weeklies, such as The Mirror and Voir, that cover many alternative groups and performances are indexed in Newscan.com.

Online historical newspapers include the complete run of The Globe and Mail, the Toronto Star, the New York Times, and The Times (London).

• The Globe and Mail: Canada’s Heritage from 1844
  Most recent 5 years unavailable
  Offers pdf of original pages from The Globe and Mail, allowing full text search in advertisements as well as articles and reviews
• Toronto Star: Pages of the Past
  Most recent 4 years unavailable
  Offers pdf images of original pages from the Toronto Star (1892-), allowing full text search in advertisements as well as articles and reviews
• New York Times (1851-2001)
• The Times (London) (1785-1985)

In general, however, pre-1990 newspapers are searchable only through print indexes and full-text is found on microfiche only.

All print indexes to newspapers and general-interest periodicals are available at the Humanities and Social Sciences Library in the Reference Section. Ask a reference librarian for assistance in selecting the proper index for the newspaper and year of interest. Please note: performance reviews may not be found in every index or may be grouped under a specific heading such as “Concerts, review…” or “Performance” or “Reviews.”

Dissertation databases

Dissertations are book-length papers written by graduate students in partial fulfillment of a Ph.D. or other doctoral degree requirements. Because they represent new areas of research and undergo a rigorous academic evaluation process, dissertations can be excellent resources for finding information on popular music topics. Be sure to check their bibliographies for further reading.

• Proquest Dissertations and Theses Full Text
  Full-text available for most dissertations (from all disciplines) published after 1996. Citations and often summaries are available for most earlier dissertations

For more online dissertation resources, consult the theses page.

Recordings databases

The Music Library audio / video collection includes many popular music recordings. For further information on locating these recordings consult the How to find recordings page.

The Music Library subscribes to several recordings databases. For a complete list, consult the Music Library's Audio page. One option is DRAM, which focuses on avant-garde music released on smaller labels such as New World, Albany, and XI Records.

Smithsonian Global Sound, accessible via the BAnQ, contains recordings of diverse musical forms representing cultural groups from around the world (requires free subscription to remote services).

Selected Internet sites

• Palmarès reconstitués de la chanson au Québec
  Listings of hit songs and albums in Quebec from 1949; Prepared by Michel Gignac
• RoJaRo (Rock Jazz Roots etc.)
  An online site dedicated to the literature published in alternative music magazines and fanzines. Includes a list of magazines and record labels as well as a searchable database of articles, discographies, and reviews found in small music magazines since 1992.
• Rap and Hip Hop Resources
  A thorough subject guide developed by the Center of Black Music Research, Chicago
• HipHopBibWeb
• Hip-Hop Directory

Other resources

• Music research subject guide
• Cultural studies subject guide