Research Guides: Music: Contemporary/Popular Music

Contemporary/Popular Music

Personal Websites and Social Media

Many contemporary artists publish their music videos and sometimes complete albums through their personal pages on YouTube. You can also find live performances, interviews, and process-related content (e.g. "the making of"). This material can be particularly useful for researching an artist's process in their own words. Beware of content not published by the artist, the artist's label, or performance venue as this could be removed from YouTube at any time.

Social Media

Most active musicians have their own websites, findable via Google Search. Information varies, but you may find biographies, tour dates, merchandise, and multimedia content on these websites. Apps such as Instagram and TikTok can also be useful for finding biographical information, works-in-progress, and up-to-date commentaries from the artist on current events. When using social media as a source for research, it is advisable to fact-check claims when possible.

Magazines and Newspapers

Rolling Stone

Best for finding trending hip hop, pop, rap rock, and other popular musics. Issues from the most recent 12 months are available with images via PressReader. Archival issues are available in plain text.

BBC Music Magazine

Includes reviews for recent classical and crossover albums and performances, as well as feature journalism on rising stars and established artists.

Billboard

Each issue reports the most popular songs (streaming and radio) for the past two weeks. Also includes interviews and features on new artists. The most recent 5 issues are available with images via PressReader. Archival issues are available in plain text.

New York Times

The Arts section covers living artists, album reviews, performance reviews, news, and recent obituaries in music. For access via Dartmouth, you must create a free account.

More Contemporary Newspapers

Streaming Audio

Alexander Street Press: Music & Performing Arts Collection
Search on this page to quickly access content across Alexander Street Press' many collections including the Classical Music Library, Classical Performance in Video, the Jazz Music Library, Smithsonian Global Sound, and more. Collections include thousands of audio and video of operas, ballets, classical and jazz concerts. Browse individual collections by composer, genre, instrument, or performer. Easily cite video in APA, Chicago, & MLA using the citation tool under the video player. Create video clips to embed on course websites, in PowerPoint presentations, or wherever you would like to use them for educational purposes under fair use guidelines. Special features like annotation, citation, playlists, and creating video clips require you to sign up for a free account. Links to individual collections are on the left navigation of this research guide. Hover over the info icon for more information about each collection.
Archive.org
Best known as a source to stream concerts by "trade-friendly" bands, who allow audience members to record and share their music for free. Also includes digital conversions of radio broadcast recordings, 78rpm phonographs in the public domain, and mixtapes of house concerts by hip hop artists. Collection descriptions detail the history of the collection and of the format. Search by year, artist, and genre.
Spotify
There is currently no free music library for popular music comparable in convenience for the user. Nearly any album can be found on this platform, and contemporary artists often release Spotify-exclusive content which can include interviews about the making of an album. While artists on major labels do see some revenue per play from Spotify, it is important to recognize that independent and niche artists are not always compensated to the same degree. Artist pages offer brief biographical snapshots of the artists but do not often include citations for the information. At minimum, you must sign up for a free account to listen with ads. Student discounts are available.
Youtube
Many contemporary artists publish their music videos and sometimes complete albums through their personal pages on YouTube. You can also find live performances, interviews, and process-related content (e.g. "the making of"). This material can be particularly useful for researching an artist's process in their own words. Beware of content not published by the artist, the artist's label, or performance venue as this could be removed from YouTube at any time

Journal Articles

For recent scholarly work on living artists, search for the artist's name in Library Search. Use the filters on the left side of the page to limit your search to "Show Only: Peer Reviewed Content" and "Format: Articles."

Books

Books on musicians and bands can be found on Baker Level 1 in the ML410-ML420 range. These are browseable in alphabetical order by artist last name or first letter of a musical group's name. You can also look up an artist by name in the Library Search (e.g. "Ramones," "Lil Nas X", "Gloria Gaynor") and use the format filter to limit your search to books.

Databases/Indexes

Music Industry Database
A single search of international charting albums and singles under exclusive academic licence from Billboard, the Official Charts Company. Sophisticated tools allow you to interpret, graph, analyse, compare and contrast musical trends and interactions at the touch of a button. Listen to audio samples for each track and album quickly and easily.
International Index of Music Periodicals (IIMP)
This index lists 800+ magazines and peer reviewed journals specific to music. Includes journals in historical musicology, ethnomusicology, computer music, music education, instrument specific performance, popular music, and more. Browse contents of individual issues by year.
Performing Arts Periodicals Database
Performing Arts Periodicals Database covers a broad spectrum of the arts and entertainment industry - including dance, drama, theater, stagecraft, musical theater, circus performance, opera, pantomime, puppetry, magic, performance art, film, television and more.