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How to Get the List of Songs From Old Albums

There are several ways to locate song lists from old record albums using modern technology that was not even invented when the albums themselves were recorded. By searching a variety of venues, finding information about specific albums and their contents has never been easier nor as wide-reaching. Online record store inventories, library catalogs and digital encyclopedias with effective finding aids, aka search engines, have taken the effort required in the past out of this task.

Instructions

    • 1
      Some older albums have now been digitally remastered into MP3s.

      Go to Amazon's website (See References). It has an extensive catalog of recording descriptions and is a quick way to locate song lists from old albums. Often you will find old records have been turned into MP3s on Amazon, but the original album contents are still used as the reference. Go to Amazon's homepage and select "music" from the drop-down menu, then enter the album's title and musician's name, if possible. You can also just enter the musician's name into the search engine, then choose from albums that are displayed. Once the album is located, scroll down the page to find "product details" and "editorial review" sections that often list the contents of the album. You can also change the selection in the drop-down menu from "music" to "MP3 downloads," then enter the album title and artist, and the song list for the album is displayed as a list of MP3s, if the album has been digitized.

    • 2
      Locate song lists using the largest library catalog in the world, WorldCat.

      Go to WorldCat (See References). It is "the world's largest library catalog." It offers a search engine that facilitates the location of song lyrics on albums as well. Go to WorldCat's home page, click the "Everything" tab, then enter the album title and artist's name, if possible. The album title appears in a link, which takes you to a page of detailed information about the album. Scroll down the page until you see a section titled "Contents." It lists all songs on the album. An added bonus to using WorldCat is it tells you the nearest libraries to you that have the album in their holdings, based on your ZIP code.

    • 3
      Search for record information using title, artist, recording format or decade.

      Go to the search engine Discogs (See References). Enter the album title and artist. Discogs provides links to different pressings and formats of the same album (such as international copies), lists the record producers and studios associated with the recordings, dates released and song lists. You can also search for albums by record label on this site. Another feature of this site is that you can search for albums by format, such as 45s or record albums, by the decade they were released and by genre.

    • 4
      Online search engines have replaced manual searching for album contents.

      Go to Tower Records online (See References). Choose the "Advanced Search" link above the search engine box. Choose the "Music, search now" button. It brings up a search engine. Enter the artist's name and the album title, and then submit. You can also enter information such as keywords, label, format or UPC. A link to the album appears. Click the link and you are taken to a list of the songs on the album.

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