I've decided to toss out a list of places that I use to start my research, whether it's for learning about a particular genre or to find a song. Here it is:
Google - A fantastic search engine and a great place to start with an idea. Use this to find information about artists or type in some lyrics if you're looking to find a certain song. There are a lot of great search engines; this one is my personal favorite.
Wikipedia - This online encyclopedia is constantly being updated. There is controversy over the credibility of its articles, but it is useful for the basic information (artist's background, discography). There's nothing wrong with cross-referencing; check out the referenced articles or literally check out a book from your local library.
Local Library - Speaking of which, your local library may be a great place to check out a few books on the history of the music that you are researching.
YouTube - I've found that this website is great for listening to songs for the first time. I often come across posted videos of songs when I'm doing a lyric search.
Lyrics websites - After using Google (or any search engine) to find lyrics, a lot of websites where people post lyrics come up in the results. Check out at least 2-3 of them to make sure you have the correct song and lyrics.
Beware: These sites tend to produce pop-ups.
Pandora - This personal internet radio site is part of the Music Genome Project. Type in an artist or song that you are researching and Pandora will generate similar songs from similar artists (genre, time period).
Well, that's the list of where I get most of my information, aside from the client and if I'm really needing help, I send an email to the artist's fan club (if they're a current artist) or I might even do a search on a forum like this one and/or ask a question. Feel free to add to this list. I hope it helps!
Google - A fantastic search engine and a great place to start with an idea. Use this to find information about artists or type in some lyrics if you're looking to find a certain song. There are a lot of great search engines; this one is my personal favorite.
Wikipedia - This online encyclopedia is constantly being updated. There is controversy over the credibility of its articles, but it is useful for the basic information (artist's background, discography). There's nothing wrong with cross-referencing; check out the referenced articles or literally check out a book from your local library.
Local Library - Speaking of which, your local library may be a great place to check out a few books on the history of the music that you are researching.
YouTube - I've found that this website is great for listening to songs for the first time. I often come across posted videos of songs when I'm doing a lyric search.
Lyrics websites - After using Google (or any search engine) to find lyrics, a lot of websites where people post lyrics come up in the results. Check out at least 2-3 of them to make sure you have the correct song and lyrics.
Beware: These sites tend to produce pop-ups.
Pandora - This personal internet radio site is part of the Music Genome Project. Type in an artist or song that you are researching and Pandora will generate similar songs from similar artists (genre, time period).
Well, that's the list of where I get most of my information, aside from the client and if I'm really needing help, I send an email to the artist's fan club (if they're a current artist) or I might even do a search on a forum like this one and/or ask a question. Feel free to add to this list. I hope it helps!
