Audio and Video Resources

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Finding Streaming Audio

Current Western students, staff and faculty have access to quality, professional productions via the licensed resources below.

Naxos Music Library
NAXOS Music Library offers streamed access to 2,337,100 tracks (150,360 CD-length recordings), and adds some 1,150 CDs each month. Genres include classical, blues, nostalgia, pop, rock and many more. You can search by composer, performer, label; create playlists for classes, find opera libretti and synopses, and analyses and details of works (available recordings, instrumentation, duration).
Naxos Music Library - Jazz
A subset of NAXOS, covered by a separate subscription. While our NAXOS subscription offers unlimited users, our NAXOS JAZZ subscription is limited to 3 concurrent users: access is seamless (unless you are the 4th person.trying to access JAZZ).
Music Online: Classical Music Library
Alexander Street Press's collection of streaming audio for scholarly research, teaching and learning. You can make clips and create a playlist.
Berliner Philharmoniker Digital Concert Hall
Streamed performances (both live and archived) from the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra. Users must set up an account while on-campus, using the "Get Free and Easy Access - Just Sign Up" button within the Western University pop-up window. Once registered, content is accessible from anywhere.
DRAM
A scholarly resource of recordings, including CD quality audio, liner notes and essays from New World, Composers Recordings (formerly Composers Recordings Inc./CRI) and other important labels.
Smithsonian Global Sound
Music Online: Smithsonian Global Sound for Libraries produced in partnership with Smithsonian Folkways Recordings, is a virtual encyclopedia of the world's musical and aural traditions. The collection provides educators, students, and interested listeners with an unprecedented variety of online resources that support the creation, continuity, and preservation of diverse musical forms.

Live Music Archive from Internet Archive
A community committed to providing the highest quality live concerts in a lossless, downloadable format. Preserves and archives as many live concerts as possible for current and future generations to enjoy. "All music is from trade-friendly artists and is strictly non-commercial, both for access here and for any further distribution."
The Great 78 Project
A community project for the preservation, research and discovery of 78rpm records. From about 1898 to the 1950s, an estimated 3 million sides (approximately 3 minute recordings) have been made on 78rpm discs. While the commercially viable recordings will have been restored or remastered onto LP or CD, there is still research value in the artifacts and usage evidence in the often rare 78rpm discs and recordings.

Finding Physical Audio Recordings

To search for CDs (Compact Discs) or LPs (Long-Playing records), use the Advanced Search in the library catalogue.

Media type

While there is no 100% reliable way to limit your search results to CDs or LPs, the following generally work:

For CDs, include the word "compact"
For LPs, include the word "sound"

Classical Instrumental Music

Include any of the following:

Composer's surname
Plural of the genre (e.g., sonatas, even if you want only one)
Name of the instrument(s), if applicable (singular or plural)
Opus or thematic catalogue number (e.g., 31 for Beethoven's Op. 31 sonatas)
Unique or distinctive word from the title, if applicable
Performer's name (e.g. Schiff, or Brendel, or Goode)

Classical Vocal Music (songs or arias)

Include any of the following:

Composer's surname
Title of the song or aria in quotes (e.g., "Gretchen am Spinnrade")
The opus or thematic catalogue number for the larger work (e.g., 626 if you seek any aria from Mozart’s Requiem, KV. 626)
Any unique or distinctive word(s) from the title of the larger work
Performer's name (e.g., Bartoli, Otter, Pavarotti or Ramey)

Popular Music

Include any of the following:

Title of song in quotes (e.g., "Seven Come Eleven")
Name of the artist(s) (e.g., Christian, Charlie) or group (e.g., "Kansas City Six")

Last Updated: May 2, 2024 4:58 PM
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Subjects: Dance, Film Studies, Music, Theatre Studies, Visual Arts