AllMusic FAQ

What is this site all about?

AllMusic is a comprehensive and in-depth resource for finding out more about the albums, musicians, bands and musical styles you love. We offer different ways for our users to explore and discover all kinds of cool info about music including keeping up-to-date on new release information, browsing discographies, exploring genres, and reading the opinions of expert music writers.

Who is Rovi?

Rovi provides AllMusic with written content like reviews and biographies, tagged metadata like Genres, Styles, Moods, Themes and Similar Artists, as well as information about credits, album covers, sound clips, music videos and a ton of other good stuff. If you have questions or issues related to the data you see on AllMusic, our various support pages will put you in contact with the editors at Rovi.

Why are there ads on the site?

AllMusic is a free site that relies on ad revenue in order to help keep the lights on. We're trying to keep the ads relevant to music fans so that they don't seem too intrusive. If you spot an ad that's intrusive, annoying, or inappropriate, you may report it to us via our feedback form or by posting your idea on our Get Satisfaction page. Please be sure to include the product or brand name of the ad that is causing issue, so we can track it down.

How does your ratings system work?

Rovi editors use a 1 to 5 star system (5 is the highest rating). It is important to note that we rate albums only within the scope of an artist's own work -- we try to only compare an album to other albums by the same artist. We won't compare a Miles Davis album to the latest album by Britney Spears. The exception to this rule is the five-star album, which indicates the album is a ~best-of-genre~ and is essential listening.

What are Album Picks and Track Picks?

When looking at an artist's discography, you may see a blue arrow with the AllMusic logo next to the album cover. That represents the Album Pick for the most representative album of that artist's entire body of work. It may be a well-known hit album, a compilation of the artist's best songs or just a really great record.

On specific album pages you may see that same blue logo and highlighting next to two or three tracks on a recording. Those are Track Picks, the songs on a recording that our editors feel are most representative of the entire album (although not always necessarily the hits)

What is the difference between Albums and Releases?

Albums in an artist's discography should be thought of as the "Work" and Releases should be thought of as the specific "Products" that are sold (like LPs, CDs or digital releases). So something like Pink Floyd's recorded work "Dark Side of the Moon" that was recorded with guitars and drums and VCS 3 Synthesizer and came out in 1973 would be thought of as an "Album" and the six-disc Dark Side "Immersion Edition" CD+DVD version that came out and was available on store shelves would be a "Release."

In other words, an Album is the canonical "recorded work" which is what you initially think of when the album is mentioned, and a Release is any of the different products that have come out for purchase with a barcode or on a specific format (LP, CD, Cassette, SACD, Gold Disc, Piano Roll, etc) and may contain bonus tracks, alternate takes, a different cover image or even a collectible t-shirt or keychain.

Can you define some of the other specific terms you use on the site?

Associated With (under Related on an Artist page):: If the artist is an individual, this term refers to either major artists they've played with or artists with whom they've formed musical / personal partnerships. If this is in reference to a group, ‘Associated With' usually refers to other bands that have shared members, or major individual artists that also spent time in the group.
Collaborated With (under Related on an Artist page):: You could also call this Worked With. This most often represents a behind-the-scenes musical partnership, or a relationship that didn't receive feature billing.
Editors' Choice:: Each month, our team of writers and editors select the albums that most captured their attention. We feature these selections on our Editors' Choice page, and with a special badge on our Featured New Releases page each week.
Followed By (under Related on an Artist page):: Artists who were influenced by the selected artist. This may be directly called out from research and interviews, or it may be a strong inference based on the opinion of our music editors.
Group Members:: Past and current members of the selected band.
Influenced By (under Related on an Artist page):: Artists that have had a direct musical influence on, or were an inspiration to, the selected artist, as determined by our music editors.
Member Of:: Band(s) that the selected artist is, or has been, a member of.
Moods:: Adjectives that describe the sound and feel of a song, album, or overall body of work.
Themes:: Activities or events particularly suited for a song, album or overall body of work.
Similar To (under Related on an Artist page):: Artists that share similarities with the selected artists. These are artists that sound similar, were part of a particular scene, or share a similar sound, style or aesthetic.
Staff Picks:: Every day our editorial team selects a different album to highlight on the home page of AllMusic. This may be a recent discovery, a time-honored classic or a buried treasure. Think of it as an “Album of the Day.”

How many recordings are on AllMusic?

AllMusic is always updating with new data from Rovi. Feel free to keep an eye on their numbers by periodically reviewing statistics here.

Can I write for AllMusic?

Most of our album reviews and artist biographies are provided by Rovi whose careers site is available here.

You know what would be cool on the site? This thing I just thought of. How can I submit a feature request for something I'd like to see on AllMusic?

Feature requests or any feedback related to AllMusic can be sent via our feedback form or by posting your idea on our Get Satisfaction page.

I noticed something is missing or incorrect. How can I submit a correction?

Errors to written content like reviews and biographies, tagged metadata like Genres, Styles, Moods, Themes and Similar Artists, as well as information about credits, album covers, sound clips and music videos are on the end of our data provider, Rovi. You may submit artist- and album-related corrections to Rovi editors using Submit Corrections links available in the sidebar on artist and album pages, and corrections related to other types of data via our feedback form.

Rovi prides themselves on accuracy, so please include your information source in your submission. Please do not contact AllMusic about the status of data corrections; we don't control which data is corrected or how long it takes to apply corrections, and we can't move up your correction in priority or within a specific time frame. Rovi appreciates the time you take to send this information to them, but due to the immense volume of correspondence they receive, they're unable to directly respond to most of your submissions.

Can I submit a CD or Album information to you so it will show up on the site? How can I add a biography, album, or photo to my artist page?

Submissions of music recordings, informative promotional materials, and artist/recording images are on the end of our data provider, Rovi. Please see the details on our Product Submissions page. Rovi tries to add artists and recordings, as well as review and synopsize, as many CDs, films, and DVDs as possible, but can't make any promises about which artists and titles will receive this level of enhanced editorial coverage. However, you may send them your information for consideration by following the steps on the Product Submissions page.

I registered for an AllMusic account. How do I edit my artist page?

While an AllMusic account allows you to rate albums, get personalized recommendations based on those ratings, and manage your AllMusic Newsletter subscription, it isn't connected to your artist page. Updates to your artist page are on the end of our data provider, Rovi. You may contact them about updating your artist page by completing our feedback form. If you're a new artist or otherwise don't have an artist page, reach the Rovi editors by following the steps at our Product Submissions page.

How long will it take for my feedback request to be completed?

Due to the volume of inquiries we receive, we're unable to provide a personal response about the status of your feedback. Sorry about that.

How can I buy a song or album?

While AllMusic helps music lovers discover new music, revisit the classics and research their favorite artists, we don't sell any products directly on our site. However, whenever applicable, we provide Stream or Buy links on artist and album pages, which provides links to sources like streaming services and places to buy the music. If you're not seeing that on the album page you're viewing, the album isn't available at those sources.

How do I obtain copyright permission to use a song?

Neither AllMusic nor Rovi own the rights to any music compositions, recordings, or other performances, As a start, try contacting ASCAP, BMI and SESAC for these kind of inquiries.

I'm listening to a CD in Windows Media Player, but it's showing the wrong data. How do I report that?

The Windows Media Player platform receives its data from multiple sources including Rovi, so the error may be originating with Microsoft. If you still believe the error is coming from Rovi, the easiest way to confirm this is to check the title on AllMusic. If the data on AllMusic is correct, then the error doesn't lie with Rovi. If the data on AllMusic is incorrect, you may submit the corrections to Rovi.