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CITATION GUIDE 7 MIN READ

How to cite a song (APA 7, MLA 9, Chicago, Harvard)

A song citation has to settle one question before anything else: are you citing the recording you streamed, or the underlying musical work? Most student and academic writing cites the recording, which means the performer or recording artist usually leads the entry, the album or single is the container, and the label and year of the recording matter more than the year the song was written.

Written by Vikas Dulgunde, Software EngineerUpdated How this is madeConnect on LinkedIn

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When to use this format

Use this format when you quote lyrics, analyse a performance, or refer to a specific recorded track from Spotify, Apple Music, YouTube Music, a CD, or vinyl. The track is the unit you used and the album, EP, or single is the container around it. The recording artist is normally the author because they are responsible for the version you actually heard, even when a different songwriter or composer wrote the piece.

Do not use this format for a music video, which is closer to a YouTube video, or for sheet music and a printed score, which are cited like a book or a musical work. If you are writing about composition rather than performance, your discipline may want the composer in the author position and the score as the source, so check whether your assignment is about the song or the recording.

What you need before you start

Collect these details from the song itself, not from a search result or a reposted copy. Getting the fields right once makes every style format below fall into place.

  • Recording artist or performer (the credited act on the track).
  • Year of the recording or release, not the year the song was written.
  • Song title in the formatting your style uses for a part of a larger work.
  • Album, EP, or single title as the container, in italics.
  • Record label.
  • The streaming platform or format only when it helps a reader find the same version.

Worked examples in four styles

The same facts appear in every style, but they move around and change punctuation. Match the reference-list entry and the in-text citation to the style your assignment requires.

APA 7

APA 7 adds a [Song] descriptor after the track title and uses On before the album, then lists the label. Add a URL only if the recording is hard to find or you are citing one platform release.

Reference list

Beyonce. (2016). Formation [Song]. On Lemonade. Parkwood Entertainment; Columbia Records.

In text: (Beyonce, 2016)

MLA 9

MLA puts the song title in quotation marks, the album in italics, and treats the streaming service as a second container only when it carries the version you used. Put a timestamp in your prose, not the entry.

Reference list

Beyonce. "Formation." Lemonade, Parkwood Entertainment, 2016. Spotify, open.spotify.com/track/...

In text: (Beyonce)

Chicago

Chicago author-date keeps the track title in quotation marks and the album in italics, and can add the track number and format. Notes-bibliography style is common in music writing for performer and recording detail.

Reference list

Beyonce. 2016. “Formation.” Track 12 on Lemonade. Parkwood Entertainment.

In text: (Beyonce 2016)

Harvard

Harvard variants differ, but most keep the performer, year, track, album, and label, and add Available at plus an access date for a streamed recording. Follow your department's Cite Them Right edition.

Reference list

Beyonce (2016) Formation [Song]. Lemonade. Parkwood Entertainment. Available at: https://open.spotify.com/ (Accessed: 15 January 2026).

In text: (Beyonce, 2016)

Judgement calls and edge cases

Decide early whether the songwriter matters to your argument. If you are analysing how a cover changes a song, name both the original writer and the performer of the version you discuss, but keep the recording artist in the author position because that is the source your reader can retrieve. A 1960s composition covered in 2021 is a 2021 source when you cite the 2021 recording.

Streaming links are unstable, so prefer the album and label over a long Spotify URL whenever the version is otherwise clear. If the exact platform release matters, for example a remastered or extended edition that only exists on one service, then the platform and a clean link become useful retrieval information rather than clutter.

Lyrics quoted in text usually need a timestamp or a clear indication of the section, especially in MLA and Chicago, because songs do not have page numbers. Put the timestamp in your sentence or note, keep the reference entry pointed at the whole track, and never paste a full lyric sheet without checking your institution's fair-use guidance.

Common mistakes

  • Using the year the song was written instead of the year of the recording you cited.
  • Putting the songwriter in the author slot when you cited a specific performance.
  • Citing a music video as a song, or a song as a generic website.
  • Dropping the album or label, which leaves the recording impossible to identify.
  • Pasting a long streaming URL when the album and label already identify the track.

Source notes

Citation rules vary by edition and discipline, and platforms relabel and remove content over time. These references are useful starting points for the current published rules:

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