Find Images & Media: Audio

SOUND RECORDING

Artist LastName, FirstName. Title of Recording. Manufacturer, Year of issue. Medium.

• The placement of article/performer, conductor, composer, and lyricist names varies slightly depending on your emphasis. Traditionally, you list artist/performer names first and include the conductor/composer/lyricist after the title of the recording (preceded by Comp., Dir., or By). You can switch these and place the conductor/composer first and list artists (Perf.) after the title of recording.
• If you wish to highlight a particular song or part of a larger recording, place the name of the song in quotation marks before the italicized title of the larger recording. 
• If there is no date of publication/release, use n.d.
• Mediums can include: Audiocassette, Audiotape, CD, LP, MP3, etc. If you cannot determine the type of online file, use Digital file.
• You can include the date of recording in addition to the date of issue if you would like. Place it (Rec. 24 Feb. 2009) before the manufacturer's name.

EXAMPLES:

Smith, Will. "Gettin' Jiggy Wit It." By Samuel Barnes, Bernard Edwards, Joe Robinson, Nile Rodgers, and Will Smith.  Big Willie Style. Columbia, 1998. CD.

Stewart, Patrick, narr. The Last Battle. By C.S. Lewis. HarperCollins Publishers, 2004. MP3.

Bach, Johann Sebastian. "Ave Maria." Dance of the Blessed Spirits. Perf. Donald Sosin. Naxos, 1998. CD.

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES:

Section 5.7.2 of the seventh edition of the MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers.

RECORDED SONG

Writer, A. (Copyright year.). Title of song [Recorded by B. B. Artist]. On Title of album [Medium of recording]. Location: Label. 

• If the song is recorded by the songwriter, skip the bracketed "recorded by" section.
• If the recording identifies the lyricist and the composer, include their roles in parentheses after their names.
• If the writer is unknown, begin the entry with the title of the song followed by the copyright year.

EXAMPLES:

Dylan, Bob. (1997). Make you feel my love [Recorded by Adele]. On 19 [CD]. London: XL, Allido, Columbia.

West, Kayne. (2008). Heartless. On 808s & Heartbreak [MP3]. Burbank: Roc-a-Fella, Def Jam.

AUDIO PODCAST

Writer or Producer, A. (Function). (Date produced or posted). Title of podcast or audio recording. [Medium of recording]. Retrived from http://website.url

EXAMPLES:

KUSP. (Producer). (2013, March 24). Vampires in the lemon grove. [Audio podcast]. Retrieved from http://www.npr.org/rss/podcast/podcast_detail.php?siteId=111020758

RadioLab. (Producer). (2014, July 24). For the birds. [Audio podcast]. Retrieved from http://www.radiolab.org/story/birds/

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES

See section 7.07 of the sixth edition of the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association.