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allmusic.com

November 19, 2025

What is AllMusic.com?

AllMusic is a comprehensive online database that catalogues albums, songs, and artists. Their mission: to provide detailed information on music — biographies, credits, genres, reviews, related artists. According to the site itself, it describes itself as a “comprehensive and in-depth resource for finding out more about the albums, bands, musicians and songs you love.” (AllMusic)

Origins & history

  • The project traces back to 1991, under the name All Music Guide (AMG). (Wikipedia)

  • It was created by Michael Erlewine, who began with reference books (in print/CD-ROM form) before moving online. (Wikipedia)

  • The first online presence was around 1994 as a Gopher site; the web version followed as browsers matured. (Wikipedia)

  • Over time the ownership changed: for example, by 2015 AMG/AllMusic was acquired by RhythmOne (via its prior identity as BlinkX). (Wikipedia)

  • By some counts, the database contains over 3 million album entries and over 30 million tracks. (Wikipedia)

What you’ll find on the site

Here are the main types of content and features:

  • Artist pages: biographies, discographies, genres/styles, influences, associated acts.

  • Album pages: track listings, credits (musicians, production), release data, reviews.

  • Genre/style classification: AllMusic uses genre and style tags to allow exploration by music type. (VICE)

  • Editorial content: staff reviews, “Album Picks” and “Track Picks”, user-lists, ratings (1-5 stars) according to criteria. (AllMusic)

  • User features: the ability to create lists, track a personal collection (“My Collection”), follow artists for notifications of new releases. (AllMusic)

Why it matters

A few reasons AllMusic stands out:

  • Depth of metadata: Most music services focus on streaming; AllMusic collects archival, encyclopaedic data: historical info, credits, genres, influences. For example, one writer called it “the internet’s largest, most influential music database.” (VICE)

  • Genre/subgenre breadth: They developed a detailed taxonomy of styles, which helps when you want to dig into more obscure or nuanced musical categories. (Wikipedia)

  • Licensing & integration: The data isn’t just for the website — many software players, stores, and metadata services use AllMusic’s database. For example, it has been used in Windows Media Player and other tools. (Wikipedia)

  • Editorial voice: Beyond raw metadata, AllMusic offers reviews and recommendations, which can help researchers, fans, librarians, etc. Their reviews often consider the context of an artist’s career rather than comparing across unrelated artists. (AllMusic)

How to use it effectively

If you explore AllMusic, here are tips to get more out of it:

  • When looking up an artist, check “Styles” in addition to “Genres” — the style labels are often more specific (for example, under “rock” you might find “post-punk”, “garage rock revival”).

  • Use “Album Pick” to find what AllMusic editors consider the representative album of an artist. (AllMusic)

  • On album pages, scroll through credits to find lesser-known session musicians, producers, engineers — valuable for research.

  • Use “Related Artists” to explore influences and similar musicians — the database attempts to map “Influenced By”, “Followers”, “Similar To”. (AllMusic)

  • If you’re an artist or label: if you discover an omission or error, you’ll need to submit corrections via the data provider (Xperi, formerly Rovi/TiVo) since AllMusic itself uses that provider. (AllMusic)

Limitations & considerations

  • AllMusic is not a streaming platform: it doesn’t provide full-track playback or legal downloads directly. The site states explicitly that it is not a streaming service. (AllMusic)

  • Submission or correction of data can be slow: they indicate that they cannot guarantee when corrections will be processed. (AllMusic)

  • Because it’s editorial, reviews are subjective. The rating system is relative within an artist’s discography — meaning a 5-star album by one artist isn’t compared to a 5-star by a totally different artist. (AllMusic)

  • Some features may be unavailable: for example, sound-clips used to be provided but the FAQ notes that since 2022 the 30-second clips are no longer available. (AllMusic)

Current status

Today AllMusic remains active online, still accessible via its website. The “About” page affirms it continues to work to improve the site and values feedback. (AllMusic) Given the ownership by RhythmOne, it operates as part of a broader network of media metadata resources.

Key takeaways

  • AllMusic is a deep, metadata-rich database of music: artists, albums, songs, genres, credits.

  • It started in the early 1990s, initially as a print and CD-ROM reference, then moved online.

  • The site offers both data (tracks, credits) and editorial content (reviews, recommendations).

  • It’s useful for music fans, researchers, librarians, metadata/information professionals.

  • It’s not a streaming service; it may have limitations in self-service for uploads/corrections.

  • Genre/style tagging and related-artists features make it good for discovery and context.

FAQ

Q: Can I stream full songs on AllMusic?
No. The site explicitly states that it does not provide streaming of full tracks or direct sales of music. (AllMusic)

Q: Can I submit my own album or correct my artist page?
Yes—but via their data provider, Xperi. You can submit albums, biographies, photos, etc. They note they can’t guarantee when or whether a submission will be processed. (AllMusic)

Q: How do their ratings work?
Albums are rated on a 1 to 5 stars scale. Ratings are relative within an artist’s body of work, not across all artists. For example, one artist’s 5-star may not be equivalent to another artist’s 5-star in volume or influence. (AllMusic)

Q: How are genres and styles assigned?
They use a hierarchy of “Genre” as the broad category (rock, jazz, classical, etc.) and “Style” for more specific distinctions (e.g., “avant-garde jazz”, “roots rock”). They emphasise that if you disagree (for example, “this isn’t pop”), you may submit corrections via Xperi. (AllMusic)

Q: Is AllMusic useful for discovering new music?
Yes—it offers search by style, related artists, editorial picks. While it doesn’t stream music directly, it can guide you to albums, artists, or genres you might not know.