Is there a source for music information equivalent to imdb.com for films?
I have an on-going argument with my brother-in-law in which I KNOW I’m right, but he is just not getting it. If i had an industry site that definitively listed who wrote and performed a certain song, I might be able to pound it into his f’ing head.
Is there such a thing?
allmusic.com, perhaps?
You might try Gracenote.com. It used to be called CDDB. You can search by artist, album or track.
Yeah, I would say allmusic as well.
All I can think of is Allmusic, but I hate that site. It’s slow and full of errors and lacunae.
Would you care to share the argument with us? Maybe somebody here can find a good cite (on a good site) to support you.
The song “Superman” on the Five for Fighting album titled America Town was released in 2000. Somewhere over the years, someone on the Inter-Webs incorrectly attributed the song to David Gray. Now you can find numerous lyrics websites and mp3 copies floating around on the internet that list it as a David Gray song. Knucklehead brother-in-law finds one of these:
and says it’s proof he’s correct. I point out to him that
[ul]
[li]A-David Gray’s own website does not list a song titled “It’s easy to be me”[/li][li]B- Five for Fighting’s website shows those lyrics belong to THEIR song.[/li][li]and C- There is even a discussion on the David Gray website about this, and they confirm it is not a David Gray song.[/li][li]and well, D- I hate when I know I’m right, and can’t get the unwashed masses to acknowledge[/li][/ul]
So, there ya go, that’s our very high brow discussion. Time to forget about that whole meaning of life discussion, we have a music argument to settle.:smack:
The website of BMI (which collects royalties for composers) agrees with you:
Excellent!! (strokes chin with evil glee)
Ultimately though, he is quite a dumbass brother-in-law, so all the evidence I gather may be like waves beating on the rocks.
The BMI cite should be the trump card. They’re the ones who actually collect the royalties for use of the work and pay the composer.
I’d say allmusic is the equivalent to allmovie, their other site. It’s similar to IMDB, not as complete, but better in some ways.
Covers Project is a useful website sometimes. They don’t list Gray as ever covering that song on any release, although I don’t think they have info for live performances.
So, the equivalent to IMDB, then? 
No, IMDB also has forums where one may find racist posters and twelve-year olds.
RateYourMusic is almost as good as Almusic, and has a forum as well. The site has an…odd set of institutional biases tho.
Ok, old-fashioned, but reliable: If it’s pop music from one era or another, try Joel Whitburn’s books at your local library. Although I do not think his resources are available online, you may find a Joel Whitburn book at your local library (either for circulation or try reference, too). He has many books compiling Top 40 (and some Top 100) back to 1957 with some data mentioned from earlier charts.
Also: Discogs.