Sound searchers - meta search record collections for sale from Netsounds, Gemm. Eil.com and some of the shops listed on moremusic.

Soundsearchers.co.uk

Metasearch 100 record shops using the box above.
Collector's & second-hand vinyl record shops show in the later pages of results.
The contacts below are not the Soundsearchers.co.uk search engine or the record shops from which it finds its music, but they may interest the same audience of music collectors & people who like unsigned bands. Google do not pay us for their search ads.
 
 

Review records |Song lyrics search | Web rings | Record name search | Meta-search record shop databases | Big record shops | Big book shops |

Peer to peer music investment like this

  • Slicethepie.com comes first because their review service sometiems gives a few pence of credit for reviewing; loads of reviewers are canvased for the $40 they charge bands at Soundout.com. Sellaband : share the cost and reward of production and a little advertising with other fans; Artistshare.com same, en.spidart.com mainly french (surely Ca Plane pour moi is the only French song? maybe not) nomajormusik.com totalement en Francais, Bandstocks (english), Formyband.com (English and German). It looks as though Slicethepie is the only one allowing you to make a few pence by writing reviews, so you may be tempted to invest money from scratch. Other peer to peer investments include Zopa, the borrowing and lending network based in the UK, Japan and Italy with a credit union in the USA. So far there is no equivalent service by which the unemployed of the UK can spend in a way that employs british workers and get something back for their effort. Nothing from the government anyway; it's not illegal to buy things made in the UK but difficult because the buying departments of chain stores tend to want maximum mark-ups to pay for their expensive shop sites and advertising campaigns. Earnityourself.com has a list of articles about how to book a band and a system for making offers to play to venues. It was a new site in 2010 and only listed a few venues in the USA but it may grow.

music indie links; CD & LP record shops

  • Moremusic.co.uk - all the UK record shops & collector resources with links to information sites.(s).
  • Alternative Search search service on the web for alternative music sites (s)
  • Birdpages.co.uk British Independant Record Dealers. The site has been down since autumn 2006 so an archive copy is kept here
  • Soundshed collaboration & resources for anyone musical in the UK - industry links, small adds, suggestions for collaborating electronically with anyone local, gig lists...
  • UK Rare Record Price Guide
  • Scottish Gigguide hopes for a band directory soon
  • TweeNet

 

Refine your music search - from lyrics:

When sites close their domains are snapped-up by squatters, who post a plausible looking directory of likely keywords, along with pop-ups asking if you would like to set that site to be your home page, to download software onto your computer, sell you affiliate schemes and so-on. It is best not to work through these links when tired and prone to quick clicking.

  • dmoz.org/Arts/Music/Lyrics/Search a links page edited by Garbo of Armchair Travel has 32 checked links. Use the back button on your browser to return here. Garbo has now retired as a volunteer editor; replacements are welcome.
  • http://musicmoz.org/Lyrics/ Volunteer editors are welcome for each of the new sub-categories of music.
  • http://musicmoz.org/Lyrics/Search (slow archive link) links page by Azim Toktosunov, the previous volunteer who collected 46 checked links. Use the back button on your browser to return to Soundsearchers.co.uk. There are more music lyrics search services and shops below. Thanks to fuzzyrat.com/musiclinks.htm for the mention.
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Refine your music search - from record (or book) name: Firefox plug-ins & web databases

  • Gracenote (ex CDDB) database of record / CDs that have been available, by artist title or song. There is a free Firefox tool bar that lets you search all the fields of Gracenote straight from your browser.
  • Discogs.com Mainly a marketplace like Amazon, and, like Amazon, a giant growing catalogue of anything ever sold or entered and cross-referenced by enthusiasts. Unlike Amazon, this is written by anyone who has a go.
  • Freedb.org the same - neat looking database of volunteered information about published sound which can be integrated into some of the catalogue databases which they list, so that (I think) they auto-complete some of the information about records and artists.
  • Musicbrainz.org is the same idea - a collective resource for anyone making a catalogue.
  • Ultimate Band List - reviews as well as recording details: a sure guide whether to buy the band's difficult third album. They make it sound as though, if your neighbour is in a band, you shouldn't shout a question out of the window. You should look it up here instead. Their nifty hot links to my obscure favourite, Micro Disney do in part bear this out, although my neighbour's 19 year-old isn't on there yet. If you are in Russia, by the way, there's another one which may be better.
  • The Band Register - a list of band names with the hope of preventing two bands using a name at once - now merged with bandname.com
  • National Sound Archive of the British Library: type in Elvis Presley and, surprisingly perhaps, you get a good discography.
  • Record Labels: the British Library has a links list for some of these as well now, as well as a sound archive. Some of the oral history & animal noises are downloadable.
  • Books: the British Library Integrated Catalogue of nearly all UK-copyright books. This is good for making a vague search very specific. If you print-out the bibliographic information you can then take it with an order card to your local library, who will eventually get it from the British Library if all else fails. Try the name of your council + gov + UK for your local library catalogue if you want to borrow a book.
  • An increasing number of databases can be searched straight from the search box of Firefox browser, just to the right of the address bar. It probably comes pre-set to search with Google; add a plug-in and the search box becomes a drop-down menu of ways you can search.

Meta-search music databases of record shops for collectors.

  • Netsounds.com record & music searcher - found 6,000 UK record shop entries for "Beatles"
  • Gemm.com vast US music record & vinyl record database
  • Discogs.com/ huge growing database of cross-referenced record catalogues and anyone selling each item
  • Soundgallery.musicstack.com mainly US database of records, priced in pounds dollars or Euro
  • www.vinylsale.com 200 vinyl record dealers - currently closed
  • Recordcollector.co.uk shared database - not connected to the magazine of the same name but has a link to their site. New in 2004.
  • Vinylsearcher.com dance record specialists: dance, techno, trance, house: any vinyl records
  • Vip-24.com "The only online music fair. Three quarters of a million items to buy online: more music than ebay!. Also includes superb resource section for music fans, news, album & gig competitions, freebies etc." Vip-24.com mainly organises walk-in music fairs. Thanks to them for shout on their music collector links page.
  • http://Musicmoz.org/Shopping/Directories_and_Comparison_Services/ amateur enthusiasm meets institutional stability in this search service made of volunteer-edited links pages. This list of 35 links needs an editor - the site says "if you can spare a few minutes of your time ... please apply". The emphasis for this list is on the USA, but it is possible to ask to set-up a regional list.

music mags papers and similar sites and feeds

  • ThisisfakeDIY online paper seeking reviewers. Fake DIY address in a central London office block, but nice to read.
  • Discant.net UK-wide from Glasgow.

big music record shops

  • Tunechecker.com from moneysavingexpert
  • 991.com will buy records as well as sell them (sales help soundsearchers through an affiliate scheme)
  • CD Wow (free delivery)  CD Wow have free delivery. Honest. They say so. I won't say wow cos not that exciting.
  • Amazon Amazon record and book shop has a suggestion service: type-in a record you like and it will come-up with one or two that you might like but perhaps had forgotten. Amazon can now list second hand records and books from private dealers and small shops as well as a vast range from wholesalers.
  • Kelkoo price comparison service.
  • www.onlinepriceguide.co.uk compares prices at book, DVD and CD shops
  • Musicsearcher.com (formerly Argus Music Searcher) Meta searches Gemm, Ebay, Netsounds and Musicstack. From the same search box you can search Amazon (UK & US) or Barnes & Noble, as well as reviews in Rolling Stone Magazine, The All Music Guide and VH1. Similar to Soundsearchers.co.uk in that it has used affiliate links to some of the main record shops to reduce costs, but, sad to say, better done.:

music lyrics search services: each has its own sex / love lyric ratio. This is not a good list.

  • Lyrics.com Music Lyrics database and lyrics search service. With pop-up advertising. No keyword search.
  • Lyrics Search music lyrics search. 356 sex lyrics; love uncounted. Banner adds but no pop-ups.
  • The International Lyrics Server German language music portal
  • allways on the run lyrics page music lyrics search. Free but request donations. Claims 4631 lyrics. No keyword search.
  • lyrics.astraweb - a music search service as a student project. Add your own lyrics. Seems to be the same as the Lyrics Search. Over four hundred results with the word "fool" in the title, many of them by Elvis Presley.

big book shops including databases for price comparison

  • Secularism.org.uk/shop.html Teenage kicks middle-aged style: this small collection of books & DVDs tries to get to the root of the problem. Membership of the National Secular Society is only £18 or subscription to in interesting email newsletter is free - you can see some current religeous news here. The office sometimes needs staff and possibly volunteers.
  • Music Room the main supplier for sheet music & music books. Firefox browser has a free add-on for use outside the US and Canada called "Sheetmusicdirect.com Search Tool bar 0.5" that lets you search for Music Room's downloadable legal stock.
  • BOL are one of the largest bookshops on the net
  • Amazon of course - now showing stock from some second-hand bookshops and private sellers as well as new books. Amazon has a Yahoo-like directory structure as well as a book-suggestion tool that tries to learn what you like. Once you have clicked on the link you can follow more links to use the US, Canadian, German or Japanese versions.
  • Abe books (advanced book exchange) are a vast database of second-hand books. Includes Just books and Amazon, so if you use the "want" service to wait for a rare book to come on the market, you have a good chance. The main US site has a separate url. Unfortunately they are expensive for individuals to dabble at selling books, with a minimum subscription.
  • UKBookworld.com a co-operative of dozens of second hand book sellers.
  • British Library Integrated Public Catalogue of all UK published books (graphic version). This is good for making a vague search very specific. Then you can try online bookshops to buy a second-hand copy, or order through your local council library (who will eventually get it from the British Library if all else fails). Try the name of your council + gov + UK for your local library catalogue if you want to borrow a book. A couple of hundred years later, the same idea has been re-invented for records at freedb.org, Musicbrainz and Gracenote, below.
  • Bookfinder.com based in California, but also a worldwide mega-search of new & used bookshop catalogues, including all the dealers who participate in Abe books & Amazon. Good at narrowing-down a search.Their database includes music, too, now.
  • Bookstores.com is a price comparison book search service with a wide range - mainly in the USA. Self-reminder: I must make the link an affiliate link some time just in case the referrals ever make the minimum payment.
  • Copac.ac.uk very similar to British Library interface above, but covering several university libraries.
  • Ibooknet.com - independent bookseller network in the UK
  • ISBN.nu links from ISBN to recently published and out of print book data and often straight to shops that sell the book.
  • Tomfolio.com is another American shared database online for all bookshops that participate in the co-operative
  • Newsfromnowhere.co.uk is a walk-in bookshop in Liverpool that adds anything they can order to a web database to give one and a half million titles. Odd books, like spiral-bound sets of teachers' notes, are available from here that you can't get from the others. "visit us for books on anti-racism, environment, feminism, Ireland, lesbian & gay, socialism,...and much more! quality fiction, children's books, mind, body & spirit. We also sell: World music CDs, relaxation music & fair-traded gifts". News from nowhere is owned by its staff as a co-op and open till 5.45 at 96 Bold St, Liverpool L1.
  • Free eBook Search 1.2 is a search bar for Firefox that lets you search for e-books, in case there's no need to buy a printed copy. See the "get Firefox" box above, and choose
  • Waterstsones online version of the national book shop chain.
  • Localbookshops.co.uk may trace your nearest shop by UK postcode

music search services - track down a track or get clearer details of the music you're looking for

Gnutella versus OpenNap: Napster alternatives for music file sharing

  • ITunes: pay Itunes to do the work of working out what's copywrite; save yourself the work of going out and buying a CD. "Do you think it's fine that a CD plays in all CD players but that an iTunes song only plays in an iPod? I don't. Something has to change," EU Consumer Protection Commissioner Kuneva was quoted as saying in a preview of an interview to be published on Monday. Apple could not be immediately reached for comment on the report. Norway, a European country that is not in the EU, is battling Apple for the same reason. In January, it said the computer and software giant must liberalise its music download system by Oct.
  • “indiestore.com is a good example; it allows unsigned bands to sell their songs in download format - even via external sites such as MySpace - with 80 per cent of the resulting revenue transferred to their bank every 90 days (or 30 days if you opt for their "Pro" account). Prior to sites like indiestore.com and cdbaby.com, if you couldn't get your music on iTunes you were sunk. Now smaller acts have a decent option.“
    – The Independent (17th January 2007)
  • Collecting Societies: I don't know of a way of tipping creaters of files anonymously to compensate for any breach of copywrite, since the fairtunes.com experiment has now closed. Those who feel over-guilty should recognise that monopoly is a privilege, granted in a narrow areas of life in most countries for encouraging creative work. In the USA it is bigged-up by the corporations, but in Zimabwe, for example, it doesn't exist at all. If you can imagine that the author is loosing-out by you making your own copy, and that this loss may discourage further work, then a tip seems reasonable. If a record company say thay have put millions into advertising over-priced CDs while neglecting the more specialised, then you might think: tough; the world is already the better for their absence. If the artist is dead, you might think: was she motivated in her work by the knowledge that her descendents would benefit? Probably not. Members of The Who have stated that long copywrite is necessary to help former artists pay public school fees for their children. But I've found no hint of this in their songs.

    If you discover a way of tipping artists please let me know and I'll add a link. In the UK there is a site for the Performing Rights Society and the Mechanical Copywrite Protection Society which offers to link sound licence buyers & sellers, but it is not geared to anonymous small payments.. Alternatively, go the whole way and get a licence.

Copyright clearance agencies for film & advertising music clearance

  • Music Clearance - copywrite clearance agents: an Anglo-South African company based in London with a range of experience from world music to corporate advertising sound tracks.

dance hip-hop & electronic music

jazz music

reggae ska & skinhead music

  • Skahoo linking the ska world from Australia

taxpayer-funded music: orchestral, baroque, classical, opera

monopoly funded & airplayed music: "baby come shake your love". Rock.

  • Record companies used to take risks, publicise, and do specialist technical work like pressing records. This is un-necessary now, as you can make music at home, upload it to a few websites, and see if it catches on. My local music pub has links on its websites to places where you can hear the bands records before going to listen to them.
  • Universal Music (Decca classical, was Island, Polydore, Verve in the UK)
  • Sony Music aka CBS
  • EMI
  • BMG
  • Warner
  • MTV Online - the epitomy of its type, big brand lift music with big budget videos. Typical recording contracts allow the publisher to deduct video costs from the artists' wages.
  • The Music Review - The Music Industry Search Service
  • Rock Source - rock music network (not tested)
  • Michael Marsch's Rockmusik Links nine music search forms
  • 1212 - The largest database of music industry related web information in over 50 countries.
  • Musicnet.com expects to download 3 of the 4 groups' products cheaply by summer 2001
  • Everyhit.com UK music charts database from the 1950s - search by record date, band name or title keywords


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unsigned music & bands UK

  • Burbs.org.uk - fomer music download site and unsigned band site. This link is to the web archive version
  • Betarecords.com - a music site with an unsigned downloads chart
  • Bandmix.co.uk - slick commercial musicians wanted / available site with versions for the US and Canada too
  • Liveclub.co.uk seems to be a list of bands playing around at the moment, who clearly come from Essex, lists band sites
  • New Deal for musicians aged 18-25 and unemployed for 6 months of more: no sign of a good website on this although newdeal.gov.uk gives the official hype and http://www.mbr-online.co.uk was mentioned as a possible training organisation.
  • Unsignedchart.com - "Bringing you the best in Unsigned Music from the web, the unsigned chart has launched and already has become a popular community with hundreds of
    MP3s, Artists and Fans. The Unsigned Chart is open to all to join and a great new place to promote your music, your music business, yourself as a manager, a label or any profession
    in the music business. Let other musicians know you’re here; tell them about your music, your services .As an artist you can upload your music, videos, photo’s, gigs, start new groups and forums, almost anything! As a music business you can add your information for everyone to see, start a group on your business, this is an excellent way to network yourself and your
    service."

unsigned music & bands US

  • bandname.com claims to list loads of band names as a central registry, to prevent overlap
  • Folkweb unsigned bands cab sell a record or CD if they like it, sale-or-return
  • http://bandmix.ca Canada muscians available: accoustic guitar, backing singer, bagpipes, banjo, bass guitar, dobro, drums, fiddle, flute...
  • http://bandmix.com US / ...harmonica, jeyboardm lead guitar, mandolin, other, other percussion, piano, rhythm guitar, saxaphone, trombone, trumpet, violin, vocalist: alto, baritone, base, general, suprano, tenor
  • Iuma.com seems to be closed like its parent, Vitaminic. It was something like Myspace for unsigned bands, allowing music storage and info.

punk music

guitar tab music

world music (western perspective)

webring links - another way of finding less well known collectors' record shops & music


music links & editorial

  • Soundsearchers.co.uk is an amateur site, maintained as a hobby and to promote a friend's record business.
  • If we link to your site, either searching your stock or linking to your site from this page a link back would be much appreciated to keep Soundsearchers.co.uk where google looks for it. Occasionally we e-mail other site owners to ask.
  • If we link to large commercial sites, affiliate schemes are welcome.
  • If your UK record shop is not being spidered, we are happy to add, for free, a few pages of plain text or HTML stock lists. Each link has to be added to a grand list by hand for our search service to spider it, so any work done in advance is welcome. We will also swap links if you like. Most of our links originally came from Moremusic, but constraints of time have prevented regular updates.
  • To spider several pages of text, or any kind of linking that takes a fair amount of time, please make-out a standing order for the minimum amount your bank will consider - probably a pound a month. Our bank details can be provided here

Teenage Kicks middle-aged style: other links

 this is an affiliate link to Music Magpie, the quick valuation and buying service for CDs that works by barcode. The url will take a moment to divert you to the Music Magpie site
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“indiestore.com is a good example; it allows unsigned bands to sell their songs in download format - even via external sites such as MySpace - with 80 per cent of the resulting revenue transferred to their bank every 90 days .... Prior to sites like indiestore.com and cdbaby.com, if you couldn't get your music on iTunes you were sunk. Now smaller acts have a decent option.“
– The Independent (17th January 2007)

7digital.indiestore say -

"7digital.com also sell a variety of music videos, films, audiobooks, comedy, soundtracks and more making it a one stop destination for music and video downloads."

TC^


Tradedoubler ^
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TC^

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