How to Cite a Song in MLA

In MLA 9, a song citation follows this order: Artist last name, First name. "Song Title." Album Title, Label, Year. Add the streaming platform if that's where you accessed it. In-text, use the artist's last name in parentheses, no page number.

The Basic Formula

MLA treats a song as a work inside a container (the album), which may sit inside a second container (Spotify, Apple Music, YouTube). Stack them in this order:

Author. "Title of source." Title of container, Contributors, Version, Number, Publisher, Publication date, Location. Second container, Location.

For most songs you need five things:

1. Artist name (last, first)
2. Song title in quotation marks
3. Album title in italics
4. Record label
5. Year of release

Then add the platform and URL if you streamed it.

Streaming: Spotify, Apple Music, YouTube

If you listened on a streaming service, that service is your second container. Include the app name in italics and the URL (or note that it's the app).

Spotify example:

Beyoncé. "Break My Soul." Renaissance, Parkwood Entertainment / Columbia, 2022. Spotify, open.spotify.com/track/5pyoxDZ1LX2Ejnajl2gJU5.

Apple Music example:

Kendrick Lamar. "Not Like Us." Interscope, 2024. Apple Music, music.apple.com/us/album/not-like-us/1744776425.

Note the second one has no album, because the track was released as a single. Skip the album field entirely when there isn't one. Don't invent one.

YouTube example:

Mitski. "Nobody." Be the Cowboy, Dead Oceans, 2018. YouTube, youtu.be/vY7GTJzYnn8.

Physical Media: CD and Vinyl

For a physical release, drop the streaming container and add the format at the end.

Vinyl:

Fleetwood Mac. "Dreams." Rumours, Warner Bros., 1977. Vinyl.

CD:

Radiohead. "Idioteque." Kid A, Parlophone, 2000. CD.

Format goes at the very end, capitalized, followed by a period. This tells your reader you weren't streaming and points them at the exact pressing.

Featured Artists and Producers

If the song has a featured artist and it matters to your argument, list them after the title with "featuring" spelled out.

Doja Cat. "Kiss Me More," featuring SZA. Planet Her, Kemosabe / RCA, 2021. Spotify.

Producers usually don't go in the Works Cited entry unless you're writing about production. If you are, add them as "produced by [Name]" before the container.

In-Text Citations

Parenthetical is just the artist's last name. No page. No timestamp unless you're quoting a specific lyric and want to help the reader find it.

• Basic: (Beyoncé)
• With timestamp for a specific lyric: (Beyoncé 00:01:14–00:01:22)
• Artist already named in sentence: no parenthetical needed

Timestamps use hours:minutes:seconds. Use an en dash for the range, not a hyphen.

Worked example. You're quoting a lyric from "Dreams" in a paper on 70s breakup songs:

Nicks sings that "thunder only happens when it's raining" (Fleetwood Mac 00:02:14).

Your Works Cited entry is the vinyl or streaming version, whichever you actually used. Match your source.

Classical and Compilation Tracks

For classical, the composer is your author. The performer goes as a contributor.

Beethoven, Ludwig van. "Symphony No. 9 in D Minor, Op. 125." Performed by Berlin Philharmonic, conducted by Herbert von Karajan, Deutsche Grammophon, 1963.

For a track on a compilation or soundtrack, the album title is the compilation. Add the compiler if listed.

Common Mistakes to Avoid

• Don't italicize the song title. Songs get quotation marks. Albums get italics.
• Don't skip the label. Even on Spotify, the label belongs in the entry.
• Don't cite the streaming service as the publisher. Spotify hosts, it doesn't publish.
• Don't include the access date unless the source is likely to change. Songs on major platforms are stable, so skip it.
• Don't guess the year. If the streaming version shows a remaster year, cite that year and note "remastered" if relevant to your argument.

Quick Sanity Check

Read your entry out loud. If you can't tell who made the song, what it's called, where it lives, and when it came out, something's missing. Fix that gap first, then worry about punctuation.

Generate MLA citations →