Music Search Tips

Click the links below to find out about searching for music.

Music Keyword Searches

Artist Searches

Album or Single Title Searches

Label Searches

Song Title Searches

Soundtrack Searches

Barcode or Catalogue Number Searches

Classical Music Searches

In the Search or Quicksearch box on any Music page, enter one or more keywords using any combination of the artist's name or album or single title. If you use more than one keyword, the search engine restricts the results to titles that match all the keywords.

For example:

• entering "rolling stones" finds albums or singles by the Rolling Stones
• entering "stones exile" finds the Exile on Main Street album by the Rolling Stones
• entering "road" finds all CDs, records and minidiscs with the word "road" in their title, eg: Abbey Road

On the Music Search page, enter the artist's name in the Artist box.

A search for an artist's last name is more efficient, but if you're not sure of the last name, try searching for the artist's first name. An artist search for "miles" will locate titles by Miles Davis, as will an artist search for "davis".

On the Music Search page, enter the main words of the title in the Title box. It's best to leave out common words like "the". For example, "what's story morning glory" will find the album by Oasis.

On the Music Search page, enter words from the label name in the appropriate Label box. For example, a search for "global" will find titles from Global Underground, Global Warming Ltd. and others. A search for "global tv" will find titles from that label alone.

On the Music Search page, enter the song title in the Title box to find the album or single on which a particular song appears. For example, a search for "chicken" will result in a long list of albums and singles that feature song titles including the word "chicken".

If you're interested in a particular soundtrack or musical, search for the title of the film or show. If you'd like to see a list of the many soundtracks Amazon.co.uk has to offer, search for either "soundtrack" or "original cast".

On the Music Search page, enter the barcode or catalogue number of a music item in the Catalogue Number or Barcode box. A barcode search should find an exact match, as all barcodes are unique. You will find the barcode or catalogue number for a music item on its back cover or spine.

As broad searches are most reliable, it's best to enter information in two or three boxes at the most.

When searching for a person enter only the last name (eg: "handel" rather than "george frideric handel").

When entering the album title or name of the ensemble, include only the main words, leaving out common words such as "the" and "of".

If you are only aware of the name of the work that interests you, use the Album/Work Title(s) box. For example, conducting a work title search for "Fifth" and a composer search for "Beethoven" finds a list of every performance of Beethoven's Fifth Symphony in our catalogue.

If you can't find what you're looking for, it may be that it isn't available from our catalogue at the moment.