Articles & Databases

Essays, images and liner notes covering jazz, spirituals, civil rights songs, slave songs, minstrels, R&B, gospel, and more.

Audio recordings to support the teaching of American musical traditions including country, folk, jazz, bluegrass, Western, old time, American Indian, blues, gospel, R&B and shape note singing.

Articles, interviews, film reviews, book reviews, bibliographies, exhibition listings, conference reports, anthologies, and editorials covering a wide range of art subjects. 

Newspaper clippings, announcements of gallery shows, obituaries, magazine articles or exhibit catalogs featuring artists and architects who have lived or worked in the San Francisco Bay Area.

Significant dramatic literature of the 19th, 20th and 21st centuries by leading actors from around the world, curated and recorded for online listening. 

This resource is supported in whole or in part by funding provided by the State of California, administered by the California State Library.

Discover more than 200 local music acts from Bay Beats, SFPL's award-winning local music streaming service. Stream tracks from all genres online or download them with your SFPL card. Look for our third submission round to open in Spring 2025!

Collection of masterful plays, musicals and dance performances with unique behind-the-scenes series, documentaries, instructional videos and more. 

This resource is supported in whole or in part by funding provided by the State of California, administered by the California State Library.

Classical music performances and masterclasses—approximately 1,500 performances in all. Stream online from your computer or mobile device.

Stream tens of thousands of classical recordings, many of which have links to supplementary reference information. The collection ranges from Medieval to contemporary, from choral works to symphonies, operas, and the avant-garde.

Essays, images, and liner notes from Dictionary of Music, Biographical Dictionary of Musicians, and Baker's Student Encyclopedia of Music and other sources