The Harvard Biographical Dictionary of Music - Companion to the Harvard Dictionary of Music; contains more than 5,000 entries on people in music, from Bach and Beethoven to Benny Goodman and Irving Berlin.

Music Reference and Research Materials - This bibliography by Vincent Duckles is the standard reference for source literature in music with more than 3,500 annotated listings in sections such as encyclopedias, chronologies, discographies, and other bibliographies.

The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians - "The Grove" is the acknowledged ultimate authority in musical scholarship (25,000 pages in 29 volumes) from the Oxford University Press. Capsule reviews, ordering information, link to online version.

The New Harvard Dictionary of Music - Contains over 6,000 entries written by more than 700 musicologists, considered the foremost single-volume musical reference work in print.

Oxford University Press: Music - More than 200 titles from the publisher of college textbooks and reference works, sorted by subject such as music history, theory, ethnomusicology, and church music.

Oxford University Press: Popular Music - Links to publisher pages for books on subjects such as blues, gospel, jazz, country, the music industry, pop music in Britain, and the origins of popular style.

Rolling Stone Encyclopedia of Rock & Roll - Offering more than 1,800 entries from the editors and writers of Rolling Stone magazine, this volume was named the official reference source for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum in Cleveland. Extensively revised and expanded since the first edition appeared in 1983.

A Short History of Opera - Post-2000 edition by Hermine Weigel Williams of the authoritative text written in 1947 by Donald Jay Grout (d. 1987). Publishers page from Columbia University Press offers capsule reviews and detailed table of contents.

W. W. Norton & Company: Music Theory - Publisher pages for college textbooks on subjects such as orchestration, ear training, and harmonic analysis.