Advanced search syntax

Operators

You can search using the OR, AND or NOT operators.

Examples:

• madonna OR eminem
• coldplay NOT X&Y

You can also use a plus sign (+) or a minus sign (-) instead of AND and NOT:

• paranoid android -live

The default operator is AND (i.e “paranoid android” will give the same results as “paranoid AND android”).

Parameters

You can modify your search by adding one or more of the following parameters. Note that the keywords you use for parameters need to be surrounded it with quotes if they contain spaces (e.g artist:”basement jaxx”). See this blog post for more examples.

• artist:

  Displays artists matching keyword.

  • artist:Madonna lists all tracks by the artist Madonna, but excludes tracks called Madonna.
  • artist:Jay-Z lists all tracks by the artist Jay-Z.
• track:

  Displays tracks matching keyword.

  • track:Madonna lists all tracks called Madonna.
  • track:Jackson will not give you Michael Jackson songs, but tracks including the word ‘Jackson’.
• album:

  Displays albums matching keyword. Note the use of quotes when the keyword contains spaces.

  • album:”Cry me a river”
• year:

  Displays all music released during a particular year or period.

  • year:1987
  • year:1987-2009
  • year:1987-2009 NOT year:1990
• genre:

  Displays music in the genre matching keyword. See the list of all genres.

  • genre:Blues
  • genre:”Rock & Roll”
• label:

  Displays music released by the label matching keyword.

  • label:EMI gives you the music released by EMI.
• isrc:

  Displays tracks matching ID number according to the International Standard Recording Code.

  • isrc:USGTH0600008 will give you Melody Gardot’s song Worrisome Heart.
• upc:

  Displays albums matching ID number according to the Universal Product Code.

• amgid:

  Displays tracks or albums matching ID number from All Music Guide.

  • amgid:543919 gives you Abba’s album Waterloo.
• mbid:

  Displays artists, tracks or albums matching ID number from MusicBrainz.

  • mbid:d2126f31-5b6b-4a4b-98d3-408cfd4186b2 will give you Michael Jackson’s album Invincible.

Lastly, you can search for tag:new which will list the most recently added albums. The tag parameter currently has no other valid values.

Combining parameters and operators

You can combine any number of parameters and operators to perform your query.

• genre:techno year:1990-1995
• artist:”grateful dead” year:1965-1970
• genre:techno OR year:1995
• genre:techno OR year:1995 NOT scooter