PERRLA/Guides/APA 7/Song

How to Cite a Song in APA 7

An APA 7 song reference lists the recording artist, the year in parentheses, the song title in sentence case, the description [Song] in square brackets, the word On and the album title in italics, and the record label. The in-text citation is the artist's name and the year: (Cash, 2002). For classical music, the composer is the author, the performer goes inside the brackets, and the year the work was first published goes at the end: (Debussy, 1905/2018).

The format

Artist, A. A. (Year). Title of the song [Song]. On Title of the album. Label.

PERRLA APA Experts · Updated October 21, 2026
Checked against the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association, 7th edition. Every example is formatted by PERRLA's reference engine.

First, the easy way: PERRLA

Paste the song's Spotify track link into PERRLA's reference search. PERRLA reads the song title, the album, the artist, and the year from Spotify and puts the titles in sentence case. Spotify doesn't share the record label, so add it under Label/Publisher Name. Check the album too: if the link is to a greatest-hits or playlist-style compilation, change the album to the one you actually heard, or use the link for the track on its original album. Look over the artist's name as well: a band name with periods or capitals, like R.E.M., can come back changed. For a classical track, Spotify lists the composer and the performer as two artists, so switch the kind to Performed by someone else; not the original artist, change the performer's role to Performer, and add the Original Publication Year.

Adding one by hand? Choose Music, then A song or track on an album. Under How was the piece performed?, pick Recorded by the original artist for most songs, including covers of pop, rock, country, and hip hop songs: put the singer or band you heard in the Artist or Group Artist role. A singer known by one name goes in the Last name box. Pick Performed by someone else; not the original artist for classical music: add the composer as the Artist, the soloist as a Performer or the orchestra as a Group Performer, and type the year the work was first published in Original Publication Year.

Then fill in the Album or Work Title, Song Title, Copyright Year, and each label under Label/Publisher Name, using Add publisher for each one after the first. Leave URL or Platform blank unless the song is only available in one place online, like an artist's own SoundCloud page. PERRLA adds [Song], the word On, the italics, and the semicolons between labels.

Not using PERRLA yet? Here is how to build the same reference by hand.

The parts of the reference

1. Artist

Start with the recording artist: the singer or band you heard, not the songwriter. A person goes in as last name and initials. A band, a one-name artist, or a stage name that can't be split goes in exactly as the artist writes it.

Cash, J.

R.E.M.

Classical music is the exception. The composer is the author (Debussy, C.), and the performer moves into the brackets after the title. If another artist is featured on the track, APA puts their name in parentheses after the main artist, after the word featuring.

2. Year

Put the year the recording was released in parentheses, followed by a period. Use the year of the version you listened to, not the year the song was written.

(2002).

3. Song title and [Song]

Write the song title in sentence case: capitalize the first word, the first word after a colon, and proper nouns. Don't italicize it or put it in quotation marks. Follow it with the word Song in square brackets, then a period.

Everybody hurts [Song].

For a classical recording, add recorded by and the performer inside the brackets: [Song recorded by A. S. Ott]. For a remix, put Remix in parentheses after the title and before the brackets.

4. Album

Write On, then the album title in italics and sentence case, then a period. The word On is not italic.

On American IV: The man comes around.

A single that was never on an album skips this part. Go straight from the bracketed description to the label.

5. Label

End with the record label. When the album lists more than one, separate them with semicolons.

American Recordings; Lost Highway.

Spotify, Apple Music, and YouTube Music are not labels, and APA doesn't name the app you listened on. You'll find the label on the album's back cover or liner notes, or in the copyright line (℗) at the bottom of the album's page in Spotify or Apple Music.

6. Original publication date (classical only)

For classical music, end the reference with the year the work was first published, in parentheses, with no period after it. The in-text citation then gives both years, earliest first, with a slash between them.

(Original work published 1905)

Pop, rock, and other covers don't get this part. APA asks you to cite the version you heard, under the artist who recorded it, without tracing the song's history.

Examples

A song by a band

R.E.M.'s 1992 song about getting through despair, often discussed in writing on music and mental health. The band name goes in exactly as R.E.M. writes it, periods and all.

  • Parenthetical citation(R.E.M., 1992)
  • Narrative citationR.E.M. (1992)

Logic's song named for the old National Suicide Prevention Lifeline number, with Alessia Cara and Khalid. A 2021 BMJ study linked the song's biggest moments to a rise in calls to the Lifeline. APA lists featured artists in parentheses after the main artist and cites only the main artist in the text.

  • Parenthetical citation(Logic, 2017)
  • Narrative citationLogic (2017)

A cover of someone else's song

Johnny Cash's 2002 recording of Hurt, a song Trent Reznor wrote for Nine Inch Nails. APA cites the version you heard, so Cash is the artist and the reference doesn't mention Reznor or the 1994 original.

  • Parenthetical citation(Cash, 2002)
  • Narrative citationCash (2002)

A classical piece

Debussy's Clair de lune, the third movement of his Suite bergamasque, first published in 1905, as recorded by pianist Alice Sara Ott on her 2018 album. The composer is the author, the pianist goes inside the brackets, and both years appear in the in-text citation.

  • Parenthetical citation(Debussy, 1905/2018)
  • Narrative citationDebussy (1905/2018)

In-text citations

An APA 7 in-text citation for a song gives the recording artist and the year, the same as the start of the reference.

  • A person: (Cash, 2002) or Cash (2002)
  • A band or one-name artist: the name as the artist writes it: (R.E.M., 1992) or R.E.M. (1992)
  • Featured artists: cite only the main artist. Featured artists appear in the reference, not the citation: (Logic, 2017)
  • Two artists billed together: both names, joined by & in parentheses and by and in your sentence: (Coldplay & BTS, 2021) or Coldplay and BTS (2021)
  • Classical music: the composer, then the original year and the recording year, earliest first, with a slash: (Debussy, 1905/2018) or Debussy (1905/2018)
  • Quoting a lyric or pointing to a moment: songs have no page numbers, so add the timestamp where the line starts, in minutes and seconds: (Artist, Year, 2:05)

Name the songwriter or the original artist in your sentence when it matters to your point, and cite the recording you heard: Cash's version of the Nine Inch Nails song became a meditation on aging and regret (Cash, 2002).

Common mistakes

  • Cash, J. (2002). "Hurt." On American IV: The man comes around. American Recordings; Lost Highway.Cash, J. (2002). Hurt [Song]. On American IV: The man comes around. American Recordings; Lost Highway.APA doesn't put song titles in quotation marks in the reference. The title is plain text, followed by [Song] in square brackets.
  • Cash, J. (2002). Hurt [Song]. On American IV: The man comes around. Spotify.Cash, J. (2002). Hurt [Song]. On American IV: The man comes around. American Recordings; Lost Highway.The source of a song is its record label, not the app you streamed it on. APA leaves streaming services and their links out.
  • Reznor, T. (2002). Hurt [Song recorded by J. Cash]. On American IV: The man comes around. American Recordings; Lost Highway. (Original work published 1994)Cash, J. (2002). Hurt [Song]. On American IV: The man comes around. American Recordings; Lost Highway.For a pop cover, the artist who recorded the version you heard is the author. The original songwriter and the original date are only for classical music.
  • R.E.M. (1992). Everybody hurts [Song]. On Automatic for the people. Warner Bros. Records.R.E.M. (1992). Everybody hurts [Song]. On Automatic for the people. Warner Bros. Records.The album is the larger work, so the album title takes the italics. The song title stays plain.
  • Everybody Hurts [Song]. On Automatic for the People.Everybody hurts [Song]. On Automatic for the people.Song and album titles both take sentence case in an APA reference, even though album covers and streaming apps print them in title case.

Quick checklist

  • The recording artist you heard, or the composer for classical music
  • The release year of the version you heard, in parentheses
  • Song title in sentence case, plain text, followed by [Song]
  • On and the album title in italics and sentence case
  • Each record label, separated by semicolons, and no streaming service
  • Classical only: (Original work published Year) at the end, and both years in the citation

Questions students ask

Do I put song titles in quotation marks in APA?

Not in the reference. APA writes the song title in plain sentence case and adds [Song] after it. In the body of your paper, you can put a song title in quotation marks when you mention it in a sentence, the way you would an article title.

How do I cite a song I listened to on Spotify or YouTube?

Cite the song itself: the artist, the year, the title, the album, and the label. APA doesn't name the streaming app or add its link, because the same recording is on many services. A music video you watched on YouTube is a different source, cited as a YouTube video under the channel that posted it.

Who is the author of a song in APA?

The recording artist: the singer or band you hear on the track. The songwriter doesn't go in the reference unless they're also the performer. For classical music, the composer is the author instead, and the performer goes inside the brackets after the title.

How do I cite a cover song in APA 7?

Cite the version you heard, with the artist who recorded it as the author and the year they released it. You don't need to name the original artist or the year of the original. If the history matters to your paper, say so in your sentence.

How do I cite song lyrics in APA?

Cite the song, and add a timestamp for where the line starts, in minutes and seconds, the way you'd add a page number for a book: (Artist, Year, 1:05). Keep quoted lyrics short. Lyrics are copyrighted, and a long excerpt in a paper you plan to publish needs the rights holder's permission.

What if the song isn't on an album?

Leave the album part out and go straight from [Song] to the label: Artist. (Year). Title [Song]. Label. Many singles and songs released only online work this way.

Rules checked against the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (7th ed.), Sections 8.15, 8.28, 9.8, 9.19, 9.21, 9.29, 9.41, and 10.13 (Example 92), and the APA Style blog posts on single song or track references and music album references. Artist, album, year, track listing, and labels verified on October 21, 2026, against Discogs release records for Automatic for the People, Everybody, and American IV: The Man Comes Around, and Deutsche Grammophon's catalog page for Nightfall; the 1905 first publication of Suite bergamasque against IMSLP; the BMJ study (Niederkrotenthaler et al., 2021) against PubMed.

PERRLA builds the song reference from a Spotify link, with [Song], the album in italics, and the composer and performer in the right places for classical music.

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