AllMusic facts for kids
 
Logotype and wordmark since July 2013
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Type of site
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Online database for music albums, artists and songs; reviews and biographies |
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| Available in | English |
| Owner | RhythmOne (since 2015) |
| Created by | Michael Erlewine |
| Commercial | Yes |
| Registration | Optional |
| Launched | 1991 (as All Music Guide) |
| Current status | Online |
AllMusic is a huge online library for music. It used to be called All-Music Guide or AMG. This website has information about more than three million music albums. It also lists over 30 million songs. You can find details about many musicians and bands too. AllMusic started in 1991. It first became available on the internet in 1994. Today, a company called RhythmOne owns AllMusic.
Contents
The Story of AllMusic
How AllMusic Started
AllMusic was created by a person named Michael Erlewine. He loved collecting and organizing things, especially music. Michael was also a musician himself. In the 1970s, he started using computers for his work. He even created his own software company in 1977.
In the early 1990s, CDs became very popular. They replaced old records and tapes. Michael bought a CD he thought had early songs by Little Richard. But it was not what he expected. This made him want to create a better music guide.
Building the Music Guide
In 1990, Michael started All Music Guide. His goal was to make a free database. It would include every music recording ever made. He wanted to list music from the very beginning of the recording industry.
The first All Music Guide was a big book. It came out in 1992. It had 1,200 pages and a CD-ROM. The book helped people find the best music. In 1994, it went online as a text-only website. Later, it moved to the World Wide Web. This happened as internet browsers became easier to use.
Growing the Team
Michael hired Vladimir Bogdanov to design the database. He also asked his nephew, Stephen Thomas Erlewine, to write content. In 1993, Chris Woodstra joined the team. Chris knew a lot about music. He helped AllMusic create a list of 1,400 different music styles.
This feature became very important for the website. AllMusic tracks reviews, albums, and different music styles. It connects all this information. This helps you learn about many types of music. It covers big styles like classical and small ones like sadcore.
Changes in Ownership
In 1996, a company called Alliance Entertainment Corp. bought AllMusic. They paid about $3.5 million for it. Michael Erlewine left the company after the sale. Alliance Entertainment later faced financial problems in 1999.
AllMusic then moved to Ann Arbor, Michigan. The staff grew from 12 to 100 people. By February 1999, they had listed 350,000 albums. They also had two million songs. AllMusic had written about 30,000 artists. It also had 120,000 album reviews.
In 2007, TiVo Corporation bought AllMusic for $72 million. In 2012, AllMusic removed all information about Bryan Adams. This was because the artist asked them to. In 2015, BlinkX bought AllMusic. BlinkX is now known as RhythmOne.
The All Music Guide Books
The All Media Network also made a series of books. These books are called All Music Guide: The Definitive Guide. They cover different types of music. Vladimir Bogdanov is the main editor for these books.
Here are some of the books in the series:
- All Music Guide: The Definitive Guide to Popular Music (published in 1992, 1994, 1997, 2001, and 2008)
- All Music Guide to Classical Music: The Definitive Guide to Classical Music (2004)
- All Music Guide to Country: The Definitive Guide to Country Music (1997, 2003)
- All Music Guide to Electronica: The Definitive Guide to Electronic Music (2001)
- All Music Guide to Hip-hop: The Definitive Guide to Rap & Hip-hop (2003)
- All Music Guide to Jazz: The Definitive Guide to Jazz Music (1994, 1996, 1998, 2002)
- All Music Guide to Rock: The Definitive Guide to Rock, Pop, and Soul (1995, 1997, 2002)
- All Music Guide to Soul: The Definitive Guide to R&B and Soul (2003)
- All Music Guide to the Blues: The Definitive Guide to the Blues (1996, 1999, 2003)
There are also Required Listening books:
- All Music Guide Required Listening: Classic Rock (2007)
- All Music Guide Required Listening: Contemporary Country (2008)
- All Music Guide Required Listening: Old School Rap & Hip-hop (2008)
And annual guides:
- All Music Guide to the Music of 2002: Your Guide to the Recordings of the Year (2003)
- All Music Guide to the Music of 2003: Your Guide to the Recordings of the Year (2004)
See also
In Spanish: AllMusic para niños
- All Media Network
- AllGame
- AllMovie
- SideReel
