The Billboard Music Guide
Billboard Music Guide Help

Welcome aboard! Using the Music Guide is easy and fun, but everyone needs help sometimes. For those of you unfamiliar with Windows Help, press {F1} while you're in here. And when you're browsing around out there in the program, press {F1} at any time to bring up help on the place you're having trouble with.

NOTE: An audio introduction plays at the beginning of every Music Guide session. If you would like to turn the audio off, go to System Options and remove the check from the Play Audio Tutorial checkbox.

     HOW TO...

Navigate Around the Music Guide

Search For Information

Browse the Album, Artist and Category Screens

Listen to Song Samples

Watch Music Videos

View Album Covers/Track Lists

Display Artist Photos

Add Albums To Your Shopping List

Go Online

Buy Albums Online

Set Your System Options

Print Information From The Music Guide

Exit The Music Guide

     GETTING AROUND...

This Day In Music

Table of Contents

Artist, Album and Category Screens

Expand Your Horizons

Billboard Charts

Shopping List

The MusicMatch Website

Juno E-Mail

All-Music Guide Advertisement


Navigating Through the Music Guide
Navigating Around the Music Guide

The Music Guide contains a vast amount of information, and with our simple, easy-to-use interface, everything you want is just a click or two away. Click on any of the highlighted text below to find out more about how to find your way around the Music Guide.

Quick Keys

Go Back/Go Forward

Navigation Menu

History

Browsing the Music Guide


Quick Keys

You can use the arrow keys on your keyboard to navigate quickly through the Music Guide. Try using the left and right arrows to page through the artist or album screens. You can also use the up/down arrow keys to move up and down lists in the different boxes on your screen.

ESC will always cancel a box.

ENTER is always the default button on a box.

HOME and END will take you to the top and bottom of lists and articles.


Go Back/Go Forward Buttons

The Go Forward and Go Back buttons are a handy way to retrace your steps through the Music Guide.

The Go Back and Go Forward buttons are located to the bottom-left of the Navigation Menu.

Try going to a few different places, and then try clicking on the Go Forward and Go Back buttons.

NOTE: When you first enter the Music Guide, the Go Forward and Go Back buttons are not functional. Once you navigate through the product, you will be able to retrace your steps with these buttons.


Navigation Menu

The Navigation Menu is located in the bottom right-hand corner of all screens in the Music Guide. From this menu, you can get wherever you want to go. And it's easy. For more information on the options within the Navigation Menu, click on the highlighted text below.

go to

credits

search

print

history

help

options

quit


Go To From Navigation Menu
Navigation Menu: Go To

Clicking on go to from the Navigation Menu displays a list of all the major sections contained in the Music Guide. Just move your cursor over any item and click once to go that section.


credits
Navigation Menu: Credits

Selecting credits from the Navigation Menu will display copyright and licensing information, photography and video credits, and other individuals associated with the Music Guide.

Clicking on the team credits button displays artist and album screens for the Music Guide development team.


Search Navigation Menu
Navigation Menu: Search

Selecting search from the Navigation Menu will take you to the main Search screen. From there you will be able to do a search based on artist name, album name, song title, associated song tracks, album covers, video clips, and much more.

For more information, see Search.


print
Navigation Menu: Print

Printing is available in most areas of the Music Guide from print in the Navigation Menu. If print in the Navigation Menu is greyed out, printing is not available from the area you are currently using.

NOTE: You have the ability to adjust your printing options by clicking Print Setup from print in the Navigation Menu. This will display the Windows System Print Setup Screen.

The following screens have printing available:

Shopping List: This will print out a list of albums that are currently in your shopping list.

Billboard Charts: This will print out the Billboard chart for the date you currently have specified.

Album Screen: This will print out the available information on the album you have chosen, including track lists, release information and reviews.

Artist Screen: This will print out the available information on the artist you currently have chosen, including articles, influences, and selected albums.

Category Screen: This will print out the category essay you are currently viewing.


history
Navigation Menu: History

Selecting history from the Navigation Menu will take you to the History screen, where you will be able to see your last 50 steps. The screen you are currently viewing will appear highlighted.

Selecting any list item and clicking Go To, or double-clicking on an item, will take you to that specified place.


help
Navigation Menu: Help

Selecting help from the Navigation Menu will display help for the screen you are in.

NOTE: Press {F1} at any time during your Music Guide session to view help on the area you are currently using.


system options
Navigation Menu: System Options

Selecting options from the Navigation Menu allows you to customize certain features available to you from the Music Guide.

You can:

Choose whether or not to display the dialog boxes for This Day in Music and Exiting the Music Guide.

Customize your audio playback to meet the needs of your system.

Customize your video playback to display full window or partial window.

Choose whether or not to play the audio tutorial at the beginning of your Music Guide session.


Audio Playback System Options

When first installed, the Music Guide defaults to full bandwidth audio playback and use floating point. If you experience choppy or clipped audio playback on your system, turn down the bandwidth to half bandwidth, or quarter bandwidth if necessary. If you do not have a Pentium processor, try turning off the use floating point option. Without these changes to your options settings, audio playback will not be optimal on less than a 486DX2/66 system.

The audio playback system options have been offered to support better audio playback on slower systems. If you are running a Pentium 90 MHz or better system, your audio should sound great with use floating point checked and full bandwidth chosen.

Bandwidth: This is the rate at which the audio will play back. Full bandwidth is 44Khz, 16 bit, mono (equivalent to your CD player in mono). Half bandwidth cuts the rate to 22Khz, and quarter bandwidth cuts the rate to 11Khz. As the bandwidth gets lower, the sound quality will become slightly muffled due to the loss of high frequency sounds.

Use Floating Point: When this option is checked, the audio playback software will use floating point math to calculate the audio signal. This provides a more accurate and higher quality audio signal. However, floating point math is not fast enough to provide adequate playback on some systems, so you can turn this option off to improve your system's playback performance. If your system has a Pentium 75 or better processor, you should be able to leave this option checked. Try lowering the bandwidth instead if you have clipped or choppy audio playback.


System Options: Audio Tutorial

The audio tutorial plays at the beginning of the Music Guide to introduce you to the major features of the program. Once you have familiarized yourself with the Music Guide, you'll probably want to turn the tutorial off. Simply remove the X from the Play Audio Tutorial checkbox, and the audio will no longer play when you begin your Music Guide session.


quit
Navigation Menu: Quit

Selecting quit from the Navigation Menu will end your Music Guide session. Choosing to end your session presents a number of options. For more information about these options, see Exiting the Music Guide.


Search For Information
Searching For Information

The Music Guide search puts over 4,000 artists and 60,000 albums at your fingertips. You can search for particular artists or albums, or get more specific and search by song title, instrument, nationality and much more. You can do a simple keyword search by entering in a word or a combination of words in the box at the top left of the search screen. You can also use Search Options  to do more complex searches. Both of these searches will examine the entire Music Guide for any matching artists or albums. One thing to remember -- the search is not performing a complete text search. Entering a keyword or selecting a search option does not search the articles, reviews, and biographies included in the Music Guide.

NOTE: To perform a successful search, you only need to do one of two things: enter a word in the box at the top left of the search screen, or pick a Search Option and enter information into one or more of the fields. Not all Search Options need to be entered to execute a search.

To learn more about the different features available to you in the Music Guide search, click on the highlighted items below.

Doing a general keyword search

Using Search Options

audio/video/photo

album

band/artist

category/style

song name

biographies/reviews

shopping list

Search Options Chosen

Search Results

NOTE: Remember, unless you click Start New Search, each time you choose a new search option it will be combined with all the options you chose before, narrowing your search. Clicking on Start New Search will start the search from scratch.


Doing a General Keyword Search

To perform a general search on all information contained in the Music Guide, type a word or combination of words into the box located at the top left of the search screen.

To refine your search, use Search Options to narrow your search results.


Using Search Options

You can use Search Options to refine your search of the Music Guide. As you select various Search Options, they will appear in the Search Options Chosen box at the bottom right of search screen. Each Search Option you choose combines with the ones that are already in the Search Options Chosen Box. This means that each additional criteria you choose will narrow the search. In order to start over from scratch, and empty the Search Options Chosen box, press Start New Search.

NOTE: Combining Search Options allows you to browse subsections of the Music Guide that are most interesting to you. Try searching for all World Music albums that have sound clips, or for all Australian bands with AMG articles.

For more information on Search Options, click on the highlighted text below:

audio/video/photo

album

band/artist

category/style

song name

biographies/reviews

shopping list


audio/video/photo
Audio/Video/Photo Search Options

You can search for audio clips, album covers, artist photos, and video clips by using the checkboxes in the audio/video/photo Search Option.

To find artists with a combination of media, select 2 or more checkboxes. For instance, to find albums with both a soundclip and an album cover, simply click both the audio clip and album cover checkboxes.


Album Search Options

Clicking on album in Search Options offers many different ways to search for a particular album. Typing in a specific album name or record label, choosing an option from additional information or selecting a release date, will allow you to browse a subset of albums which match your selections and for which the information is available. Checking the best-of-category and/or best-of-artist checkboxes will give you a subset of albums recommended by AMG.

NOTE: Want to explore a new genre of music, but not sure where to start? AMG has picked best albums in each category of music for you to explore. To browse the picks of each category, pick the Category Search Option and choose the category you're interested in. Then pick the Album Search Option and check the best-of-category box.

Remember, using the album search option concentrates the search on albums. To find artists, use a keyword search or the band/artist search option.


Band/Artist Seach Options
Band/Artist Search Options

Choosing band/artist from Search Options creates a wealth of ways to find the artist and/or albums you want to know more about. Just type the name of your favorite artist into the band/artist box, or search by nationality or instrument.

NOTE: Looking for a new favorite band? Try entering the name of one of your faves into the influences or related artist boxes. This will give you a subset of artists and/or albums that play music in that same vein. You may have never heard of some of them, but you just may discover a hidden gem.


Category/Style Search Options
Category Search Options

You can search for artists and albums who perform a particular style of music or fall into a certain musical genre. Clicking on category in Search Options will bring up two scrollable lists, one for categories and one for styles. Simply choose the category or style you wish to explore and click OK.

NOTE: The CATEGORIES & STYLES search option allows you to select more than one category or style, or combinations of different categories and styles. Selecting two or more categories or selecting two or more styles will broaden your search (e.g.. will find all artists who fall into the country or rock categories). Selecting a category and a style will narrow your search (e.g. find only artists who are country and play death metal).


Song Name Search Options

NOTE: Track lists are not available for all albums contained in the Music Guide, so if you don't find the song you're looking for, try going online to our MusicMatch website.

With this option, you can search for a certain song even if you know only a few words of the title. Simply choose song names under Search Options and type in the song name or part of the song name. Your search results will then display the albums which contain the song title which you entered.

Searching for a song name will find the albums for all song titles which contain any of the words which you have entered. For example, if you search for the song "St. Stephen," your search results might include "St. Louis Blues" and "Stephen Foster Medley," as well as "St. Stephen."

NOTE: Can't remember who performed "Freebird"? Want to find a recorded version of that traditional folk song? Or just want to find out who has done covers of your favorite song? Give this search option a shot.


Biographies/Reviews Search Options

Choosing bios/reviews from Search Options makes it easy to search for articles and reviews in the Music Guide. Use this Search Option to find all Musician articles, all AMG reviews and biographies, all Billboard record reviews and articles, or all articles written by Creative Multimedia staff.

NOTE: To find artists or albums with a combination of reviews, select 2 or more checkboxes. For instance, to find albums with both an AMG review and a Billboard review, simply click both of those checkboxes.


Shopping List Search Options

Choosing shopping list from Search Options and clicking the In My Shopping List checkbox will give you a list of all the albums that are currently in your Shopping List.


Search Options Chosen

Each Search Option you choose will be added to the Search Options Chosen display box. Every Search Option displayed in the box works in conjunction with every other search option displayed in the box. To start a search from scratch, click on the Start New Search box.

For example, if you do a search for all Country artists with Gold Albums and audio clips, the Search Options Chosen box will display:

Keyword: All

Add'l Info: Gold Album

Categories: Country

AUDIO CLIP


Browsing Search Results

After you have selected your search criteria, the results of your search will appear in the two large text boxes to the right of the screen. The top display box contains albums, and the bottom display box contains artists. Clicking twice on an album or artist name, or selecting an item and clicking GO TO, will take you to the screen for that item. As you page back and forth from the screen you jumped to, you are browsing the results of your search. To return to browsing the entire Music Guide, click on the Browse menu in the upper left-hand corner of the screen and select All.

NOTE: If you click CANCEL before selecting an item from Search Results, your search will not be saved. Selecting an item and clicking GO TO, or double-clicking on an item, takes you to that item and activates your search results as the current browse mode.

For more information, see the Browse Menu.


Listen to an Audio Track
Listening to Song Samples

Song samples are available for over 1000 artists throughout the artist and album screens. Clicking on the audio icon at the top of the screen will display the song title, artist name, and album name for the track currently playing.

Clicking on...

STOP: stops the audio sample you are listening to.

PLAY: starts the audio sample from the beginning of the clip.

CLOSE: closes the song sample box.

NOTE: If you would like to find all 1000 audio clips, use the Search Option: audio/video/photo. Clicking on the audio checkbox will display all artists and albums with accompanying audio tracks. You can then browse all of the search results by double clicking on an item. Your browsing will take you through all entries with audio clips.


Watch a Music Video
Watching Music Videos

Rare artist footage is available for over 50 artists in the Music Guide. Clicking on the video icon at the top of the album and artist screen will play the associated video for the artist you are currently viewing. To stop the playback of a video, click the mouse on the video display once. For more information on how to display the music videos at full or partial screen, see Video Playback.

NOTE: If you want to find all of the videos included in the Music Guide, use the audio/video/photo Search Option. Clicking on the video checkbox will display all the artists and albums with accompanying video clips. You can then browse all of the search results by double clicking on an item. Your browsing will take you through all entries with video clips.


View an Album Cover/Track List
View Album Covers & Track Lists

Over 3000 album covers are available in the Music Guide. When an album cover is not available, a generic cover for each major category will display.

If a list of songs on the CD is available, the spine of the jewelbox will read Track List Available. Clicking on the jewelbox will display the song tracks listed for the album you are currently viewing. Composers, performers and times will display when available.

If no track list is available, the jewelbox will still open, and No Track List Available will display.


Go Online

NOTE: If you are connecting to the Internet using a dial-up account, you either need to be already connected to your account, or you can set the "Use Auto Dial" feature in the Control Panel/Internet applet supplied with the Microsoft Internet Setup Wizard or Microsoft Internet Explorer 2.0.

Yet more great music awaits you at our MusicMatch website (www.musicmatch.com). For more information, click on the highlighted text below.

What's on the Web site?

Can I Use Another Browser?

Can I Bookmark Music Match After I Have Logged in?

What Happens if an Album I Put in my Shopping List Isn't Available?


What's on the Web Site?

The MusicMatch website is in its beginning stages, so you'll see many changes happening over the next few months. Current features include over 200,000 albums and other kinds of merchandise, links to related music websites, biographies, reviews, track lists, album credits, related artists and influences, audio clips, artist photos, album covers, and more!

The information which you are searching online includes a larger set of artists and albums than the Music Guide, and the online information is updated regularly. You'll find new releases, on sale items, and upcoming titles spotlighted on the MusicMatch home page. You will also be able to see what albums other MusicMatch users are buying.

You can build a shopping list online almost exactly like you can in the Music Guide  and you can send your shopping list from the CD-ROM to the website. For more information on uploading your shopping list from the Music Guide, see Buying Albums Online.

We want to hear your feedback about MusicMatch, so be sure to fill out the user survey from the home page. Let us know which features you like, and what you would like to see added in the coming months.

NOTE: You can always find Help in the navigation toolbar at the top and bottom of each MusicMatch page.


Can I Use Another Browser?

You can use any Web browser to access the MusicMatch website from the Music Guide. If your system is running Windows, and you have a browser registered in the Windows 95 registry or a browser in the Win.ini file on Windows 3.1, that browser will be launched when you go online. If you do not have a browser registered, but you do have a browser installed, the Music Guide will find and launch that browser when you go online.


Can I bookmark the Music Match site after I have logged in?
Can I Bookmark Music Match After I Have Logged in?

If you would like to revisit MusicMatch without having to re-enter your user name and password each time you enter the site, use the AUTOLOGIN feature from the MusicMatch Shopping List.


What Happens if an Album I Put in My Shopping List Isn't Available?

While many of the albums included in the Music Guide are available for purchase, some albums on our CD-ROM will not be available for purchase online. If one of the albums in your CD-ROM shopping list is unavailable from the MusicMatch website, you will be notified immediately when you upload your shopping list.

If an album is out of stock, the title will still be placed in your shopping list online. Your online shopping list is saved in your user account between your visits to the MusicMatch site, and you will be able to check the status of the item on return visits.

NOTE: Album titles uploaded from the Music Guide CD-ROM will appear in your online MusicMatch shopping list as compact discs if they are available in that format. If a title you uploaded is available in cassette format, but not in compact disc format, the title will appear in your shopping list with the cassette checkbox clicked. Remember, you can always remove an item from your shopping list by clicking REMOVE FROM LIST.

You can always click on the hyperlinked album name in your shopping list to find out more information about the different formats available for that album.


Add Albums To Your Shopping List
Adding Albums To The Shopping List

NOTE: Not all albums listed in the Music Guide are available for purchase online. Some titles are out of print, or are not available from our music warehouse. A list of albums, not available for sale will appear when you upload your list to the MusicMatch site. For more information, click here.

Clicking the Add to Shopping List button from any album screen will add the album you are currently viewing to your Music Guide Shopping List without removing you from the screen you are currently viewing. When you're ready to go online and purchase the album, or if you just want to check out the albums currently included in your shopping list, simply click the Shopping List button from any screen.

NOTE: You can always go to your Music Guide Shopping List by selecting go to from the Navigation Menu, and then selecting Shopping List.

From the Shopping List screen, you can add albums to your list by clicking on the Add Album button. A scrollable, alphabetical list of all the albums in the Music Guide will appear. To make this list of albums smaller and a little easier to handle, there is a Browse option at the top of the Shopping List. A pull-down menu gives you a choice of subsets that you can browse.


Buying Albums Online

NOTE: Some browsers, including Internet Explorer 2.0, limit the number of characters which can be included in the URL. This means that if your Music Guide shopping list contains approximately 20 or more albums, your MusicMatch online shopping list may not include all of the albums which you tried to upload.

You can add items to your Music Guide shopping list from a few different places. Try browsing the album screens and clicking Add to Shopping List. Or go to the Shopping List screen and try clicking on Add Album. Once you've got a few things picked out, you're ready for the convenience and security of online transactions.

Clicking the Upload Shopping List button from the Shopping List screen begins the process for ordering compact discs from the MusicMatch website. The Music Guide will remain open, and your selected browser will launch you to the Shopping List section of the website. Albums which are available for sale will display in your MusicMatch Shopping List, and albums which are not available for sale will also be listed. If you do not already have a MusicMatch user account, you will be asked to create one.

You can always return to the Music Guide and create another shopping list. Your MusicMatch account will always be ready to accept a new shopping list from the CD-ROM.


Exit The Music Guide

Upon exiting the Music Guide, you will be offered the following options:

Clicking Product Catalog will exit the Music Guide and display an interactive catalog of products available from Creative Multimedia.

Clicking MusicMatch Online will exit the Music Guide and launch you to the home page of MusicMatch, Creative Multimedia's online music store.

Clicking Cancel will take you back to the Music Guide.

Clicking Exit will end your Music Guide session.

Clicking the Don't Show this Dialog Again will mean that the Exit box will not display the next time you exit the program.

Clicking on the question mark in the top right-hand corner will display this help topic.


This Day In Music

Each time you begin a Music Guide session, This Day in Music will display a selected music trivia fact for the date currently set in your system. Only one fact will display for each date.

If you do not want to have this information display, click the don't show this again checkbox. If you decide later that you would like to have This Day in Music display when you begin your Music Guide session, go to System Options in the Navigation Menu  and click the Show This Day in Music checkbox.


Table of Contents
Table of Contents Screen

The Table of Contents introduces you to the major features of the Music Guide. Click on the highlighted text below for more information on the options presented in this screen.

Navigation Menu

Go Forward/Go Back

Search

Albums

Bands/Artists

Categories

Billboard Top 200 Charts

Shopping List

MusicMatch Online


Using the Database
Album, Artist and Category Screens

NOTE: The database in the Music Guide is provided by AMG, the All Music Guide. Articles, reviews, and biographies are often provided by AMG; in some cases, additional information on an artist or album is provided by Billboard, Musician, or from the Creative Multimedia editorial staff.

The following items are found in all screens in the Music Guide. Click on the highlighted text for more information on these global items.

Expand Your Horizons

Navigation Menu

Listening to Song Samples

Watching Music Videos

Displaying Artist Photos

Browse Menu

Album/Artist/Category Indicator

Search

MusicMatch Online

The Music Guide can be viewed in three different modes: the artist/band screen, the album screen, and the category screen. For more information on these specific screens, click on the highlighted text below.

Bands/Artists

Albums

Categories

NOTE: You will likely encounter album and artist names highlighted in the articles throughout the Music Guide. Hypertext linking allows you to jump quickly to the artist or album screen highlighted. You will always be able to use the Go Back/Forward to return to the place you started from, so try clicking on a few links!


Expand Your Horizons

Expand Your Horizons allows you to listen to samples of music from all the categories available in the Music Guide. It's a fantastic way to sample an eclectic mix of music, and maybe discover something new and exciting!

Simply click on the EX button in the upper right of the screen. You will see the vital information on the track currently playing - song title, artist name, and album title. Clicking on go to: artist will take you to that artist screen; clicking on go to: album will take you to that album screen.

Clicking on the EX button in the Expand Your Horizons box will play another random sound clip.

Clicking on...

STOP: stops the audio sample you are listening to.

PLAY: starts the audio sample from the beginning of the clip.

CLOSE: closes the song sample box.


photo icons
Displaying Artist Photos

Artist photos are available for over 600 artists throughout the artist and album screens. Clicking on the photo icon at the top of the screen will display the photo of the artist you are currently viewing. To make the photo disappear, just click once anywhere on the screen.


browsing menu
Browse Menu

The browse menu allows you to create smaller, more manageable sections of the Music Guide for convenient browsing of the album and artist screens. You will find the browse menu in the upper left-hand corner of the artist, album, and category screens.

While browsing the category screens in the Music Guide, the browse menu includes all of the categories. Selecting any category will then display that particular category essay, and using the albums/artists/categories indicator  to browse album or artist screens will then contain a subset of artists or albums from just that category.

While browsing the artist and album screens, the browse menu allows you to select from all of the categories. You can also select search results from the browse menu to browse a subset of the Music Guide which contains artists and albums from your current search results list.

To return to browsing the entire Music Guide, simply select all from the browse menu.

NOTE: The browse menu displays the mode in which you are currently browsing. If you select a new category, or search results, or all, you will be taken to the first item alphabetically in that subset.


Album/Artist/Category Indicator

The top right of every screen contains the albums/artists/categories indicator. The type of screen you are currently viewing will appear with a check mark next to it. Clicking on either of the other 2 items allows you to toggle between the different screens.


Artist Screen: MusicMatch Online
MusicMatch Online

Clicking MusicMatch online from any screen will launch your preferred browser and bring you to the home page of our MusicMatch web site. For more information about MusicMatch and going online, see Go Online.


Artist Database Screen
Band/Artist Screen

The artist screen contains all the available information for the artist you are currently viewing. Click on the highlighted text below for more information.

Text Display

Style

Birth Place

Instrument

Selected Albums

Liner Notes

Shopping List


Articles about Artists
Band/Artist Screen: Text Display

The Music Guide contains articles from Musician, Billboard, The All Music Guide, and Creative Multimedia's editorial staff. We have tried to make as much information as possible available to you in a simple and easy-to-use interface. Not all artist screens contain the same kind of information, and perhaps no two artist screens are alike. But in all cases, you will be able to read some information about every artist included in the Music Guide.

When two articles are available for one artist, simply click on one of the buttons at the bottom of the text display to switch between the two.


Style - Artists
Band/Artist Screen: Style

To identify types of music more precisely than by broad general categories, the Music Guide identifies over one hundred different styles, from Alternative Rock to Chamber Jazz. Style identifiers appear at the top of the text display of the artist or album you are currently viewing.

For more information about styles, go to the category screen and read the style essay for each category.

NOTE: All of an artist's albums may not be the same style as the artist. Check out Ray Charles, an R&B artist who has a couple of (great) country albums.


Artist Screen: Birth Place
Band/Artist Screen: Birth Place

Some, but not all, artist screens display the original birthplace of an artist.


Artist Screen: Instrument
Band/Artist Screen: Instrument

Some, but not all, artist screens contain information on the main instrument played by the artist you are currently viewing. Try searching by instrument in the band/artist Search Option.


Selected Albums
Band/Artist Screen: Selected Albums

Clicking on Selected Albums will display a box containing a list of all albums contained in the Music Guide by the artist you are currently viewing. Highlighting an item and clicking GO TO will take you to that album screen. Clicking CLOSE will dismiss the Selected Albums list.


Liner Notes Artist
Band/Artist Screen: Liner Notes

Liner Notes provide even more information about the artist you are currently viewing. To the left of the Liner Notes box, the Decades Active display demonstrates during which decades the artist was actively recording. On the right, the pull-down menu presents three options:

Choosing Credits from the pull-down menu will display a list of albums on which the artist you are viewing has performed.

Choosing Related Artists will display a list of other artists associated with the artist you are viewing.

Choosing Influences will display a list of other artists whose music is similar or has influenced the artist you are viewing.

NOTE: Not all artist screens include 100% of the liner notes information. If no information is available for a particular liner notes section, the menu item will be greyed out and disabled.


Artist Screen: Shopping List
Band/Artist Screen: Shopping List

Clicking Shopping List from the artist screen will take you to the Shopping List main screen. For more information on how to create and maintain your Shopping List, see Shopping List.


album database screen
Album Screen

The album screen shows you all the information for the album that you are viewing. To find out more about what's available on the album screen, click on the highlighted text below.

Text display

release information

AMG album ratings

album style

additional info

Add to Shopping List

Album Covers/Track List

Liner Notes


album reviews
Album Screen: Text Display

The Music Guide contains album reviews from The All Music Guide and over 20 years of Billboard Magazine. When two reviews are available for the same album, select the review you wish to read by clicking one of the buttons at the bottom of the text area.


Release Information

Release information, including record label, date, and catalog number, will appear at the top of the text area in the album screen when available. Not all albums contain complete release information, and release dates are often not available.


Album Ratings

The All Music Guide has chosen the best albums for each category and the best albums for each artist. For these albums, the "Best-of" ratings will appear at the top of the album text area.


style albums
Album Style

To identify specific types of music, the Music Guide identifies over one hundred different styles, from Alternative Rock to Chamber Jazz. Style identifiers appear at the top of the text screen of the artist or album you are viewing.

For more information about styles, go to the category screen and read the Style essay for each category.

NOTE: All of an artist's albums may not be the same style as the artist. Check out Ray Charles, an R&B artist who has a couple of (great) country albums.


Album Screen: Add to Shopping List

Clicking Add to Shopping List from the Album screen will add the album you are currently viewing to your Shopping List. For more information on creating and maintaining your Shopping List, see Shopping List.


Album Screen: Shopping List

Clicking Shopping List from the album screen will take you to the shopping list main screen. For more information on how to create and maintain your Shopping List, see Shopping List.


Category Screen

The category screens contain comprehensive essays on 17 different genres of music.

Each musical category has a general overview of the category that will display automatically. If you wish to read more about that category, go to the pull-down menu at the top of the display. The menu will list the titles of additional essays available for that category. Simply click on the title of the essay you wish to read.


Billboard Charts

The Music Guide has over 25 years of Billboard chart information. Weekly Billboard Top 200 pop charts are available for the years 1984 through 1995. Year-end Billboard Pop charts are available for the years 1956 through 1983. For more information, click on the highlighted text below:

     Browsing the Billboard Charts

     Selecting a Specific Date

     Viewing the Billboard Charts


Paging Billboard Charts
Browsing the Billboard Charts

You can page through the Billboard charts by week or by year (depending on the charts available) by using the paging arrows located at the top right of the chart screen.


Selecting a Specific Date

You can choose the year, month and week of the Billboard chart you wish to view by using the pull down menus at the bottom of the chart screen. If only year-end charts are available for that year, you will not be able to select a month or week. After making your selection, press Go to view that chart.


Viewing the Billboard Charts

Use the scroll bar located to the right of the chart to scroll through the entire chart you are viewing.

Use the paging arrows located to the upper right of the chart to page between weeks and years of Billboard charts.

Clicking on an album or artist that is highlighted will take you to the screen for that album or artist.


Shopping List

NOTE: You can print out your Shopping List and take it with you! Just select print from the Navigation Menu.

The Shopping List allows you to create a custom list of albums while you are exploring the Music Guide. It's a handy way of keeping track of albums that have sparked your interest. And buying albums online from our MusicMatch website is easy  your shopping list can be directly uploaded from the Music Guide and you can purchase the albums securely with a credit card. To get to the Shopping List, click on the Shopping List button from the album, artist, or category screens. Or, select go to from the Navigation Menu, and then click Shopping List. It's easy!

Upload Shopping List

Search

Add Album

Delete Album

Clear List

NOTE: For more information on purchasing albums online, see Buying Albums Online.


Shopping List: Upload Shopping List

Clicking the Upload Shopping List button begins the process for ordering compact discs from the MusicMatch website. The Music Guide will remain open, and your selected browser will launch you to the Shopping List section of the website. The current list of items in your shopping list will then be uploaded to your user account on the MusicMatch website. If you do not already have a MusicMatch user account, you will be asked to create one.


Shopping List: Search

Clicking Search from the Shopping List works just like clicking Search from any other place in the Music Guide. Once you perform a search and are browsing the search results, you can either click Add to shopping list from the album screen, or you can return to the Shopping List and browse your search results from the Add album pull-down menu.

For more information on how to use Search in the Music Guide, see Searching for Information.


Shopping List: Add Album

Clicking on the Add album button displays a scrollable list of all albums available in the Music Guide. The pull-down menu allows you to browse smaller lists by music category, or by your current search results.


Shopping List: Delete Album

Clicking on Delete album from the Shopping List will remove the item which you currently have selected.


Shopping List: Clear List

Clicking on Clear List will erase all albums currently contained in your Shopping List. You will then be asked to verify that you really want to erase all of the items in your Shopping List.


Juno E-Mail

Click on the Juno icon at the bottom left of the Table of Contents screen to begin the set-up of the Juno e-mail program. You may leave the Juno set-up and return to the Music Guide by clicking on the Exit or Cancel button.


All Music Guide advertisement
All Music Guide

Clicking on the AMG icon in the bottom left of the Table of Contents will begin a brief overview of the All Music Guide. The arrow in the bottom right will guide you through the tour. The exit button will allow you to stop the tour at any time and return to the Table of Contents screen.


Additional Info

Additional information on the album you are viewing will appear at the top of the text display, i.e. if the album went platinum or if it is a box set.


Team Credits

Clicking on TEAM CREDITS from credits in the Navigation Menu will display the names of the Creative Multimedia employees who worked on the Music Guide. Clicking on the photo icon will display a picture of the entire team; clicking on most of the individual linked names will display a photograph and "Top 10" list for that employee. Clicking on bands/artists and albums at the top right of the screen will allow you to toggle between the individual employee screens and the main team credits screen.


Video Playback

You can choose to display music videos at full window or partial window display. Choosing full window will make the video the entire size of the screen space which the Music Guide currently occupies. Choosing partial window will make the video one-quarter the size of the screen space which the Music Guide currently occupies.


Liner Notes

Clicking on the liner notes button will display selected performer and producer credits, when available, for the album you are viewing.