How do I quote a song from Youtube? MLA format

Question

I need to quote a song from Youtube. I don't own the song and the artist who sings it hasn't put an official version on YT.

How should I do this? It needs to be in MLA form.

When you say "quote", I assume you mean quote lyrics from the performance? It seems like that would be the same as quoting from any other recording; I wonder what precedents exist for radio, TV, published recordings, etc. — Monica Cellio, May 13, 2013 at 15:36

Jed Oliver · Accepted Answer · 2013-05-13 17:26:13Z

You can cite it just as you would any other online video:

Author. "Title of Web Page." Title of the Site. Editor. Date and/or Version Number. Name of Sponsoring Institution. Date of Access <URL>.

Or, you may choose to cite it as a film or video recording and put the emphasis on the performer:

Last, First Name, their participation. Title. Dir. First Last name. Distributor, year of distribution. Medium.

Or, better yet, ask your instructor for guidance on how they would like that particular citation formatted.

1 Answer 1