RILM includes all formats of scholarly works--articles, books, bibliographies, catalogs, dissertations, films and videos, and conference proceedings. Also provides concert reviews, recording notes, and pedagogical manuals if they are of scholarly interest.

Music and various other fields as they relate to music including: anthropology, dance, ethnomusicology, historical musicology, instruments and voice, librarianship, literature, dramatic arts and visual arts, music therapy, philosophy and physics, and sociology. Includes citations on international music corresponding to the printed International Repertory of Music Literature .