See also: 1915 in music, other events of 1916, 1917 in music and the list of 'years in music'.

Events

• February 1 - Carl Nielsen conducts the premiere of his Symphony No. 4 , the Inextinguishable, in Copenhagen
• June 5 - Stein's Dixie Jass Band plays its first gig under its new name, the Original Dixieland Jass Band.
• The Original Dixieland Jass Band make a hit in Chicago
• Wilber Sweatman records his hot ragtime in New York City
• Sydney conservatorium of music in Australia accepted first students

Published popular music

• "Allah's Holiday" w. Otto Harbach m. Rudolf Friml
• "And They Called It Dixieland" w. Raymond Egan m. Richard A. Whiting
• "Arrah Go On, I'm Gonna Go Back To Oregon" w. Sam M. Lewis & Joe Young m. Bert Grant
• "At Finnigan's Ball" w.m. Bert Lee
• "Baby Shoes" by Joe Goodwin
• "Beale Street Blues" w.m. W. C. Handy
• "A Broken Doll" w.m. James W. Tate & Clifford Harris
• "Bugle Call Rag" w.m. Eubie Blake & Carey Morgan
• "Bull Frog Blues" Tom Brown, Guy Shrigley
• "The Cobbler's Song" w. Oscar Asche m. Frederic Norton
• "La Cumparsita" w. Carol Raven m. G. H. Matos Rodriguez (words written 1932)
• "Don't Leave Me, Daddy" Joe Verges
• "Down In Honky Tonky Town" w. Charles McCarron m. Chris Smith
• "Down Where The Swanee River Flows" w. Charles McCarron m. Charles S. Alberte
• "For Dixie And Uncle Sam" w. J. Keirn Brennan m. Ernest R. Ball
• ""Forever" Is A Long, Long Time" w. Darl MacBoyle m. Albert Von Tilzer
• "From Here To Shanghai" w.m. Irving Berlin
• "Give Me All Of You" Schwartzwald
• "Goodbye, Good Luck, God Bless You" w. J. Keirn Brennan m. Ernest R. Ball
• "Green Hills Of Somerset" w. Fred E. Weatherly m. Eric Coates
• "Have A Heart" w. Gene Buck m. Jerome Kern
• "Homesickness Blues" w.m. Cliff Hess
• "The Honolulu Blues" w. Grant Clarke & Eddie Cox m. James V. Monaco
• "How's Every Little Thing In Dixie?" w. Jack Yellen m. Albert Gumble
• "I Ain't Got Nobody" w. Roger Graham & Dave Peyton m. Spencer Williams
• "I Can Dance With Everybody But My Wife" w. Joseph Cawthorn & John Golden m. John Golden
• "I Sent My Wife To The Thousand Isles" w. Andrew B. Sterling & Ed Moran m. Harry von Tilzer
• "I Want To Marry A Male Quartette" w. Otto Harbach m. Rudolf Friml
• "If I Knock The "L" Out Of Kelly" w. Sam M. Lewis & Joe Young m. Bert Grant
• "If You Were The Only Girl In The World" w. Clifford Grey m. Nat D. Ayer
• "I'm Sorry I Made You Cry" w.m. N. J. Clesi
• "Ireland Must Be Heaven, For My Mother Came From There" w. Joseph McCarthy & Howard Johnson m. Fred Fisher
• "I've A Shooting Box In Scotland" w.m. Thomas Lawrason Riggs & Cole Porter
• "Joe Turner Blues" w. Walter Hirsch m. W. C. Handy
• "Katinka" w. Otto Harbach m. Rudolf Friml
• "Keep Your Eye On The Girlie You Love" w. Howard Johnson & Alex Gerber m. Ira Schuster
• "The Laddies Who Fought And Won" w.m. Harry Lauder
• "Li'l Liza Jane" w.m. Countess Ada De Lachau
• "Livery Stable Blues" m. Marvin Lee
• "Love Me At Twilight" w. William Jerome & Joe Young m. Bert Grant
• "Mammy's Little Coal Black Rose" w. Richard Egan m. Richard Whiting
• "M-I-S-S-I-S-S-I-P-P-I" w, Bert Hanlon & Benny Ryan m. Harry Tierney
• "Movie Trot" m. Harry H. Raymond
• "My Hawaiian Sunrise" w.m. L. Wolfe Gilbert & Carey Morgan
• "My Syncopated Melody Man" w.m. Blanche Merrill & Eddie Cox
• "Nat'an, For What Are You Waitin', Nat'an" w.m. James Kendris
• "Naughty! Naughty! Naughty!" w. Joe Goodwin & William Tracey m. Nat Vincent
• "Never Let The Same Bee Sting You Twice" w.m. Cecil Mack & Chris Smith
• "O'Brien Is Tryin' To Learn To Talk Hawaiian" w. Al Dubin m. Rennie Cormack
• "Oh! How She Could Yacki, Hacki, Wicki, Wacki, Woo" w. Stanley Murphy & Charles McCarron m. Albert Von Tilzer
• "Operatic Rag" J. Lensberg
• "Poor Butterfly" w. John Golden m. Raymond Hubbell
• "Pretty Baby" w. Gus Kahn m. Tony Jackson & Egbert Van Alstyne
• "Rackety Coo!" w. Otto Harbach m. Rudolf Friml
• "Rolling Stones - All Come Rolling Home Again" w. Edgar Leslie m. Archie Gottler
• "Roses Of Picardy" w. Frederick E. Weatherley m. Haydn Wood
• "Shamrock Rag" m. Euday L. Bowman
• "She Is The Sunshine Of Virginia" w. Ballard MacDonald m. Harry Carroll
• "Sierra Sue" w.m. Joseph Buell Carey
• "Someone Else May Be There While I'm Gone" w.m. Irving Berlin
• "Sweet Cider Time When You Were Mine" w. Joe McCarthy m. Percy Wenrich
• "Take Me Back To Dear Old Blighty" w.m. A. J. Mills, Fred Godfrey & Bennett Scott
• "That Funny Jas Band From Dixieland" w.m. Henry I. Marshal
• "There's A Little Bit Of Bad In Every Good Little Girl" w. Grant Clarke m. Fred Fisher
• "There's A Quaker Down In Quaker Town" w. David Berg m. Alfred Solman
• "They're Wearing 'Em Higher In Hawaii" w. Joe Goodwin m. Halsey K. Mohr
• "Throw Me A Rose" w. P. G. Wodehouse & Herbert Reynolds m. Emmerich Kallman
• "Turn Back The Universe And Give Me Yesterday" w. J. Keirn Brennan m. Ernest R. Ball
• "Walkin' The Dog" Shelton Brooks
• "What Do You Want To Make Those Eyes At Me For?" w. Joseph McCarthy & Howard Johnson m. James V. Monaco
• "When John McCormack Sings A Song" w. William Jerome & E. Ray Goetz m. Jean Schwartz
• "When You're Down In Louisville" w.m. Irving Berlin
• "Where Did Robinson Crusoe Go With Friday On Saturday Night?" w. Sam M. Lewis & Joe Young m. George W. Meyer
• "Where The Black-Eyed Susans Grow" w. Dave Radford m. Richard Whiting
• "Yaacka Hula Hickey Dula" w.m. E. Ray Goetz , Joe Young & Pete Wendling
• "You Belong To Me" w. Harry B. Smith m. Victor Herbert
• "You Can't Get Along With 'Em Or Without 'Em" w. Grant Clarke m. Fred Fisher
• "You're In Love" w. Otto Harbach & Edward Clark m. Rudolf Friml

Hit recordings

Wilber Sweatman record

• "O Sole Mio" by Enrico Caruso
• "Santa Lucia" by Enrico Caruso
• "Somewhere a Voice is Calling" by John McCormack
• "Where Did Robinson Crusoe Go With Friday On Saturday Night?" by Al Jolson
• "I Love A Piano" by Billy Murray
• "Pretty Baby" by Billy Murray
• "I'm Gonna Make Hay While the Sun Shines in Virginia" by Marion Harris
• "Keep the Home Fires Burning ('Till the Boys Comes Home)" by James F. Harrison
• "There's A Long Long Trail A-Winding" by James F. Harrison
• "Ireland Must Be Heaven, For My Mother Came From There" by Charles Harrison

Classical music

• Kurt Atterberg - Symphony no. 3, "West Coast Pictures"
• Ernest Bloch - Israel Symphony
• Alexander Glazunov - Karelian Legend
• Jesus Guridi - Una aventura de Don Quijote
• Ludvig Holm - Concerto for violin and orchestra in G major
• Charles Ives - Fourth Symphony
• Erkki Melartin - Symphony no 5 in A minor, Op. 90, "Sinfonia brevis"
• Hubert Parry - Jerusalem
• Siegfried Salomon - Concerto for violin and orchestra in G minor
• Igor Stravinsky - Burleske for 4 Pantomimes and Chamber Orchestra

Opera

• Enrique Granados - Goyescas

Musical theater

• Broadway And Buttermilk Broadway production
• Chu Chin Chow London production opened at His Majesty's Theatre on August 31 and ran for a record 2238 performances.
• Robinson Crusoe Jr Broadway production opened on February 17 at the Winter Garden Theatre and ran for 139 performances
• Sybil Broadway production opened on January 10 at the Liberty Theatre and ran for 168 performances
• Ziegfeld Follies Of 1916 Broadway revue opened at the New Amsterdam Theatre on June 12 and ran for 112 performances

Births

• January 4 - Slim Gaillard
• February 29 - Dinah Shore
• March 15 - Harry James, bandleader
• May 6 - Adriana Caselotti , voice (and model) for Snow White
• May 10 - Milton Babbitt, composer
• May 14 - Skip Martin , US singer
• July 24 - Bob Eberly , US singer with Jimmy Dorsey's Orchestra
• July 29 - Charlie Christian
• August 3 - Claude Demetrius, songwriter
• August 24 – Léo Ferré, singer, songwriter and composer
• August 27 - Martha Raye, US singer and actress
• September 13 - Dick Haymes, Argentinian-born US singer and actor
• October 2 - George Siravo arranger and saxophonist
• November 10 - Billy May
• December 11 - Perez Prado, Cuban bandleader and composer

Deaths

• May 11 - Max Reger, composer
• December 28 - Eduard Strauss, composer