1950 in music

• 1950 in British music
• 1950 in Norwegian music

• 1950 in country music
• 1950 in jazz

• January 3 – Sam Phillips launches Sun Records at 706 Union Avenue in Memphis, Tennessee.
• March 14 – Pablo Casals terminates his recording contract with RCA Records and signs with their chief competitor, Columbia Records.^[1]
• June 26 – Louis Armstrong records the first American version of C'est si bon with the English lyrics by Jerry Seelen.
• August 29 – The first American Music Competition of the Sigma Alpha Iota music fraternity is won by Richard Winslow for Huswifery, a choral composition for women's voices.^[2]
• August – Herbert Howells' Hymnus Paradisi is premiered at the Three Choirs Festival.^[3]
• September 24 – Alan Lomax sets sail from the United States for London and spends until 1959 recording in Europe for the Columbia World Library of Folk and Primitive Music.
• October 1 – Italian composer Luciano Berio marries American mezzo-soprano Cathy Berberian.
• October 11 – On temporary release from Ellis Island pending a deportation decision from U. S. immigration authorities, 20-year-old Friedrich Gulda makes his Carnegie Hall debut.^[4]
• November – The Eleanor Steber Award is won by soprano Willabelle Underwood.^[5]
• Johann Sebastian Bach is reburied in St. Thomas Church, Leipzig.
• Malcolm Sargent becomes chief conductor of the BBC Symphony Orchestra.^[6]
• Isaak Dunayevsky is named People's Artist of the USSR.
• Mitch Miller signs as A&R man with Columbia Records.
• Patti Page becomes the first (and only) artist to have a Number One record on the Pop, R&B and Country charts concurrently.
• Al Cernick is signed to Columbia by Mitch Miller, who changes the singer's name to Guy Mitchell.
• Columbia Records lures Jo Stafford away from Capitol.
• Georgia Gibbs leaves the Majestic label and scores her first charting single with Coral.
• Bandleader Les Baxter founds the school of "Outer Space" exotica.
• Sam Cooke replaces R. H. Harris as lead singer of The Soul Stirrers.

• American Folks Songs – Jo Stafford
• Auld Lang Syne – Bing Crosby
• Autumn in New York – Jo Stafford
• Barber Shop Ballads – The Mills Brothers
• Blue of the Night – Bing Crosby
• The Famous 1938 Carnegie Hall Jazz Concert – Benny Goodman
• Christmas Greetings – Bing Crosby
• Cole Porter Songs – Bing Crosby
• Country Feelin – Dinah Shore
• Dedicated to You – Frank Sinatra
• Drifting and Dreaming – Bing Crosby
• Dulce Patria – Jorge Negrete
• Ella Sings Gershwin – Ella Fitzgerald
• Frankie Laine – Frankie Laine
• Going My Way – Bing Crosby
• Historical America in Song – Burl Ives
• King Cole Trio – King Cole Trio
• King Cole Trio Volume 2 – King Cole Trio
• Live at Carnegie Hall – Benny Goodman
• Oh! Susanna – Al Jolson
• Patti Page – Patti Page
• Popular Classics for Four Pianos – Philharmonic Piano Quartet
• Porgy and Bess – Various Artists
• Sing a Song of Christmas – The Ames Brothers
• Sing and Dance with Frank Sinatra – Frank Sinatra
• Songs By Gershwin – Bing Crosby
• Songs of Faith – Jo Stafford
• Songs for Sunday Evening – Jo Stafford
• Tea for Two – Doris Day
• Two Loves Have I – Frankie Laine
• Voice of the Xtabay – Yma Sumac
• Young Man with a Horn – Doris Day

These singles reached the top of Billboard magazine's charts in 1950.

The following songs achieved the highest chart positions in the limited set of charts available for 1950.

• "Double Crossing Blues" – Johnny Otis with Little Esther & The Robins

• "Adelaide's Lament" words and music: Frank Loesser
• "African Bolero" m. John Serry Sr.
• "American Beauty Rose" w.m. Hal David, Redd Evans & Arthur Altman
• "Be My Love" w. Sammy Cahn m. Nicholas Brodszky
• "The Best Thing For You" w.m. Irving Berlin
• "Blind Date" w.m. Sid Robin
• "A Bushel And A Peck" w.m. Frank Loesser
• "Candy And Cake" w.m. Bob Merrill
• "Chattanoogie Shoe Shine Boy" w.m. Harry Stone & Jack Stapp
• "Choo'n Gum" w. Mann Curtis m. Vic Mizzy
• "Cold, Cold Heart" w.m. Hank Williams
• "The Cry of the Wild Goose" w.m. Terry Gilkyson
• "Dearie" w.m. Bob Hilliard & David Mann
• "Domino" w. (Eng) Don Raye (Fr) Jacques Plante m. Louis Ferrari
• "Freight Train" w. Paul James & Fred Williams m. trad arr. Elizabeth Cotton
• "The French Can-Can Polka" w. Jimmy Kennedy m. Jacques Offenbach
• "From This Moment On" w.m. Cole Porter
• "Frosty the Snowman" w.m. Steve Nelson & Jack Rollins
• "Fugue For Tinhorns" w.m. Frank Loesser
• "Get Out Those Old Records" w.m. Carmen Lombardo & John Jacob Loeb
• "Gone Fishin'" w.m. Nick Kenny & Charles Kenny
• "Guys and Dolls" w.m. Frank Loesser
• "Home Cookin"' w.m. Jay Livingston & Ray Evans
• "Hoop-Dee-Doo" w. Frank Loesser m. Milton De Lugg
• "The Hostess With The Mostes' On The Ball" w.m. Irving Berlin. Introduced by Ethel Merman in the musical Call Me Madam
• "I Almost Lost My Mind" w.m. Ivory Joe Hunter
• "I Didn't Slip, I Wasn't Pushed, I Fell" w.m. Edward Pola & George Wyle
• "I Don't Care If The Sun Don't Shine" w.m. Mack David
• "I Leave My Heart in an English Garden" w.m. Harry Parr-Davies and Christopher Hassall from the musical Dear Miss Phoebe
• "I Tawt I Taw a Puddy Tat" w.m. Alan Livingston, Billy May & Warren Foster
• "If I Knew You Were Comin' I'd've Baked A Cake" w.m. Al Hoffman, Bob Merrill & Clem Watts
• "If I Were A Bell" w.m. Frank Loesser
• "I'll Know" w.m. Frank Loesser
• "I'll Never Be Free" w.m. Bennie Benjamin & George David Weiss
• "I'm Movin' On" w.m. Hank Snow
• "It Is No Secret" w.m. Stuart Hamblen
• "It's A Lovely Day Today" w.m. Irving Berlin
• "I've Never Been In Love Before" w.m. Frank Loesser
• "Ivory Rag" Lou Busch, Jack Elliott
• "Little White Duck" w.m. Walt Barrows & Bernard Zaritsky
• "The Loveliest Night of the Year" w. Paul Francis Webster m. Juventino P. Rosas
• "Luck Be a Lady" w.m. Frank Loesser
• "Lucky Lucky Lucky Me" Berle, Arnold
• "Marry The Man Today" w.m. Frank Loesser
• "Marrying For Love" w.m. Irving Berlin
• "More I Cannot Wish You" w.m. Frank Loesser
• "My Heart Cries For You" w.m. Carl Sigman & Percy Faith
• "My Time Of Day" w.m. Frank Loesser
• "No Other Love" adaptation from Chopin's Étude No. 3 in E major, Op. 10. w.m. Bob Russell & Paul Weston
• "The Old Piano Roll Blues" w.m. Cy Coben
• "The Oldest Established" w.m. Frank Loesser
• "Orange Colored Sky" w.m. Milton De Lugg & William Stein
• "Patricia" w.m. Benny Davis
• "(Remember Me) I'm the One Who Loves You" w.m. Stuart Hamblen
• "The Roving Kind" adapt. w.m. Jessie Cavanaugh & Arnold Stanton
• "Sam's Song" w. Jack Elliott m. Lew Quadling
• "Shot Gun Boogie" w.m. Tennessee Ernie Ford
• "Silver Bells" w.m. Jay Livingston & Ray Evans. Introduced by Bob Hope in the 1951 Musical film The Lemon Drop Kid.
• "Sit Down, You're Rockin' The Boat" w.m. Frank Loesser. Introduced by Stubby Kaye in the musical Guys and Dolls.
• "Sixty Minute Man" w.m. Billy Ward & Rose Marks
• "Sleigh Ride" w. Mitchell Parish m. Leroy Anderson
• "Sue Me" w.m. Frank Loesser
• "The Syncopated Clock" w. Mitchell Parish m. Leroy Anderson
• "Take Back Your Mink" w.m. Frank Loesser. Introduced by Vivian Blaine in the musical Guys and Dolls.
• "The Thing" w.m. Charles R. Grean
• "Tzena, Tzena, Tzena" adapt. trad Hebrew w. (Eng) Mitchell Parish m. Issachar Miron & Julius Grossman
• "You Don't Have to Be a Baby to Cry" w.m. Bob Merrill & Terry Shand
• "You're Just In Love" w.m. Irving Berlin

• Luigi Dallapiccola – Job
• Norman Dello Joio – The Triumph of Saint Joan
• Lukas Foss – The Jumping Frog of Calaveras County (opera in two scenes, libretto by Jean Karsavina, premiered on May 18, 1950, at Indiana University)
• Vittorio Giannini – The Taming of the Shrew
• Gian Carlo Menotti – The Consul

• Georges Auric - Orpheus
• Aram Khachaturian – Secret Mission (1950 film)
• Leith Stevens - Destination Moon
• Franz Waxman – Sunset Boulevard (film)

• Alive and Kicking – Broadway revue opened at the Winter Garden Theatre on January 17 and ran for 46 performances
• Call Me Madam (Music and Lyrics: Irving Berlin Book: Howard Lindsay and Russel Crouse.) Broadway production opened at the Imperial Theatre on October 12 and ran for 644 performances.
• Carousel (Music: Richard Rodgers Lyrics and Book: Oscar Hammerstein II.) London production opened at the Drury Lane Theatre on June 7 and ran for 566 performances.
• Dear Miss Phoebe London production opened at the Phoenix Theatre on October 13 and ran for 283 performances
• Guys and Dolls (Music and Lyrics: Frank Loesser Book: Abe Burrows & Jo Swerling). Broadway production opened at the 46th Street Theatre on November 24 and ran for 1200 performances.
• The Highwayman Music, Lyrics & Book: Edmond Samuels. Australian production opened at the Kings Theatre, Melbourne on November 18
• Michael Todd's Peep Show Broadway revue opened at Winter Garden Theatre on June 28 and ran for 278 performances.
• Out Of This World (Music and Lyrics: Cole Porter Book: Dwight Taylor and Reginald Lawrence) Broadway production opened at the New Century Theatre on December 21 and ran for 157 performances.
• Peter Pan Lyrics and Music: Leonard Bernstein. Broadway production opened at the Imperial Theatre on April 24 and ran for 321 performances
• Tickets, Please! Broadway revue opened at the Coronet Theatre on April 27 and ran for 245 performances.

• Annie Get Your Gun (music and lyrics by Irving Berlin), starring Betty Hutton, Howard Keel, Louis Calhern and Keenan Wynn.
• Bhai Bahen, starring Geeta Bali and Bharat Bhushan.
• Canzoni per le strade, starring Luciano Taioli and Antonella Lualdi
• Cinderella, animated film featuring the voice of Ilene Woods and Verna Felton.
• Come Dance with Me featuring Anne Shelton and Anton Karas
• Cossacks of the Kuban (Kubanskie kazaki), starring Vladlen Davydov and Marina Ladynina
• Fancy Pants starring Bob Hope and Lucille Ball
• Hamara Ghar, starring Meena Kumari and Durga Khote^[31]
• I'll Get By starring June Haver, Gloria DeHaven and Dennis Day, and featuring Harry James.
• Mr. Music starring Bing Crosby and featuring Peggy Lee, Groucho Marx and Dorothy Kirsten.
• Mussorgsky, starring Aleksandr Borisov
• My Blue Heaven, starring Betty Grable and Dan Dailey^[32]
• Pagan Love Song starring Esther Williams and Howard Keel
• Samsaram, starring N. T. Rama Rao, Akkineni Nageswara Rao and Lakshmirajyam^[33]
• Singing Guns released February 28 starring Vaughn Monroe, Ella Raines, Walter Brennan and Ward Bond
• Tea For Two starring Doris Day and Gordon MacRae
• There's a Girl in My Heart starring Lee Bowman, Elyse Knox, Gloria Jean and Peggy Ryan
• Three Little Words starring Fred Astaire, Red Skelton and Vera Ellen, and featuring Helen Kane dubbing for Debbie Reynolds.
• The Chocolate Girl (La petite chocolatière), starring Giselle Pascal, Claude Dauphin and Henri Genès^[34]
• The Daughter of Rosie O'Grady, starring June Haver and Gordon MacRae^[35]
• The Toast of New Orleans starring Kathryn Grayson and Mario Lanza
• Two Weeks With Love starring Jane Powell, Ricardo Montalbán, Louis Calhern, Debbie Reynolds and Carleton Carpenter.
• The West Point Story starring James Cagney, Virginia Mayo, Doris Day and Gordon MacRae

• January 1 – Kate Carney, English singer and comedian (born 1869)
• January 2 – Theophrastos Sakellaridis, Greek composer and conductor (born 1883)
• January 13 – Dimitrios Semsis, Greek violinist (born 1883)
• January 28 – Kansas Joe McCoy, American blues musician and songwriter (born 1905)
• February 10 – Armen Tigranian, Armenian composer (born 1879)
• February 26 – Sir Harry Lauder, Scottish singer, comedian and songwriter (born 1870)
• February 28 – Ernst Abert Couturier, cornet virtuoso, composer, inventor and instrument manufacturer (born 1869)
• March 2 – Milton Schwarzwald, film director and composer (born 1891)
• March 8 – Jaroslav Kocián, violinist, composer and teacher (born 1883)
• April 2 – Adolf Wiklund, Swedish composer (born 1879)
• April 3 – Kurt Weill, composer in many styles (born 1900)^[37]
• April 8 – Vaslav Nijinsky, ballet dancer (born 1889/90)
• April 23 – Gemma Bellincioni, operatic soprano (born 1864)
• April 27 — Karl Straube, German organist (born 1873)^[38]
• May 7 – Bertha "Chippie" Hill, blues singer and vaudeville performer (born 1905)
• May 13 – Pauline de Ahna, operatic soprano (born 1863)
• May 27 – Auguste Aramini, French singer (born 1875)
• June 9 – Joe Burke, pianist and composer (born 1884)
• June 26 – Antonina Nezhdanova, coloratura soprano (born 1873)
• July 1 – Émile Jaques-Dalcroze, developer of eurhythmics (born 1865)
• July 7 – Fats Navarro, jazz musician (born 1923)
• July 11 – Buddy DeSylva, songwriter (born 1895)
• July 26 – Papa Charlie McCoy, blues musician (born 1909)
• July 30 – Guilhermina Suggia, cellist (born 1885)
• August 3 – Georg Høeberg, composer and conductor (born 1872)
• August 8 – Nikolai Myaskovsky, Soviet composer and teacher of Polish birth (born 1881)
• August 26 – Giuseppe De Luca, operatic baritone (born 1876)
• September 5 – Al Killian, trumpeter and bandleader (born 1916)
• September 20 – Georges Mager, trumpet player (born 1885)
• October 11 – Emil Votoček, chemist, composer and music theorist (born 1862)
• October 15 – Clément Doucet, pianist (born 1895)
• October 23 – Al Jolson, singer and actor (born 1886)
• October 26 – Evelyn Suart, English pianist (born 1881)
• November 20 – Francesco Cilea, opera composer (born 1866)
• November 23 – Percival Mackey, English pianist, composer and bandleader (born 1894)
• December 2 – Dinu Lipatti, Romanian pianist and composer (born 1917; Hodgkin's disease)^[39]
• December 9 – Georg Hann, operatic bass-baritone (born 1897)
• December 22 – Julius Weismann, German composer and conductor (born 1879)
• December 26 – Ben Black, songwriter and impresario (born 1889)
• December 28 – Charles L. Johnson, composer of ragtime and popular music (born 1876)
• December 31 – Charles Koechlin, composer and teacher (born 1867)
• date unknown
  • Jaime de Angulo, ethnomusicologist (born 1887)
  • Edouard Espinosa, dancer, choreographer and teacher (born 1871)
  • Cenobio Hernandez, composer (born 1863)
  • Ray Perry, jazz musician (born 1915)^[40]