Here are the best digital sheet music websites I’ve found – as of July 2022.
IMSLP.org has copies of just about everything that’s in the public domain. Many of the files are scans of original scores, and are sometimes challenging to read. Some have been (helpfully, accurately) re-typeset, though. It may take you a while to find what you need, but you can’t beat the price – totally free. Donations are gratefully accepted.
It seems like Hal Leonard owns nearly everything that’s under copyright and it’s available at musicnotes.com. Most of the scores can be transposed, which is very handy! If you purchase the “singer pro” version, the digital sheet music comes with a midi playback file, allowing you to sing along to the accompaniment – especially useful for practicing. A lead sheet will be less expensive than the “singer pro” version and has many uses, but if you’re planning to audition for something, purchase a piano/vocal score in the correct key to give to the accompanist. A lead sheet is not going to cut it.
sheetmusicdirect.com has some digital scores that musicnotes.com doesn’t. On the off-chance you want to order a hard copy from them and you live in the Bay Area, don’t pay for speedy shipping. I’ve always received things in under a week, even when they say 7-10 business days. I think their warehouse is in Emeryville.
newmusicaltheatre.com has exactly that. I don’t know whether the composers get a larger cut than from musicnotes.com (some of the scores are sold by both stores), but I like not giving all of my money to Hal Leonard.
It’s also amazing what one can find by typing the song or aria title and then “pdf” into a search engine.
If you do that, scribd.com is bound to come up. Scribd is a subscription service, which might be worth it if you use it for ebooks, too. I find it’s a little pricey just for sheet music, since their inventory can be hit or miss. Scribd probably still offers a free trial period.
I’m not an affiliate for any of these online stores – just letting you know the ones I most frequently use.
Remember, when you go to print your sheet music, save it to your hard drive as a PDF first, label it intelligently and put it somewhere you can find it again, like in a folder labeled “sheet music” 🙂 And be sure to back it up.
