The music of Middle-earth consists of the music mentioned by J. R. R. Tolkien in his Middle-earth books, the music written by other artists to accompany performances of his work, whether individual songs or adaptations of his books for theatre, film, radio, and games, and music more generally inspired by his books.

Music is at the heart of the Ainulindalë ("The Music of the Ainur"), the creation myth that begins The Silmarillion. Music and singing are mentioned also in the many songs embedded in The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings, especially in the accounts of places such as Rivendell. Scholars have noted that while readers often skip Tolkien's poetry and songs at a first reading, these in fact are highly relevant and give insight into the meaning of his books.

Amongst dramatic adaptations, Stephen Oliver contributed an extensive and diverse suite of instrumental music and song-settings for the BBC Radio Lord of the Rings adaptation in 1981, while Peter Jackson's Lord of the Rings film trilogy is accompanied by Howard Shore's long, varied, and prizewinning score. The Danish symphonic folk group Tolkien Ensemble has set all the songs in The Lord of the Rings to music. Further popular and classical musicians have been inspired to compose music by Tolkien's writings.

Music and song are mentioned throughout Tolkien's legendarium, in the Tolkien scholar Bradford Lee Eden's view "most obviously" in the Ainulindalë, but also importantly in the culture of the Elves, the Hobbits, and the Riders of Rohan.

The Ainulindalë (Quenya: "Music of the Ainur") is the creation account in J. R. R. Tolkien's legendarium, the first part of The Silmarillion as published posthumously in 1977. He drafted it in 1919 and rewrote it in 1930. It tells of the creation of Arda by the deity Eru Ilúvatar. It describes the immortal Ainur as "children of Ilúvatar's thought". They are taught the art of music, which becomes the subject of their lives. The Ainur sing alone or in small groups about themes Ilúvatar gives them; he proposes a unified plan for them all: a collaborative symphony where they would sing together in harmony. However, the most powerful of the Ainur, Melkor, disrupts the harmony repeatedly with his "loud, and vain" music. Scholars such as Marjorie Burns have noted the work's basis in the Prose Edda of Norse mythology, and in Tolkien's Catholicism; with parallels between Eru Ilúvatar and God, and between Melkor and the rebellious Satan, in the Genesis account. The Tolkien scholar Verlyn Flieger notes Tolkien's faith, describing his vision of Arda as "a great instrument in God's hands".

The King beneath the mountains,
The King of carven stone,
The lord of silver fountains
Shall come into his own!

The Hobbit contains 10 songs of various kinds, from light-hearted to reflective. The first is the Dwarves' joking song "Chip the glasses and crack the plates" as they wash up after dinner in Bilbo's home, Bag End, before setting out on their quest. The last is Bilbo's version of "The Old Walking Song" in the final chapter; three more versions of the song appear in The Lord of the Rings, each adapted to its context.

Ho! Ho! Ho! to the bottle I go
To heal my heart and drown my woe.
Rain may fall and wind may blow,
And many miles be still to go,
But under a tall tree I will lie,
And let the clouds go sailing by.