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MusicMoz Bands and Artists Editing Guidelines

Contents

• Category Scope
  • Bands and Artists Categories Outside Top: Bands and Artists
• Naming a Band or Artist Subcategory
  • Caveat on Unusual Names
• Band and Artist Category Types
• The Root Band or Artist Category
  • Entering Data into the Sidebar
  • Band Members, and Roles
  • Members Subcategories
• Discography
  • Individual Release Categories
• Other Releases - Videos and Online Releases
• Compilations, Box Sets, and Soundtracks
• Concerts and Tours
  • Concert Categories
• Biographies and Articles
• Reviews
• Timelines and Timeline Objects
• Crosslinking Bands and Artist Categories
• Guidelines Updates and Changes
  • Suggesting Changes

Category Scope

The Bands and Artists tree is designed to contain all band and artist categories. Each artist or group should have its own category. Under no circumstances should individual items be listed in the main letter subcategories of the Bands and Artists alphabar.

Bands and Artists Categories Outside Top: Bands and Artists

In addition to the top level Bands_and_Artists/ tree, similar but smaller categories exist in many other locations in the Open Music Project. These categories appear primarily under the Regional/, Styles/ and Instruments/ trees. For example:

• Regional: Europe: Belgium: Bands_and_Artists
• Styles: Rock: Bands and Artists
• Instruments: Stringed: Bowed: Violin: Violinists

Unlike the top level Bands_and_Artists/ category, you may list URLs of bands and artists in the main category without having to create a subcategory. This should only be done if a corresponding category for the band or artist does not already exist under Bands and Artists. The title of these URLs should follow the rules outlined below for naming a band and artist subcategory.

If you manage to find a second URL, or any item of another type, for one of these one-URL artists, a category must be created for them in top level Bands_and_Artists/ as outlined above and both the new and old items moved into it. If you do not have permission to create the Bands_and_Artists/ category, you may request it's creation it using the New Category Creation Request Form.

Naming a Band or Artist Subcategory

Subcategories for individual bands and artists should be named according to the following guidelines:

• Individuals should be listed in Surname, Firstname format:
  • Bands and Artists: G: Gillespie, Dizzy
  • Bands and Artists: Y: Young, Neil
• Bands with an article should be listed as "Band, The." A notable exception is The The:
  • Bands and Artists: C: Certain Ratio, A
  • Bands and Artists: M: Manhattan Transfer, The
  but:
  • Bands and Artists: T: The The
• Bands named after a person are indexed under the person's first name:
  • Bands and Artists: D: Dave Matthews Band
  • Bands and Artists: P: Paul Colman Trio
• Bands where a member and the band name are both part of the title are listed under the person's surname:
  • Bands and Artists: H: Haley, Bill and the Comets
  • Bands and Artists: R: Robinson, Smokey and the Miracles
• Artists with just a first name and initial are indexed under their first name:
  • Bands and Artists: K: Kenny G
• When an artist's name contains a suffix, such as Jr., III, etc., it should be added after the person's first name and set off by a comma:
  • Bands and Artists: C: Connick, Harry, Jr.
  • Bands and Artists: W: Wainwright, Loudon, III
• Artists with two word nicknames should be alphabetised under the first word:
  • Bands and Artists: L: Luis Miguel
  • Bands and Artists: T: Taj Mahal
• Non-title case and punctuation should only be used when the band or artist uses it consistently for publicity purposes:
  • Bands and Artists: D: dEUS
  • Bands and Artists: G: godspeed you black emperor!

If a band or artist is known by more than one name, a subcategory should be created using one of the names and then be @linked appropriately under the band or artist's other name(s). Hence, Bands_and_Artists/P/P._Diddy and Bands_and_Artists/P/Puff_Daddy are both @links pointing to Bands and Artists: C: Combs, Sean.

Caveat on Unusual Names

Although the vast majority of artist names that you will run across follow the Firstname Surname convention, it is inevitable that, from time to time, you will have to deal with an instance where it is difficult to figure out what portion of a name, if any, is a surname for the purposes of indexing. Some things to watch out for include:

• Two word surnames are always indexed under the first word. In cases where confusion might arise, an @link from the location of the second word may be appropriate. Thus, Jon Bon Jovi is indexed under B, not J;
• The way particles like van, von, de, del, etc. are handled vary from culture to culture, and from individual to individual. How these names are indexed should reflect these peculiarities;
• In some cultures, surnames are put first and given names after. Thus, Utada Hikaru is indexed under U, not H. This is generally the case for Chinese, Japanese, and Korean names;
• An artist may use only part of his or her name for promotional purposes. If this promotional name does not include a surname, it should be listed without the use of commas as a first name only. These artists' categories should be @linked from their full names when known. This is especially true of Muslim names, which are often composed of multiple parts.

It is not reasonable, nor expected, that editors understand all nuances of cataloguing proper names. Mistakes are inevitable. However, editors should always be aware that such difficulties exist, and seek to correct such unintentional lapses when discovered. At the same time, you should remember that what appears to be wrong, just might be correct and when faced with a potentially difficult or unusual name, try to figure out the proper convention by examining the artist's official site and other trustworthy sources before making changes.

Band and Artist Category Types

The root category for all bands should have a category type of "band". Similarly, the root category for all artists should have a type of "artist". To change the category type, use the "Change category type" link on the edit page of the band or artist category. Once done, a number of new features will be present on the edit page.

Both band and artist categories have a standard set of subcategories which you should use to organise the information about the artist. These categories are:

• Articles - For news, interviews and other textual information about the artist;
• Biographies - For biographies of the band or artist;
• Concerts - For concert listings and reviews;
• Discography - For recording information and reviews;
• Links - For links to information in outside sources;
• Members - For information about individual band members (band categories only);
• Online Releases - For information on online releases and reviews;
• Reviews - For reviews of the band or artist;
• Timeline - For important dates in the history of the artist or group;
• Videos - For video releases and reviews;

The Root Band or Artist Category

In the main or root category for a band or artist, is the sidebar, which can be filled with basic information about the band or artist. This information includes:

For band categories: The band's name; The band's country of origin; The year the band was founded and, if appropriate, the year it was disbanded; Up to three styles for the band; A band image or logo; The name the band was founded as, if different than the one they currently use, as well as other names that the band has used. Names of the members of the band, and their roles.

For artist categories: The artist's name; The artist's country of origin; The year the artist was born and, if appropriate, the year he or she was died; Up to three styles for the artist; An artist image or logo; The artist's name at birth, if different than the name they use for publicity purposes, as well as other names that the artist has used.

In addition to information in the sidebar, these other objects may appear in the root category:

• The Discography Box;
• The Other Releases Box;
• The Appearances Box;
• A biography, if only one exists for the artist;
• A list of artist specific USENET groups;

Entering Data into the Sidebar

To enter information into the band or artist sidebar except information about band members and their roles, use the "Edit band/artist information" link on the category edit page. This will take you to the band or artist information edit screen. The following points should be minded when entering these data:

• Enter an band or artist's names and aliases as they usually appear, using special characters when appropriate. Use the proper order of the name, as it normally appears without commas for artists, and do not move initial articles to the end of band names; so:
  • Elvis Presley not Presley, Elvis
  • The Beatles not Beatles, The
• For artists, the country listed in the From field should be the country they were born in, for bands, this should be the country of origin of the band members, or if they come from different countries, the country in which the band was founded or from which it operates.
• MusicMoz lists the countries of England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland in the country list in addition to the United Kingdom. When known, these constituent countries of the United Kingdom should be used. The United Kingdom can be used in instances when the exact country of origin is unknown, or members of a band come from different countries within the United Kingdom; thus:
  • the Eurythmics are listed as being from the United Kingdom while Annie Lennox is from Scotland and Dave Stewart is from England.
• Dates should be entered in yyyy.mm.dd format. See the guidelines on dates for more information.
• In general, a logo should be under 200 pixels in either direction. All images used for logos should be hosted on the MusicMoz server. The logo width and height should be exactly the size of the image. Do not use these parameters to shrink or stretch an image. See the guidelines on images and copyright for more information on using images at the Open Music Project

Band Members, and Roles

For band categories there is an option to list band members and roles.

To list the members, choose the "Edit members" option. Present members should be listed in the members section, past members should be listed in the past members section. If the band has disbanded, list the members at the time the band disbanded in the members section.

Once you have listed the members you can then specify what role each played/play in the band, for example "lead vocals and guitar". Choose "Edit member roles" to do this. Member roles should be specified by the instrument or job each member does; so:

• Guitar not Guitarist
• Vocals not Singer

• Keyboards, hammond organ, and accordion
• vocals, guitar, trombone, electric bass, chamberlin, ukulele, banjo, piano

Members Subcategories

Before creating a Member subcat, check to see that a category for the artist does not exist already. If it does, use an @link to link to the appropriate category. If it does not, and you create a subcategory for one of the members of a band, please ask to have that category @linked from the appropriate letter of the Bands_and_Artists/ alphabar.

If you create a Members/<Member_Name> category or @link, the band member's name will automatically link to that category. Appropriate links are present on the category edit screen sidebar to help you with this.

Discography

Use the "Edit discography" feature to enter a list of albums and singles into the Discography box. If you have partial or complete dates, for any of the albums or singles, you should list these in parentheses:

• Audio Lessonover? (2001)

No release objects should be listed in the main Discography subcategory, nor in the Singles subcategory.

The editing features will guide you through the rest of the process. First create a Discography subcategory (the "create category" link under the discography will do this), and if appropriate, a Discography/Singles subcategory (the "create category" link under the singles section will do this.) This will give you a create link next to each release. Clicking this will create a category for that release.

Individual Release Categories

When editing release objects, the following points should be remembered:

• The title of the release object should be the title of the release;
• The release date should be specified using the standard date format;
• The genre of a release should make use of the Styles Preferred Terms whenever possible.
• The format of a release should make use of the Release Formats Preferred Terms whenever possible. Multiple formats should be separated by commas:
  • CD, LP, Cassette
• When entering a UPC or EAN code, enter only the 12 or 13 digits of the product code, omitting dashes and spaces. For more information, see the Product Codes Guidelines.
• Track times, if included, should be enclosed in square brackets and expressed in [mm:ss] format:
  • The Magnificent Five [3:05]
  Square brackets should not be used otherwise in track listings. Square brackets in the title of a track should be converted to parentheses.
• If special formatting of track listings is required, please consult the Track Listings Guidelines.
• In general, a cover image should be under 200 pixels in either direction. All images used should be hosted on the MusicMoz server. The width and height should be exactly the size of the image. Do not use these parameters to shrink or stretch an image. See the guidelines on images and copyright for more information on using images at the Open Music Project.

If more than one version of the album exists, you should add an object for each version; for instance:

• Bands and Artists: F: Fono: Discography: Goesaroundcomesaround

Links for a release, including links to reviews, should be listed under a <Release>/Links category, and reviews should be listed under a <Release>/Reviews category. If both these categories exist, and the Links/ category includes links to outside reviews, the Links/ category should appear in the list of related categories for the Reviews/ category.

Other Releases - Videos and Online Releases

These are handled the same as albums and singles, with the following differences:

• Use the "Edit other releases" link to specify them;
• Videos go under a Videos/ subcategory, and Online Releases go under an Online_Releases/ subcategory;
• There are video and online release objects, which allow you to specify appropriate information;
• When supplying an URL for an online release, link not the the music file itself, but to a page on the same host as the file, from which it can be downloaded, whenever possible.

Compilations, Box Sets, and Soundtracks

Categories for compilations, box sets, and soundtracks, which feature more than one band or artist, are listed under Releases/. Any such release that a band/artist is featured on can be listed under that band/artist by using the "Edit appearances" link.

Compilation objects should not be used for compilations of songs by one artist or band, such as Greatest Hits releases. These should be entered using the standard release object. Compilation objects should only be used for releases compiled from recordings of multiple artists who perform separately. As such, no compilation objects should be listed in Bands_and_Artists/.

Concerts and Tours

Concerts and tours can be listed by using the "Edit concerts" link in the Concerts/ subcategory. Concerts which are not part of a tour should be listed in the Concerts section of the concerts box. Concerts that are part of a tour should not be listed in the concerts box. Instead the tour itself should be listed in the Tours section and then categories for individual concerts should be created in the appropriate tour subcategory. Concerts should be named according to the following format: Concert Name - Venue, Location. Be sure to include sufficient detail in the location that it is uniquely identified. Always include the country in the concert location. If the concert has no name, or the name is unknown, it may be omitted. The official name of a tour should be used when possible. When the name of a tour is not known, or a tour has no official name, a suitably descriptive name for the tour should be chosen by the editor. The date of a concert and the starting date for a tour should be added in parentheses to the end of the concert and tour listings. See the dates guidelines for information on specifying dates. Examples:

• Concert In The Park - Central Park, New York City, New York, USA (1991.08.15)
• Lee's Palace, Toronto, Canada (1998.10.20)
• Vespertine World Tour (2001)

Concert Categories

When editing a concert object, the following points should be considered:

• All concert objects should have a Concert Name. If the official name of the concert is unknown, or if there is none, the editor should supply a suitably descriptive name in its place.
• The city/town should include the country and any other information required to uniquely identify it.

Links for a concert, including links to reviews, should be listed under a <Concert>/Links category, and reviews should be listed under a <Concert>/Reviews category. If both these categories exist, and the Links/ category includes links to outside reviews, the Links/ category should appear in the list of related categories for the Reviews/ category.

Biographies and Articles

If you have one biography, you should list it in the root band or artist category. If you have more than one biography, you should create a Biographies subcategory, and list them there. Links to these objects should appear in a Biographies/Links or Articles/Links category as appropriate.

See the guidelines on editing Articles, Reviews and Textual Content for more information on editing these types of objects.

Reviews

All reviews of a individual album or other release should be housed in the Reviews/ subcategory for that release. All reviews of an individual concert should be housed in the Reviews/ subcategory for that concert. If a review is submitted for a release or concert that does not currently have a subcategory, one should be created for it.

In the main band or artist Reviews/ category, there should be two categories called Releases and Concerts under which are @links to the various release and concert Reviews/ subcategories.

Other things that may go in the top level Reviews/ category include:

• Reviews that discuss more than one release or concert (in a Releases/ or Concerts/ subcategory);
• Reviews of the band of a general nature;
• Links to collections of reviews on outside sources (in a Links subcategory).

For further information on editing review objects, see the Articles, Reviews and Textual Content guidelines.

Timelines and Timeline Objects

All timeline objects should be listed in a Timeline subcategory.

When editing timeline objects, keep in mind the following:

• All timelines should have a title that summarises the notable event.
• The body of the timeline should be comprised solely of factual information.
• The date for the timeline object should be specified according to the date guidelines. Note that complete dates should be used whenever possible.
• In general, any image used should be under 200 pixels in either direction. All images used should be hosted on the MusicMoz server. The width and height should be exactly the size of the image. Do not use these parameters to shrink or stretch an image. See the guidelines on images and copyright for more information on images at the Open Music Project.
• If a link is supplied, the linking text will be More.... Links to other MusicMoz content should use completely qualified URLs, including the http://musicmoz.org/. Be careful when linking to other MusicMoz content; these URLs are not updated when categories are moved and could become broken as a result of a catmv.

Timeline objects are sorted by date in ascending order. Editors should be aware that there is no guarantee on the order of identically dated objects. Because of this, always try to use full dates whenever possible.

For further information on editing timeline objects, see the Articles, Reviews and Textual Content guidelines.

Crosslinking Bands and Artist Categories

Currently, @linking Bands and Artist categories in Styles/ and country level Regional/ is done automatically by MusicMoz software, according to the From and Style fields in the band or artist sidebar. Because of this, it is not necessary to manually place these links. Regional @links below country level are not done automatically, however, and should be added when appropriate.

Guidelines Updates and Changes

MusicMoz Staff reserves the right to change and/or update these guidelines at any time.

Suggesting Changes

Although staff has the final say over the contents of the editing guidelines, suggestions from editors are very valuable.

For simple corrections, such as misspellings, an e-mail to staff is sufficient. Any larger changes, or suggested inclusions, should be discussed in the editor forums, and agreed on by editors, before being presented to staff.

Last updated 25 July, 2003 GMT by ketiltrout.

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