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Same artists with different names

Groups changing name

There still is some discussion on how to handle band names changes, as of early 2008 both in the style mailing list and in edit notes on artist "Panic at the Disco".

So to assess the extent and nature of what we need to handle, below follows a list of such artist name changes, to which category they belong, how these cases were handled and how that fit with our current guidelines.

Bands going by different names at the same time, to cover very different projects

• N*E*R*D / The Neptunes

  • Effectively the same people, but the Neptunes is them as producers and N*E*R*D is them (plus one) as musicians. Not related at all on MB, other than the member AR's

• Ebba Grön / Rymdimperiet

  • Rymdimperiet was a side project to Ebba Grön, with three of it's members. Not related on MB.

Bands going by different names at the same time, using the names in an interchangeable manner to cover essentially the same stuff

• Sun Ra mess

  • Resolution currently is: keep names separate when the difference makes sense (according to SameArtistWithDifferentNames)

• Brainstorm ("Brainstorm" for international market, "Prāta vētra" for local Latvian market)

  • International releases as Brainstorm Resolution: currently split and with performs as AR

• Fleshquartet (aka Fläskkvartetten)

  • Although most of their releases actually say Fläskkvartetten on the cover, their entire discography here is under Fleshquartet, as their international name

• The Angels (aka Angel City)

  • Name change in the US only, several albums were released with one name in the US and the other the rest of the world. Resolution: All currently under 'The Angels'

• Yaz / Yazoo

  • One name in the US, another rest of the world (this is a reeeally common case,there's probably hundreds of these, just as there are for actual people who use one name at home, and another internationally) Resolution: All currently under Yazoo

• Chick Webb's Orchestra, Chick Webb and his Orchestra, Chick Webb's Band, Chick Webb and his Band, Chick Webb Savoy's Orchestra

  • Resolution: all under the one Chick Webb and his Orchestra, like most jazz bands that featured such little name variations.

• The Comsat Angels (known otherwise as both CS Angels and Dream Command)

  • Renamed themselves in the US to CS Angels try to appease pressure from Communications Satellite Corporation, and then Dream Command in a further attempt for the US only release of one album. Gave up and changed their name back to C.S. Angels in the US after the whole Dream Command thing was epic failure. Resolution: Dream Command and The Comsat Angels are linked with a 'performs as' AR, CS Angels is merged into The Comsat Angels.

Bands going by different names at the same time, using the names in an consistent manner

• American Quartet / Premier Quartet / Premier American Quartet / Premier American Male Quartet / Murray Quartet

  • Between 1909 and 1920, these are all the same group (not so after 1920):

  • American Quartet contractually used for Victor Records releases, also used for some Columbia releases and all Okeh releases.

  • Premier Quartet contractually used for Edison Records releases.

  • Premier American Quartet used for Emerson Records releases, most Aeolian-Vocalion releases, and some Columbia releases.

  • Premier American Male Quartet used for Pathé releases.

  • Murray Quartet used for at least one Aeolian-Vocalion release.

• Premier Quartet / Harmonizers / Harmonizers Quartet / Cleartone Four (?)

  • Same Premier Quartet as above, but the 1920-1922 separated version. I've not done much research on the Harmonizers or the Cleartone Four, but the Cleartone Four appear to also have been this same 1920-1922 group. The two Harmonizers names definitely were this same group.

• Marcel et son orchestre / Ze Higgins (Marcel accoustik)

  • Ze Higgins (Marcel accoustik) has been used for live performance while the group missed its lead singer.

Bands changing their names at some point in time, for legal reasons

• The Kovenant (formerly Covenant)

  • Currently merged to The Kovenant. Name changed due to legal reasons

• dios (malos) (formerly dios)

  • Forced to change name after a c & d by Ronny James Dio. Resolution: All merged to dios (malos) with an annotation noting the name change.

• 18 Summers (formerly Silke Bischoff)

  • Legal dispute after one member left the band. Name connection: Silke Bischoff was 18, when she died. Only one release was released under both names so far. Resolution: Split. Linked this one release with earlier-AR and noted the change in the annotation.

• A*Teens (former ABBA Teens)

  • Changed name after request from Benny Andersson (ABBA)

Bands changing their names at some point in time, for other reasons

Puny name variations

• Panic at the Disco (formerly Panic! at the Disco)

  • Merge is ongoing, but will certainly pass at the current trend. Resolution hence will be in line with both the current styleguide (don't create different entries for insignificant name variations...) and ArtistIntent

"Real" variations

• La Ruda (formerly La Ruda Salska)

  • Resolution currently is: in line with SameArtistWithDifferentNames - artist entry was renamed (just one entry), alias and annotation were added to describe the name change

• Oingo Boingo (aka just 'Boingo' for a year or so)

  • I don't know if they were already releasing music widely but there's also the original name "The Mystic Knights of the Oingo Boingo" Resolution: All merged into Oingo Boingo.

• Martha & The Vandellas (Later Martha Reeves & The Vandellas)

  • Name changed in 1967 due to label policy to pump the lead artist of their roster of bands (back in the day when labels 'owned' the bands much more than they do now) Resolution: All merged into Martha & The Vandellas

• Teddybears (formerly Teddybears STHLM)

  • Name changed after they signed to an international label deal. Resolution: Currently split, with performs as AR connecting them.

• Seether (formerly Saron Gas)

  • Name changed at request of label because of the negative connotations of the original, but they'd already released a couple of albums on indies by then, with some success and distribution at home. Resolution: Two entirely separate entries, with ending date for Saron Gas and starting date for Seether the same

• Caesars (formerly Caesar's Palace and occasionally as Twelve Caesars, at the same time in different places)

  • Resolution: One entry each for Caesars and Caesar's Palace, with an annotation on each and a link to the other.

• The Dead Leaves (formerly matt pond PA)

  • The PA was to distinguish Matt Pond's solo work from the band, apparently a fairly futile effort, so the band has been renamed. Resolution: This only happened about a week ago, so currently everything is under matt pond PA.

• Imperiet / (formerly Rymdimperiet)

  • Started as Rymdimperiet in 1981 as a side project to the band Ebba Grön, changed name to Imperiet in 1983 at the split of Ebba Grön. Related on MB through the "Performs as", which makes the Rymdimperiet-page say that Imperiet is a person.

• Dia Psalma (former Strebers) (former Six Guns)

  • Strebers was founded in 1985, disbanded 1988, revived as Six Guns in 1989, changed back to Strebers later in 1989, and in 1993 they changed to Dia Psalma after the death of one of the group members. Not related in MB - each release listed under the name at the time.

• Docenterna (former Docent Död)

  • Started in 1977 as Aktiespararnas Årsmöte, changed to Docent Död before the release of their first single in 1979 and to Docenterna in 1984.

• BWO (former Bodies Without Organs)

  • Started in 2003 as Bodies Without Organs but changed to the abbreviation BWO in 2006. On MB even recent releases as BWO is listed under the old name, which has the new name as an alias.

• Esterina (formerly Apeiron)

  • There were too many Apeiron bands

Discussion: what do we need to do?

Bands going by different names at the same time, to cover very different projects

1 example, currently split, with no AR.

Q: Should we merge, or separate?

• IMO apply the common rules: split if the name are different "enough" (as detailed in SameArtistWithDifferentNames). eg: don't split for punctuation changes, definite articles added/ommited, possessive particle, slight spelling alterations, non-significant additions to the main name. Specially, don't split up jazz bands for variations like "'s orchestra, & orchestra, & band, 's band, etc" -- dmppanda 2008-03-25 12:23:25

  • +1 -- gioele 2008-05-17 15:00:00

Q: Do we need an AR for these? Or is the annotation enough to provide information about that?

• I tend to think the later. If we end-up choosing the former, then IMHO this should be a separate AR from the case below... -- dmppanda 2008-03-25 12:23:25

Bands going by different names at the same time, using the names in an interchangeable manner to cover essentially the same stuff

Out of the 7 examples, 4 are merged, and 3 are split (2 of them with "perform" ARs).

Q: Should we merge, or separate?

• Same as above for me. -- dmppanda 2008-03-25 12:23:25

Q: Do we need an AR for these?

• Maybe yes? If so, then either the existing "performance name" AR or a new "is an alias" AR would probably fit. -- dmppanda 2008-03-25 12:23:25

Bands changing their names at some point in time, for legal reasons

2 examples, currently merged.

Q: Should we merge, or separate?

• I tend to think "always merge into the later name, add an alias for the former, and an annotation" (according to current guideline). -- dmppanda 2008-03-25 12:23:25

• Keep separate: My rule is "It belongs to what is written on the cover art". If an artist released something with a name we have to document that. MB is a database of facts. To say that an early release has been released with the last name is factually wrong. -- gioele 2008-05-17 15:00:00

Q: Do we need an AR for these?

• Nope (see above...). -- dmppanda 2008-03-25 12:23:25

• Yes: "X changed its name to Y". See also this thread on the style ml. -- gioele 2008-05-17 15:00:00

Bands changing their names at some point in time, for other reasons

3 merged, 4 split (not counting Panic)

Q: Should we merge, or separate?

• I would say:

  1. apply above rules for assessing whether or not the name is different enough to grant a split

  2. possibly add an additional case to cover the "label policy to pump the lead artist of their roster of bands", as these IMO should stay merged

  3. add a word about "early names": early band names that were barely used are usually not worth the split and should be added as alias + annotation -- dmppanda 2008-03-25 12:23:25

• Keep separate: the "It belongs to what is written on the cover art" always apply. See my reply to the previous question -- gioele 2008-05-17 15:00:00

Q: Do we need an AR for these?

• If so, then this one is probably an equivalent of the label AR "was renamed into", and end-date/begin-date should match. -- dmppanda 2008-03-25 12:23:25

• Yes: "X changed its name to Y". See also this thread on the style ml. -- gioele 2008-05-17 15:00:00

Conclusions

To be continued

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