History:Release Type Restructuring Proposal

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Status: This page describes an active proposal and is not official.



Proposal number: RFC-49
Champion: none, was BrianFreud & mo (& others)
Current status: Abandoned


Trac ticket # 1372

Status: This proposal is currently under development. At the moment, it may be a mess, as the layout is being restructured and updated.


Release Status

Any Release Status proposals which were formerly located here have been relocated to Release Status Proposals, as modifications to the Release Status are outside of the scope of this proposal.

Release Format

Any Release Format proposals which were formerly located here have been relocated to Release Format Proposal, as modifications to the Release Format are outside of the scope of this proposal.



Everything below is potentially a mess.






Main Types

  • Album (LP)
  • EP
  • Single
    • Maxi-CD
  • Other

...

  • Split
  • Compilation
    • Highlights
  • Remix
  • Remaster
  • Live
  • Soundtrack
  • Composer
  • Data (when clicked, either option under is possible, but not both)
    • audiofile disc
    • multimedia 2 session disc
  • Other
  • Demo
  • Bonus
  • Spokenword
    • Interview
    • Audiobook
    • Radio play
    • other narrative

Description

Main Types

These are mostly multiple choice per release conglomeration. The exceptions are album, single and EP, as (I think) they are exclusive of each other. (these are per day's date separate from release events and labels) (One Choice)

Album
same as today, first time releases.
EP
same as today, for releases clearly marked 'EP'
Single
same as today, single releases
Maxi-Single
a suboption for single, basically what EP was to vinyl this is to CD's today? the rules are not as strict though, any Maxi-Single is as explicitly a single, if a release is rather more classified as EP, use that instead.
Other
for releases that do not fit in any other categories, Album, EP or Single.

(Multiple Choice)

Compilation
for compilations, same as today: releases that are selections of tracks from one ore more artists that has been released before.
Split

releases that are re-releases of 2 or more releases on one disc (f.ex No Heavy Petting / Lights Out) or releases where two or more artists share a disc (f.ex Light the Fuse and Run/Hot Cross Split ). both are typically called a "split release".

Remix
same as today, remixes. although they should probably be stored with albums on the 'albums' page in APR?
Remaster

while there is an AR for this, sometimes a release is released as being specifically a "Remaster" rather than a "remastered album", probably some [album] [remaster] combination for this. Other times a release is a collection of "remastered tracks found on several albums" (making them in essence compilations) (see "Remasters" 1 & 2 by Led Zep for an example) [compilation] [remaster] etc.

Live
same as today, a live release. The difference however is that one can now chose [compilation] [live] for releases that aren't of a single live 'session', finally solving this issue.
Soundtrack
same as today, with the addition that one can chose [compilation] [soundtrack] for comps of soundtracks, etc.
Composer

this is a new type for releases that utilise the ClassicalStyleGuide (where the artist in the !track/album is the composer of the work, not the performer). Here [album] [composer] is for your typical "full works" and [compilation] [composer] for releases with several works by the one or more composers on the same release.

Highlights
after discussion with Clutcher I agree. this should be (at least) a subtype in its own right. please use with Composer style or Soundtrack
Data
this is for releases that are either
  • a) audiofile discs, cd's full of audio files such as mp3's or ogg
  • b) multimedia 2 session disc (bad name please change) cd's that typically have 2 sessions, one which is data and the other which is comprised regular of audiotracks, such discs are typically computer-Game CD's or CD-lens cleaners.
Other
ideally this type should now be obsolete, it should however be retained because a) we still lave loads of releases with this type and b) no matter how you try to cater for releases there is going to be the odd one out that breaks the mold.
Spokenword
this is now a heading type. it is still used the same as before. however it is implied that if something is 'audiobook' or 'interview' it is also at the same time 'spokenword'
Interview
same as today, for interview discs
Audiobook
same as today, for audiobooks
Radio play
a new subtype, as requested by Shepard: "At the moment many actual radio plays are stored as Audiobooks in the db - this is wrong. And audiobook is just a book read by one person. A radio play is an audio play with many different characters and background sounds and stuff"
other narrative
other spokenword type releases not already covered.