Artist/Type

Description

An "artist" is usually either a person or a group of people. While artists in MusicBrainz are (mainly) the people responsible for creating music, they are also used in many different relationships, and in that context they can fulfill all kinds of roles, from producers, publishers, lyricists, conductors and many more.

To distinguish the different kinds of artists, there are different types available.

Person

This indicates an individual person.

Group

This indicates a group of people that may or may not have a distinctive name.

Orchestra

This indicates an orchestra (a large instrumental ensemble).

Choir

This indicates a choir/chorus (a large vocal ensemble).

Character

This indicates an individual fictional character.

Other

This should be used if none of the other types fit.

Unknown (empty field)

This is to be used when the type of the artist is yet to be found.

Additional information

• There can be several different artist entries for the same person, usually because they use different performance names. For example, Kieran Hebden (Person) performs under his own name and as Four Tet (Person)

• The members of a band are indicated with the member of band relationship type. For example, Ringo Starr (Person) was a member of The Beatles (Group)

• The participants of a short-term collaboration are indicated with the collaboration relationship type. For example, Sting (Person) collaborated on Band Aid (Group).

• In the case of a collaboration, the "members" can also be other Groups. For example, Duran Duran (Group) also collaborated on Band Aid.

• Special purpose artists (Various Artists, [unknown], [no artist], etc.), being neither groups or persons, are of type "Other".

• Not every ensemble related to classical music is an Orchestra or Choir. The Borodin Quartet and The Hilliard Ensemble, for example, are simply Groups.