History:Release Status

Description

The Release Status is a ReleaseAttribute that describes how 'official' a Release is.

List of possible Release Status

Official

• Any release officially sanctioned by the artist and/or their record company. (Most releases will fit into this category.)

Promotion

• A give-away release or a release intended to promote an upcoming official release. (e.g. pre-release versions or releases included with a magazine, versions supplied to radio DJs for air-play, etc).

Bootleg

• An unofficial/underground release that was not sanctioned by the artist and/or the record company. This includes unofficial live recordings, pirated releases, and custom burnt compilations. In the latter case, we do not sanction entering custom compilation CDs (homebrews) into MusicBrainz, as this information has little relevance to anyone besides the creator. One of the challenges in this system is to identify the "real" bootlegs from the homebrews.

Pseudo-Release

• A pseudo-release is used at one end of a TranslationTransliterationRelationshipType. It allows us to retain and link to useful translation/transliteration info until NextGenerationSchema allows us to display the info in a better way.

Guidelines for Release Status

The type should apply to most of the tracks on the release. It's OK to have a couple of tracks that do not fit the release type, as long as the type applies to the release overall.

• Status: This is an OfficialStyleGuideline. (This is also a work in progress and there is a ReleaseTypeRestructuringProposal).