History:Revised Sortname Style: Difference between revisions

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(Making the purpose of the "changes" section more clear)
m (CallerNo6 moved page Proposal:Revised Sortname Style to History:Revised Sortname Style: https://chatlogs.metabrainz.org/brainzbot/metabrainz/msg/3675767/)
 
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==Changes (vs. the current Official Guideline)==
<div style="color:#330066;">This section is meant to be removed from final draft. Please feel free to add to it or leave comments.
# "''Jr.''", "''Sr.''", etc, were being sorted incorrectly. Er, sub-optimally? Example: if one follows the current official guideline, Hank Williams would not sort adjacent to Hank Williams, Jr.
# References to "first" and "last" names changed to "given" and "family", respectively
# Some restructuring/reformatting done to (I hope) improve readability
# Some redundant examples removed. Also, specifically, ''Bob Marley & The Wailers'' removed since that may become an NGS collaboration (and in any case the MB entry didn't follow the guideline :P )
# Guideline for "Leading Articles" (e.g. "The") simplified. The effect is the same. Only move the "The" if it is the first word in a name and will significantly affect the sort-order.
# Guidelines for "stylistic ligatures" and "symbols" condensed. As it says in the "Intent" section, this is not an attempt to have a separate "rule" to cover ''every possible'' possibility.
# Some example sort-names for the existing guideline no longer (or never did) comply with the guideline as it is currently written.
# Relaxed the use of commas somewhat. Do I have that right? Do commas affect sort algorithms?
# I omitted Guideline 1.c. which calls for "expanding" abbreviations like "St." (Saint) in "family names". American English style guides differ on this point, as do those in the rest of the world I'd imagine. Anybody have any strong feelings on it? Maybe consistency is the most important factor.
# If this passes, I'll make a discussion section for "corner cases". </div>


===<span style="color:#330066;">End of "Changes" Section (Everything below this would become the Official Guideline)</span>===
==Intent==
Sort names make it possible for external applications to create logical, alphabetical indexes. For the best results, have an understanding of the guidelines listed below, but also understand that there will be cases in which an editor should override these guidelines using his/her ''best judgment''&trade; if a more logical sort-order would result. The intent of this guideline is ''not'' to anticipate every possible exception and "corner case". Unusual cases can be discussed on the [[{{TALKPAGENAME}}|discussion]] page.
<br />


This page describes how to format an artist's [[Artist Sort Name|sort name]].


==Sort-order Guidelines==
==Guidelines==
<ol>
{|border="1" style="border-collapse:collapse; font-size:smaller;" cellpadding="10"
<li>Person artist names have sort name "last name, first name".</li>
|'''Family Name'''
<ol style="list-style-type:lower-alpha">
|'''Given Name''' (plus "nicknames", "middle names", Jr., Sr. etc)
<li>Middle names and nicknames should be treated as a part of the first name.</li>
|'''Prefix / Suffix'''
<li> Names beginning with an abbreviated title, such as Dr., DJ, or MC should have the title treated as if it were a part of the first name.</li>
|'''Connector''' (e.g. "&")
<li>Last names which begin with an abbreviation should have the abbreviation expanded in the sort name.</li>
|'''Band Name'''
</ol>
|''Leading'' '''Article''' (e.g. "The")
<li>Group artist names beginning with an [[WikiPedia:Article_(grammar)|article]] ''(a, an, the, etc.)'' have the article moved to the end of their sort name, unless guideline 2a applies.</li>
|}
<ol style="list-style-type:lower-alpha">
<br />
<li> Where a real person's name appears in a group artist's name, the artist's sort name should be the sort name for that person, followed by the remainder of the group artist's name.</li>
#"Given names" include "middle names", "nicknames" and (as the last element) ''Jr.'', ''Sr.'', ''III''
</ol>
#Prefixes and Suffixes include, for example, "Sir", "Dame", "DJ" and "Esq."
<li>All [[Artist Sort Name|artist sort names]] should be in [[WikiPedia:Latin characters in Unicode|Latin script]]. If the [[Artist Name|artist's name]] is normally written using a non-Latin script, use the Latin script translated or transliterated name by which the artist is most commonly known.</li>
#A "leading article" is an article (e.g. "the") that would otherwise have been the '''first''' word in the sort-order. Other articles need not be moved.
<li>For artist names containing stylized characters, change those characters to their equivalent Latin script letter, removing any style-only punctuation, spacing, or other characters.</li>
<br />
<li>[[Artist Sort Name|Artist sort names]] should retain all Latin [[WikiPedia:Diacritic#Types|diacritics]] present in the [[Artist Name|artist name]].</li>
<li>Numerals present in the [[Artist Name|artist name]] do not change.</li>
<li>Any [[WikiPedia:List of precomposed Latin characters in Unicode#Ligatures|stylistic ligatures]] in the artist's name (ᵫ, ff, fi, fl, ffi, ffl, ſt, st, etc) should be simplified to separate letters. Non-stylistic ligatures (&, ß, Æ, æ, Œ, œ, and sometimes ij) should not be simplified.</li>
<li>Only halfwidth characters should be used. [[WikiPedia:Halfwidth and Fullwidth Forms|Fullwidth]] Latin characters should be converted to their halfwidth equivalents.</li>
<li>All disparate parts of a sort name should be separated by ", " (comma and space).</li>
</ol>


Exceptions:
==Typographical Guidelines==
# If the artist's name contains '''only''' stylized characters, which have no inherent meaning to translate, and which cannot be transliterated, then the sort name is the artist's name, even if this would mean the sort name would now not use Latin script.
# Separate the "parts" of a sort name with commas where doing so makes the sort name more "human readable". Commas will not affect the sort order.
# Latin characters whose diacritics are only made possible through use of [[WikiPedia:Combining characters|Unicode combining characters]] should omit those diacritics.
# Regardless of the script used for the [[Artist_Name|Artist Name]], use Latin characters (including diacritics and numerals) for the Sort Name, transliterating if necessary.
# Where special characters or symbols are used "stylistically" in an artist's name to represent common Latin characters, they should be converted to those common characters (if doing so allows an artist's name to be more logically collated).
<br />


==Examples==
==Examples==
All examples should be interpreted as clarification upon the guidelines; no new guidelines should be interpreted from any example.
{|border="1" style="border-collapse:collapse; font-size:smaller;" cellpadding="10"
|'''[[Artist_Name|Artist Name]]'''
|'''Family Name'''
|'''Given Name'''
|'''Prefix / Suffix'''
|'''Connector'''
|'''Band Name'''
|'''Article'''
|'''[[Sortname|Sort Name]]'''
|-
|[[Artist:1d8010a0-b642-4c8f-9c8d-8dc66b7bb81a|Hank Williams, Jr.]]
|Williams
|Hank Jr.
|
|
|
|
|Williams, Hank, Jr.
|-
|[[Artist:defba3df-b0f3-4ef1-8e1f-4ef88cc8fc42|Johnny "Guitar" Watson]]
|Watson
|Johnny "Guitar"
|
|
|
|
|Watson, Johnny "Guitar"
|-
|[[Artist:ebd7d505-9eb8-4c74-9dd4-ebe308e04d72|DJ Shah]]
|Shah
|
|DJ
|
|
|
|Shah, DJ
|-
|[[Artist:b10bbbfc-cf9e-42e0-be17-e2c3e1d2600d|The Beatles]]
|
|
|
|
|Beatles
|The
|Beatles, The
|-
|[[Artist:2b9967c7-3246-4658-a561-ded5408dd9af|Los Lobos]]
|
|
|
|
|Lobos
|Los
|Lobos, Los
|-
|[[Artist:4458d70d-c215-4f06-beea-ebd448dad6ac|Bill Haley & His Comets]]
|Haley
|Bill
|
|&
|His Comets
|
|Haley, Bill & His Comets
|-
|[[Artist:b3120863-d98d-4bad-a637-8abd8cde6685|Hootie & The Blowfish]]
|
|
|
|
|Hootie & The Blowfish
|
|Hootie & The Blowfish
|-
|[[Artist:33b3c323-77c2-417c-a5b4-af7e6a111cc9|The Jimi Hendrix Experience]]
|Hendrix
|Jimi
|
|
|The Experience
|
|Hendrix, Jimi, The Experience
|-
|[[Artist:5565ae4b-bb20-48a4-a8b0-dfdeb53b555a|布袋寅泰‎]]
|Hotei
|Tomoyasu
|
|
|
|
|Hotei, Tomoyasu
|-
|[[Artist:7c259e8a-f67b-45ff-b0f5-6b63d3a692cf|My$t:c DJz]]
|
|
|
|
|My$t:c DJz
|
|Mystic DJz
|-
|[[Artist:d867d382-35fc-49fb-a45a-64b66c0b8557|♪◆m599XGSMF6]]
|
|
|
|
|♪◆m599XGSMF6
|
|♪◆m599XGSMF6
|-
|[[Artist:f12647e5-d3aa-4dd4-b83b-c45eea712b60|René Löwe]]
|Löwe
|René
|
|
|
|
|Löwe, René
|-
|[[Artist:d0a0b3a2-ea58-4a7a-b18c-849d589bfac7|Spın̈al Tap]]
|
|
|
|
|Spın̈al Tap
|
|Spinal Tap
|}


===Guideline 1. Name of a person===
:* [[Artist:618b6900-0618-4f1e-b835-bccb17f84294|Eric Clapton]] has sort name "Clapton, Eric"
:* [[Artist:fd23e684-270f-4507-9cb0-a0e0d7854d16|Harry Connick, Jr.]] has sort name "Connick Jr., Harry"


===Guideline 1a. Middle names and nicknames===
==Language-Specific Guidelines==
:* Jean 'Toots' Thielemans has sort name "Thielemans, Jean 'Toots'"
No language-specific exceptions are currently official. Please reference the discussion page for proposed language-specific exceptions to this guideline.


===Guideline 1b. Name begins with an abbreviated title===
Note: [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Family_name Family names] take different forms in different cultures. When in doubt, consult an [[User_Language | editor familiar with the language and culture]] in question.
:* [[Artist:ebd7d505-9eb8-4c74-9dd4-ebe308e04d72|DJ Shah]] has sort name "Shah, DJ"
:* SPC Stephen Pauls has sort name "Pauls, SPC Stephen"

===Guideline 1c. Last name begins with abbreviation===
:* [[Artist:302716e4-a702-4bbc-baac-591f8a8e20bc|Rebecca St. James]] has sort name "Saint James, Rebecca"
:* [[Artist:51da3924-90e9-41fb-be47-58f30176a101|St. Lunatics]] has sort name "Saint Lunatics"

===Guideline 2. Name of a group===
:'''A'''
::* [[Artist:078a9376-3c04-4280-b7d7-b20e158f345d|A Perfect Circle]] has sort name "Perfect Circle, A"
:'''An'''
::* [[Artist:351abf24-534b-4aad-b26c-d19f56c572f2|An Epic at Best]] has sort name "Epic at Best, An"
:'''The'''
::* [[Artist:2b9967c7-3246-4658-a561-ded5408dd9af|Los Lobos]] has sort name "Lobos, Los"
::* [[Artist:b10bbbfc-cf9e-42e0-be17-e2c3e1d2600d|The Beatles]] has sort name "Beatles, The"
:'''No Article'''
::* [[Artist:51508c1f-8d07-4a00-9cf1-26c570fe7b78|Cypress Hill]] has sort name "Cypress Hill"
::* [[Artist:b3120863-d98d-4bad-a637-8abd8cde6685|Hootie & the Blowfish]] has sort name "Hootie & the Blowfish"
:'''Guideline 2a overriding guideline 2'''
::* "[[Artist:b304dc15-a567-47f7-9db0-8e9a1aeeba1e|The Sensational Alex Harvey Band]]" has sort name "Harvey, Alex, The Sensational, Band"

===Guideline 2a. Name of a person in a group artist name===
:* [[Artist:abe2669a-a612-4bf6-9193-bb4f4b8a9088|Ben Folds Five]] has sort name "Folds, Ben, Five"
:* [[Artist:4458d70d-c215-4f06-beea-ebd448dad6ac|Bill Haley & His Comets]] has sort name "Haley, Bill & His Comets"
:* [[Artist:c296e10c-110a-4103-9e77-47bfebb7fb2e|Bob Marley and the Wailers]] has sort name "Marley, Bob and the Wailers"
:* [[Artist:07e748f1-075e-428d-85dc-ce3be434e906|Dave Matthews Band]] has sort name "Matthews, Dave, Band
:* [[Artist:2bf1f61a-6dc8-43bd-aaf4-8852a0c4a345|Don Redman and His Orchestra]] has sort name "Redman, Don and His Orchestra"
:* [[Artist:40d8f506-0d62-49bd-9bae-8c52b72c9ee1|Gloria Estefan and the Miami Sound Machine]] has sort name "Estefan, Gloria and the Miami Sound Machine"
:* [[Artist:e3c8b0c8-3fa0-464b-b1f5-119cb52d3817|Stevie Ray Vaughan and Double Trouble]] has sort name "Vaughan, Stevie Ray and Double Trouble"
:* [[Artist:f98711e5-06f7-43ed-8239-da0f61a9c460|The Alan Parsons Project]] has sort name "Parsons, Alan, The, Project"
:* [[Artist:33b3c323-77c2-417c-a5b4-af7e6a111cc9|The Jimi Hendrix Experience]] has sort name "Hendrix, Jimi, The, Experience"
:* '''The Great Orchestra and John Doe''' has sort name "Doe, John, The Great Orchestra and"

===Guideline 3. Latin script only===
:* [[Artist:9ddd7abc-9e1b-471d-8031-583bc6bc8be9|Пётр Ильич Чайковский]] "Tchaikovsky, Pyotr Ilyich"
:* [[Artist:5565ae4b-bb20-48a4-a8b0-dfdeb53b555a|布袋寅泰‎]] has sort name "Hotei, Tomoyasu"

===Guideline 4. De-stylize===
:* [[Artist:7c259e8a-f67b-45ff-b0f5-6b63d3a692cf|My$t:c DJz]] has sort name "Mystic DJz"
:* [[Artist:603ba565-3967-4be1-931e-9cb945394e86|*NSync]] has sort name "NSync"
:* [[Artist:f4d5cc07-3bc9-4836-9b15-88a08359bc63|P!nk]] has sort name "Pink"
:* [[Artist:902286c2-e7d1-4ee8-adb6-216d6a71a05c|trance[]control]] has sort name "trancecontrol"

===Guideline 5. Accented Latin characters===
:* [[Artist:f12647e5-d3aa-4dd4-b83b-c45eea712b60|René Löwe]] has sort name "Löwe, René"

===Guideline 6. Numerals===
:* [[Artist:53a61b1f-dd88-45e7-b5d8-3e84038aa81a|The Four Freshmen]] has sort name "Four Freshmen, The"
:* [[Artist:b9a06530-1241-4162-836f-7b8e79deaa58|10,000 Maniacs]] has sort name "10,000 Maniacs"
:* [[Artist:0ab49580-c84f-44d4-875f-d83760ea2cfe|Maroon 5]] has sort name "Maroon 5"

===Exception 1. Nothing to trans(liter)ate===
:* [[Artist:595198f1-3558-4a57-be64-f0f5f5de7254|(´・д・)ノ]] has sort name "(´・д・)ノ"
:* [[Artist:d867d382-35fc-49fb-a45a-64b66c0b8557|♪◆m599XGSMF6]] has sort name "♪◆m599XGSMF6"

===Exception 2. Unicode combining character accents===
:* [[Artist:d0a0b3a2-ea58-4a7a-b18c-849d589bfac7|Spın̈al Tap]] has sort name "Spınal Tap"

Latest revision as of 19:25, 27 August 2016


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



Proposal number: RFC-320
Champion: caller#6
Current status: Discussion




This page describes how to format an artist's sort name.

Guidelines

  1. Person artist names have sort name "last name, first name".
    1. Middle names and nicknames should be treated as a part of the first name.
    2. Names beginning with an abbreviated title, such as Dr., DJ, or MC should have the title treated as if it were a part of the first name.
    3. Last names which begin with an abbreviation should have the abbreviation expanded in the sort name.
  2. Group artist names beginning with an article (a, an, the, etc.) have the article moved to the end of their sort name, unless guideline 2a applies.
    1. Where a real person's name appears in a group artist's name, the artist's sort name should be the sort name for that person, followed by the remainder of the group artist's name.
  3. All artist sort names should be in Latin script. If the artist's name is normally written using a non-Latin script, use the Latin script translated or transliterated name by which the artist is most commonly known.
  4. For artist names containing stylized characters, change those characters to their equivalent Latin script letter, removing any style-only punctuation, spacing, or other characters.
  5. Artist sort names should retain all Latin diacritics present in the artist name.
  6. Numerals present in the artist name do not change.
  7. Any stylistic ligatures in the artist's name (ᵫ, ff, fi, fl, ffi, ffl, ſt, st, etc) should be simplified to separate letters. Non-stylistic ligatures (&, ß, Æ, æ, Œ, œ, and sometimes ij) should not be simplified.
  8. Only halfwidth characters should be used. Fullwidth Latin characters should be converted to their halfwidth equivalents.
  9. All disparate parts of a sort name should be separated by ", " (comma and space).

Exceptions:

  1. If the artist's name contains only stylized characters, which have no inherent meaning to translate, and which cannot be transliterated, then the sort name is the artist's name, even if this would mean the sort name would now not use Latin script.
  2. Latin characters whose diacritics are only made possible through use of Unicode combining characters should omit those diacritics.

Examples

All examples should be interpreted as clarification upon the guidelines; no new guidelines should be interpreted from any example.

Guideline 1. Name of a person

Guideline 1a. Middle names and nicknames

  • Jean 'Toots' Thielemans has sort name "Thielemans, Jean 'Toots'"

Guideline 1b. Name begins with an abbreviated title

  • DJ Shah has sort name "Shah, DJ"
  • SPC Stephen Pauls has sort name "Pauls, SPC Stephen"

Guideline 1c. Last name begins with abbreviation

Guideline 2. Name of a group

A
An
The
No Article
Guideline 2a overriding guideline 2

Guideline 2a. Name of a person in a group artist name

Guideline 3. Latin script only

Guideline 4. De-stylize

Guideline 5. Accented Latin characters

Guideline 6. Numerals

Exception 1. Nothing to trans(liter)ate

Exception 2. Unicode combining character accents