Label: Difference between revisions

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Labels in [[MusicBrainz]] are used to describe the following entities:
Labels in [[MusicBrainz]] are used to describe the following entities:
* a holding company: a company controlling a number of other labels (EMI Group, Universal Music Group, Warner Music Group, Sony BMG)
* a holding company: a company controlling a number of other labels (mainly the four big ones: EMI Group, Universal Music Group, Warner Music Group, Sony BMG)
* a distribution company: a company distributing releases for other labels in specific countries (ZYX)
* a distribution company: a company distributing releases for other labels in specific countries (ZYX)
* a production label: a company producing releases (Sire Records)
* a production label: a company producing releases (Sire Records)
* a collection name: some "production labels" use collection names as a label name (Fantasy vs Original Jazz Classics)
* a subdivision, a subsidiary (or in some rare case a collection name) (Original Jazz Classics)


==Information about labels stored in the database==
==Information about labels stored in the database==


These fields are stored directly in each label's record:
These fields are stored directly in each label's record:
* [[Label ID|LabelID]]: the UUID of the label (not editable)
* [[Label Name|LabelName]]: the name of the label
* [[Label Name|LabelName]]: the name of the label
* [[Label Code|LabelCode]]: see [[Label Code|LabelCode]]
* [[Label Code|LabelCode]]: the unique code of the label
* [[Label Begin Date|LabelBeginDate]]: this is the date at which the company was created, or the collection name was first used on a release
* [[Label Begin Date|LabelBeginDate]]: this is the creation date (or "first used name" date) of the label entity
* [[Label End Date|LabelEndDate]]: this is the date at which the company went bankrupt, was dismantled, or the collection name was used for the last time
* [[Label End Date|LabelEndDate]]: this is the date at which the company went bankrupt, was dismantled, or the name was used for the last time
* [[Label Comment|LabelComment]]: field to distinguish between identically named labels
* [[Label Comment|LabelComment]]: field to distinguish between identically named labels
* [[Label Annotation|LabelAnnotation]]: general information about the label that may be of interest to other users
* [[Label Annotation|LabelAnnotation]]: general information about the label that may be of interest to other users
* [[Label Country|LabelCountry]]: the country in which the company was founded
* [[Label Country|LabelCountry]]: the country in which the company was founded
* [[Label Type|LabelType]]: the "type" of the label
* [[Label Type|LabelType]]: the "type" of the label

Possibly also:
* [[Label Sortname|LabelSortname]]
* [[Label Alias|LabelAlias]]


==Editing labels==
==Editing labels==
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==Advanced Relationships==
==Advanced Relationships==

Labels can have ARs in the [[Business Association Relationship Class|BusinessAssociationRelationshipClass]].


Labels can have ARs in the [[Discography Relationship Class|DiscographyRelationshipClass]]:
Labels can have ARs in the [[Discography Relationship Class|DiscographyRelationshipClass]]:
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<ul><li style="list-style-type:none">This links a label to its [http://discogs.com Discogs] page.
<ul><li style="list-style-type:none">This links a label to its [http://discogs.com Discogs] page.
</ul>
</ul>

Similarly to [[Personal Association Relationship Class|PersonalAssociationRelationshipClass]] as used for artists, labels can have relations to other labels:
* [[Label Ownership Relationship Type|LabelOwnershipRelationshipType]]: describes the fact a label is/was a sub-label (or subdivision) of another label, during a period of time.
** ''label A'' '''is/was the parent label of''' ''label B'' {during period YYYY-MM-DD - YYYY-MM-DD}
** ''label B'' '''is/was a subsidiary of label''' ''label B'' {during period YYYY-MM-DD - YYYY-MM-DD}

* [[Label Distribution Relationship Type|LabelDistributionRelationshipType]]: describes the fact a label is/was distributing the releases of another label, in a country/region of the world, during a period of time.
** ''label A'' '''is/was distributing label''' ''label B'' {during period YYYY-MM-DD - YYYY-MM-DD}
** ''label B'' '''is/was distributed by label''' ''label A'' {during period YYYY-MM-DD - YYYY-MM-DD}

* [[Label Reissue Relationship Type|LabelReissueRelationshipType]]: describes the fact a label is/was reissuing the releases of another label, in a country/region of the world, during a period of time. This usually occurs in two cases: (a) if label A has leased (part of) label B's catalog or (b) if label A owns the right on defunct label B's catalog.
** ''label A'' '''is/was reissuing the catalog of label''' ''label B'' {during period YYYY-MM-DD - YYYY-MM-DD}
** ''label B'' '''have/has its catalog reissued by label''' ''label A'' {during period YYYY-MM-DD - YYYY-MM-DD}


Last, similarly to [[Production Relationship Class|ProductionRelationshipClass]], we can have relations between artists and labels, to describe the work done by these artists in a label. They are similar in purpose to [[Producer Relationship Type|ProducerRelationshipType]], [[Engineer Relationship Type|EngineerRelationshipType]], [[Miscellaneous Production Relationship Type|MiscellaneousProductionRelationshipType]]:
Last, similarly to [[Production Relationship Class|ProductionRelationshipClass]], we can have relations between artists and labels, to describe the work done by these artists in a label. They are similar in purpose to [[Producer Relationship Type|ProducerRelationshipType]], [[Engineer Relationship Type|EngineerRelationshipType]], [[Miscellaneous Production Relationship Type|MiscellaneousProductionRelationshipType]]:
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The system currently has known limitations, that may be solved later:
The system currently has known limitations, that may be solved later:
* Labels history may be quite complicated, and [[Label Begin Date|LabelBeginDate]] and [[Label End Date|LabelEndDate]] may not be enough to describe a label activity. -- [[User:dmppanda|dmppanda]] 19:16, 03 November 2006 (UTC)
* There is actually no way to handle labels rename (this is the same problem as with group renames). -- [[User:dmppanda|dmppanda]] 19:31, 03 November 2006 (UTC)
* Ideally, [[Distributes Relation Ship Type|DistributesRelationShipType]] and [[Reissues Relation Ship Type|ReissuesRelationShipType]] could use an additional "country" or "region" field, as some lease/rights are limited to a specific region of the world. -- [[User:dmppanda|dmppanda]] 21:22, 03 November 2006 (UTC)
* Ideally, we could be able to attach multiple release events (release date and country) to a unique catalog number / EAN. -- [[User:dmppanda|dmppanda]] 21:22, 03 November 2006 (UTC)
* Ideally, we could be able to attach multiple release events (release date and country) to a unique catalog number / EAN. -- [[User:dmppanda|dmppanda]] 21:22, 03 November 2006 (UTC)


Revision as of 06:23, 5 November 2006

Labels

Label

Labels in MusicBrainz are used to describe the following entities:

  • a holding company: a company controlling a number of other labels (mainly the four big ones: EMI Group, Universal Music Group, Warner Music Group, Sony BMG)
  • a distribution company: a company distributing releases for other labels in specific countries (ZYX)
  • a production label: a company producing releases (Sire Records)
  • a subdivision, a subsidiary (or in some rare case a collection name) (Original Jazz Classics)

Information about labels stored in the database

These fields are stored directly in each label's record:

  • LabelID: the UUID of the label (not editable)
  • LabelName: the name of the label
  • LabelCode: the unique code of the label
  • LabelBeginDate: this is the creation date (or "first used name" date) of the label entity
  • LabelEndDate: this is the date at which the company went bankrupt, was dismantled, or the name was used for the last time
  • LabelComment: field to distinguish between identically named labels
  • LabelAnnotation: general information about the label that may be of interest to other users
  • LabelCountry: the country in which the company was founded
  • LabelType: the "type" of the label

Possibly also:

Editing labels

Any MusicBrainz user can edit labels in several ways:

Advanced Relationships

Labels can have ARs in the BusinessAssociationRelationshipClass.

Labels can have ARs in the DiscographyRelationshipClass:

  • OfficialHomepageRelationshipType: indicates the official website of the label
    • label has an official homepage at url
    • url is the official home page of label label
  • HistoryRelationshipType: provides a link to pages where an history of the label is located
    • label has an history at url
    • url presents the history of label label
  • DiscographyRelationshipType: provides a link to a list of recordings the label has released
    • label has a discography at url
    • url presents a discography by label label
  • ImageRelationshipType: provides a link to an official logo of the label
    • label has a logo at url
    • url is a logo of label label

Labels can have ARs in the OtherDatabasesRelationshipClass:

  • This links a label to its Discogs page.

Last, similarly to ProductionRelationshipClass, we can have relations between artists and labels, to describe the work done by these artists in a label. They are similar in purpose to ProducerRelationshipType, EngineerRelationshipType, MiscellaneousProductionRelationshipType:

  • ProducerPositionRelationshipType: describes the fact a person did some production work for a label company.
    • artist A worked as a producer for label B {during period YYYY-MM-DD - YYYY-MM-DD}
    • label B contracted as a producer artist A {during period YYYY-MM-DD - YYYY-MM-DD}
  • EngineerPositionRelationshipType: describes the fact a person did some engineer work for a label company.
    • artist A worked as an engineer for label B {during period YYYY-MM-DD - YYYY-MM-DD}
    • label B contracted as an engineer artist A {during period YYYY-MM-DD - YYYY-MM-DD}
  • CreativePositionRelationshipType: describes the fact a person did some creative work for a label company. This AR should be used to describe all various kind of work in that field (illustration, art direction, photography, etc...)
    • artist A had a creative position at label B {during period YYYY-MM-DD - YYYY-MM-DD}
    • label B contracted as a creative person artist A {during period YYYY-MM-DD - YYYY-MM-DD}

Informative external resources about labels

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The following sites are useful to find labels homepages:

Wikipedia has an extensive labels list, and a lot of articles:

Genre oriented resources:

Global market share overview:

  • There are mainly "4 big ones": Universal Music Group, EMI Group, Warner Music Group, and Sony BMG who own a vast majority of all other labels.

Known problems and limitations

The system currently has known limitations, that may be solved later:

  • Ideally, we could be able to attach multiple release events (release date and country) to a unique catalog number / EAN. -- dmppanda 21:22, 03 November 2006 (UTC)

Discussion

  • The use of the word "catalog" has been suggested instead of "discography", the argument being this is the exact word used in the record industry. On the other hand, using the word "discography" let us reuse the existing DiscographyRelationshipType instead of creating a new one. If catalog is to be used, the AR would be:
    • CatalogRelationshipType: provides a link to a list of recordings the label has released
      • label has a catalog at url
      • url presents a catalog of records released by label label
  • -- dmppanda 21:22, 03 November 2006 (UTC)
  • The same rewording could be used for the ImageRelationshipType which for labels is indeed LogoRelationshipType -- dmppanda 21:22, 03 November 2006 (UTC)
  • The use of a label entity for collections names must be made with extra-care. Definitely, one must not use collection names printed on the front cover as a label name, but only if the collection name is printed in place of the label name, and is really used by the producing label as is. For example, any of the "Verve Jazz Masters" releases are from label Verve, dot, and "Jazz Masters" should be part of the release name. Compare this with the Original Jazz Classics releases, by label Fantasy. -- dmppanda 21:22, 03 November 2006 (UTC)
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