Release Title

Definition of all parts of an album title

In MusicBrainzTerminology, the album title is the entire text string representing the name of a Release.

This page deals with (a) the definition of different parts of AlbumTitles and (b) the ordering of these parts.

Definition

• MainTitle:

• This is the major part of an AlbumTitle, and is the main reference when talking about a work or a person. For example, in the title "100% Hits: The Best of 1998 (disc 1)", "100% Hits" is the MainTitle.

• SubTitle:

• This is a secondary part of an AlbumTitle, usually containing extra information relevant to an album, or sometimes a second name or an extension of the MainTitle. Using the previous example, "100% Hits: The Best of 1998 (disc 1)", "The Best of 1998" is the SubTitle. Another example would be "Blood on the Dance Floor: HIStory in the Mix", where "HIStory in the Mix" is the SubTitle.

• VolumeNumber:

• This is a special part of the title that defines where this release fits into a series of albums. Usually it takes the form "Volume x", but there may be other distinguishers used. For example, in the title "Greatest Hits of 1993, Volume 3", "Volume 3" is the VolumeNumber.

• DiscNumber:

• This defines where this disc fits in part of a "set" of discs (ie: a 2 CD release, or a BoxSet). The form for this is "(disc x)" or, for discs with a DiscName, "(disc x: Disc Name)". If a disc is a BonusDisc, use "(bonus disc)".

• Mixed by:

• Although there does not seem to be an official guideline dealing with this, it is fairly common practice for DJ-Mixes to add "(Mixed by ArtistName)" to the AlbumTitle. Although this must also be added as a MixDJRelationshipType, because of current limitations to the User Interface it seems best to also keep this in the AlbumTitle.

• FeaturingArtist:

• FeaturingArtists are added to the AlbumTitle as follows: example: "(feat. Schizophrenia)" in "Entrance to Exit (feat. Schizophrenia)".

• Other information:

• All information not captured by the parts described above must be added to the AlbumAnnotation. For example, if the title on purpose does not follow the CapitalizationStandard or if it is a remaster, add this to the annotation.

Ordering

The order of the parts of a AlbumTitle is:

• MainTitle [[[Subtitle|SubTitle]](s)] [[[Volume Number|VolumeNumber]]] [[[Disc Number|DiscNumber]]] [Mixed by] [[[Featuring Artist|FeaturingArtist]]]

Parts between '[' and ']' indicate not all AlbumTitles have them, but if they do, they must be added.

Note that for multiple releases on one disc MultipleTitleStyle applies.

Examples

• "Abbey Road"
• "Greatest Hits, Volume 2 (disc 2: The Sober Years)"
• "Boom Boom (bonus disc)"
• "Clubbin' (Mixed by DJ Deejay)"
• MultipleTitleStyle example: "Surfer Rosa / Come on Pilgrim"

Discussion

I've tried to make the current situation clear on this page. I've made the ordering of the parts a bit more strictly. Rationale: the parts that contain artist information (Mixed by, FeaturingArtists) seem less connected to the MainTitle and SubTitle(s) than the parts that contain release information (VolumeNumbers, DiscNumbers). Also, FeaturingArtists should go at the end, because it's just a workaround for current database limitation. 'Mixed by' deals with artist information too, but is really related to the release itself. --Zout