Style/Artist

Status: This is an official style guideline.

Name

The artist name is the official name of an artist, whether it is a person or a band. In most cases, it is the name as found on releases. If an artist uses multiple names, see the guideline for artists using multiple names for more details.

Note that you can change how an artist is credited on a release or track when you enter that release. There is usually no need to add a new artist to the database if the artist is already present in our database under a (slightly) different name.

Definite Articles

Where an artist name starts with a definite article (eg. the, le, el, der) on a release, always check whether the definite article is actually part of the artist name when adding or editing the artist. If in doubt, ignore the definite article.

If an artist name does not start with a definite article, but is credited with a definite article on a release, include the definite article in the artist credit. The exception to this is where a join phrase is used before the artist name - in this case, include the definite article in the join phrase.

Examples

• The Glenn Miller Orchestra should actually be "Glenn Miller Orchestra", according to their US website.
  • In the Mood should be credited to "Glenn Miller Orchestra" since that is the credit on the release.
  • In the Nutcracker Mood should be credited to "The Glenn Miller Orchestra" since the definite article is used on the release, and there is no join phrase.
  • The Chesterfield Broadcasts, Volume 1 should be credited to "The Andrews Sisters" and "Glenn Miller Orchestra" using the join phrase "with the".

Sort name

See the guideline for sortnames.

Disambiguation comment

Disambiguation comments should be kept fairly short, with just enough information that someone reading it will recognize the artist they're looking for. The comment field is not a place to store general background information about the artist, that kind of information should go in the artist's annotation.

Examples:

• Randy Jackson has the disambiguation comment "brother of Michael and Janet."
• Randy Jackson has the disambiguation comment "former bassist with Journey and American Idol Judge"

Country

For people, use the country where they were born and raised. For groups, use the country where the band was formed. If the artist is predominantly active in a different country, use that country instead.

Examples:

• Michael Jackson has the country "United States"
• The Beatles have the country "United Kingdom"

Gender

Use the gender the artist identifies as. Use "other" if the artist identifies as something other than "male" or "female".

The "other" gender option is meant to represent a gender that is neither male nor female, and is not intended for use with entities for which the concept of gender is illogical, such as companies.

Aliases

See the guideline for aliases.