Style/Titles: Difference between revisions

From MusicBrainz Wiki
Jump to navigationJump to search
mNo edit summary
(42 intermediate revisions by 10 users not shown)
Line 1: Line 1:
{{official ngs style}}
{{official ngs style}}


When entering a release group or recording title into MusicBrainz, the title should be normalized by following these guidelines.
When entering a new release into MusicBrainz, the titles should be normalized by following these guidelines.


This page provides a summary of the important guidelines,
This page provides a summary of the important guidelines, please follow the links to the full guidelines when you need more information.
please follow the links to the full guidelines when you need more information.


==Capitalization standards==
=Guideline summary=


Album and song titles are often found in upper‐case on the back cover of CDs. For example, the album [[ReleaseGroup:964ccc52-2873-3bce-a806-73d71532c539|Songs of Love and Hate]] is written as “SONGS OF LOVE AND HATE” on the cover. This is usually the choice of a graphic designer, not the artist. So, instead of copying the title from the cover, we follow certain rules to capitalize a title. The rules are different for each language.
==Follow the appropriate Capitalization Standard==


Please see [[Style#Language_specific_guidelines|Style/Language]] for more information.
Album and song titles are often found in uppercase on the back cover of CDs. For example, the album [[ReleaseGroup:964ccc52-2873-3bce-a806-73d71532c539|Songs of Love and Hate]] is written as SONGS OF LOVE AND HATE on the cover. This is usually the choice of a graphic designer, not the artist. So, instead of copying the title from the cover, we follow certain rules to capitalize a title. The rules are different for each language.


Please see [[Capitalization Standard]] for more information.
==Extra title information==


Additional information on a [[Release|release]] or [[Track|track]] name that is '''not''' part of its main title, but intended to distinguish it from different releases or tracks with the same main title (such as version/remix names or live recording info), should be entered in parentheses after the main title. Featured artists should '''not''' be entered like extra title information, but as part of the artist credits. See [[Style/Artist/Featured_artists|the featured artists guideline]].
==Expand abbreviations==


Titles and subtitles of mixes/versions are formatted according to the [[Style/Language|appropriate language's guidelines]]; the other parts of this extra information should be in lower case except for words that would normally be capitalised in the language.
Abbreviations in titles (but not acronyms) should generally be expanded. Probably the most common abbreviations used in titles are "Vol." and "Pt.", these should always be expanded to "Volume" and "Part".
The main exceptions to this guideline are "feat." for "featuring" and "vs." for "versus".


For [[Recording|recordings]], follow the same guidelines, with the exception of live performance data. For that, follow [[Style/Recording#Live_recordings|the specific guidelines for live recordings]].
See [[/Abbreviations|Abbreviations]] for more information.


*[[track:b2f15897-6308-3646-aa0f-59fb716efab7|Situations Like These (album version)]]
==Use parentheses for extra information==
*[[recording:39060ef1-2616-4ddc-ae84-cb3fd6d56f88|Bear Witness (Automator's 2 Turntables and a Razorblade re-edit)]]


If your language requires the use of title caps or other non-standard capitalization rules (e.g. English), you may need to distinguish the title part and the descriptive part of the extra title information (ETI). If the ETI contains no names or title, keep to lower case. If it contains a distinct title, use the title capitalization rules. In case the ETI is a combination of title and descriptive parts, use lower case for the descriptive part only. The latter often contains words like mix, remix, live, remaster, edit, etc.
Additional information which is not part of the name of a song or album should be in parentheses. You often see this with alternate versions of tracks, or when an artist is featured on a track.


*[[recording:dc91f1db-c8a3-43ea-afc5-c3d18ca8d1ee|Never Ending Story (power club vocal mix)]]
See [[User:kuno/Style/ExtraTitleInformation|Extra Title Information]].
*[[recording:91cb3f86-3f38-4045-9a2f-94868b63e1b9|The Age of Love (Watch Out for Stella club mix)]]


Some cases of additional information that is not part of the title and also not intended to distinguish the track should be removed:
==Use a colon (:) to separate subtitles==

*"Song (bonus track)": just "Song"
*"Song (new song)": just "Song"
*"Song (The Beatles cover)": just "Song", with the recording linked to the appropriate The Beatles [[Work|work]] with the [[rt:a3005666-a872-32c3-ad06-98af558e99b0|recording of]] relationship (and the "cover" attribute).

==Subtitles==


Use a colon (:) to separate any subtitles. If there is an alternative dividing punctuation mark such as the question mark (?) or exclamation point (!), use that mark instead of the colon.
Use a colon (:) to separate any subtitles. If there is an alternative dividing punctuation mark such as the question mark (?) or exclamation point (!), use that mark instead of the colon.


*[[releasegroup:2a46ad10-e204-3e5c-b2ea-e717f83fa387|Biography: The Greatest Hits]]
See [[SubTitleStyle]].
*[[release:0cb1e972-a21c-3410-8f04-c9d1f917557e|Who Cares a Lot? Greatest Hits]] (already has "?")
*[[release:c9a82f65-f8ec-4a76-89b2-a50a012b7cfe|Greatest Hits – Live Flash]] (already has "–")

==Multiple titles / Splits==

When a release is a re-release of two or more other releases, a track includes two or more songs, or a [[wikipedia:Split_album|split release]] has different titles for each artist, the title should be split as " Title 1 / Title 2" (space, slash, space). For otherwise unnamed split releases, use "Artist 1 / Artist 2" as the title.

The artist credit for tracks and recordings containing multiple songs by different artists, and for split releases and release groups should similarly be "Artist 1 / Artist 2".


*[[release:e5b6236b-874b-4862-b293-f46a02337eb2|This Is the Modern World / All Mod Cons]] by [[artist:23228f18-01d5-493e-94ce-cfcde82a8db2|The Jam]] (two releases in one)
==Use a slash (/) to separate multiple titles==
*[[recording:3e40a6fd-d14d-4018-9385-9d22b131190d|Outsider / 14:31 / 110 Mistakes]] by [[artist:daec4ca8-7f91-4d7b-b362-1fbcae1390ea|Burufunk
]] / [[artist:8179e236-86df-459f-bd51-0107138d0a6a|Global Communication]] / [[artist:b2e88c42-c535-43ad-b1a7-0c64f4cb961a|MOT]] (track with 3 songs)
*[[release:86298e0a-4f20-4c36-8c33-a36c9d38c68f|Faith / Void]] by [[artist:f735a867-9a16-451f-8f83-669ed42e2574|Faith]] / [[artist:960a1d2f-2b5f-4fcf-bf11-4957529a6508|Void]] (split release)
*But [[release:6d57f244-3b54-3b86-99b0-fdf6e2c44a2c|White Light/White Heat]] (single title with a slash - the guideline only applies for ''multiple'' titles!).


==Series numbering==
If two releases are re-released on one CD, or if two songs share the same track, the title should be split as follows: "This Is the Modern World / All Mod Cons".


When a release or track is part of a series, separate the volume or part name from the title with a comma. If the title already ends with an alternative punctuation mark, such as a question mark (?) or an exclamation point (!), use that mark instead of the comma.
See [[MultipleTitleStyle]] and [[SplitReleaseTitleStyle]].


*[[releasegroup:6410f3ac-a992-4e08-a9a0-91b678a1bb6f|Sonates, Vol. 3]]
==Use a comma (,) to separate words such as Volume or Part from the title itself==
*[[releasegroup:ff7ce951-ad6c-4aec-a696-23c4d0a418c2|The Best Smooth Jazz... Ever! Vol. 4]] (separated by !)
*[[recording:54029746-25ba-4f88-9885-387ac581e45f|Shine On You Crazy Diamond, Parts I–V]]
*[[recording:bfe3e2a1-2b87-4bff-a0b8-a27cb5f8c1d4|Authority? Pt. 2]] (separated by ?)
*[[releasegroup:dca3c837-0725-43e6-ad76-a581ff9e692f|The Piano Works 3]] (no volume/part name, so no separator needed)


==Format designations==
When a release or track is part of a series, seperate the volume or part name from the title with a comma, like this: "The Red Weed, Part 1".
If a release includes a designation such as '''EP'''/'''E.P.''', '''7"''', '''CD''', '''LP''' or '''single''' as part of its title, include it in the release title. If a format designation is not explicitly part of the title, it should not be added.


*[[release:96b62482-e5b4-46bf-8539-da8342edee46|Flatline EP]] (EP is on the title)
If the title already ends with an alternative punctuation mark, such as a question mark (?) or an exclamation point (!), use that mark instead of the comma.
*[[release:78bba056-8879-45c0-b8e3-f2146537568c|Broken]] (EP is just the release group type)


==Performers in titles==
See [[VolumeNumberStyle]] and [[SeriesNumberStyle]].
Release and release group titles shouldn't generally contain performers unless they are clearly part of the title (either the performer includes it when mentioning the album, or the title seems "unfinished" without the performer name).


*"[[release:dc56e56f-6d14-4338-a97a-896069a2b18a|The Best of Tangerine Dream]]", not just "The Best Of" (compare with "[[release:e4062105-d0eb-344c-aef4-608186d593ca|The Best]]").
==Use (feat. Artist) if an artist is featured on a recording==
*"[[release:f9f61db2-8d25-44aa-930f-3f00f6f45de0|Apocalyptica Plays Metallica by Four Cellos]]", not just "Plays Metallica by Four Cellos".
*"[[releasegroup:5f135b33-c28f-36dc-aa9c-9a4851665226|Her Majesty the Decemberists]]", not just "Her Majesty" (per [https://thedecemberists.bandcamp.com/album/her-majesty-the-decemberists performer usage])


==Exceptions and edge cases==
When an artist is featured on a recording, add (feat. Artist) to the recording title.


Sometimes it isn’t clear how the guidelines should be applied in a particular edge case. Currently, there are special guidelines for one edge case:
See [[/Featured artists]] for the full guideline.


* [[/OC ReMix series|OC ReMix series]]
=Exceptions and corner cases=


{{StyleBox}}
Sometimes it isn't clear how these guidelines should be applied to a particular release, these cases may be discussed by the StyleCouncil. Decisions of the StyleCouncil concerning particular releases, series or corner cases should be followed, these are collected on the [[User:kuno/Style/Titles/Exceptions]] page.
[[Category:WikiDocs Page]]

Revision as of 17:54, 5 February 2020

Status: This is an official style guideline.

When entering a new release into MusicBrainz, the titles should be normalized by following these guidelines.

This page provides a summary of the important guidelines, please follow the links to the full guidelines when you need more information.

Capitalization standards

Album and song titles are often found in upper‐case on the back cover of CDs. For example, the album Songs of Love and Hate is written as “SONGS OF LOVE AND HATE” on the cover. This is usually the choice of a graphic designer, not the artist. So, instead of copying the title from the cover, we follow certain rules to capitalize a title. The rules are different for each language.

Please see Style/Language for more information.

Extra title information

Additional information on a release or track name that is not part of its main title, but intended to distinguish it from different releases or tracks with the same main title (such as version/remix names or live recording info), should be entered in parentheses after the main title. Featured artists should not be entered like extra title information, but as part of the artist credits. See the featured artists guideline.

Titles and subtitles of mixes/versions are formatted according to the appropriate language's guidelines; the other parts of this extra information should be in lower case except for words that would normally be capitalised in the language.

For recordings, follow the same guidelines, with the exception of live performance data. For that, follow the specific guidelines for live recordings.

If your language requires the use of title caps or other non-standard capitalization rules (e.g. English), you may need to distinguish the title part and the descriptive part of the extra title information (ETI). If the ETI contains no names or title, keep to lower case. If it contains a distinct title, use the title capitalization rules. In case the ETI is a combination of title and descriptive parts, use lower case for the descriptive part only. The latter often contains words like mix, remix, live, remaster, edit, etc.

Some cases of additional information that is not part of the title and also not intended to distinguish the track should be removed:

  • "Song (bonus track)": just "Song"
  • "Song (new song)": just "Song"
  • "Song (The Beatles cover)": just "Song", with the recording linked to the appropriate The Beatles work with the recording of relationship (and the "cover" attribute).

Subtitles

Use a colon (:) to separate any subtitles. If there is an alternative dividing punctuation mark such as the question mark (?) or exclamation point (!), use that mark instead of the colon.

Multiple titles / Splits

When a release is a re-release of two or more other releases, a track includes two or more songs, or a split release has different titles for each artist, the title should be split as " Title 1 / Title 2" (space, slash, space). For otherwise unnamed split releases, use "Artist 1 / Artist 2" as the title.

The artist credit for tracks and recordings containing multiple songs by different artists, and for split releases and release groups should similarly be "Artist 1 / Artist 2".

Series numbering

When a release or track is part of a series, separate the volume or part name from the title with a comma. If the title already ends with an alternative punctuation mark, such as a question mark (?) or an exclamation point (!), use that mark instead of the comma.

Format designations

If a release includes a designation such as EP/E.P., 7", CD, LP or single as part of its title, include it in the release title. If a format designation is not explicitly part of the title, it should not be added.

Performers in titles

Release and release group titles shouldn't generally contain performers unless they are clearly part of the title (either the performer includes it when mentioning the album, or the title seems "unfinished" without the performer name).

Exceptions and edge cases

Sometimes it isn’t clear how the guidelines should be applied in a particular edge case. Currently, there are special guidelines for one edge case:

Style
Overview
Title Style
Entities
Relationships
Classical
Special Cases/Misc.
Languages