User:LordSputnik/Definite Article

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

Proposal number: RFC-STYLE-180 Champion: LordSputnik Current status: RFC Initial Discussion JIRA ticket http://tickets.musicbrainz.org/browse/STYLE-180

Introduction

This proposal is designed to improve the correctness of artist names in the database, where the artist name starts with "The" or some other definite article. It also aims to improve the consistency of artist credits for these artists.

Proposal

Insert the following text at the end of the "Name" section of Style/Artist.

A definite article is a word before a noun which indicates uniqueness, found in some languages. For example:

• English has one: the
• French has three: le, la, les
• Spanish has four: el, la, los, las
• German has many, including: der, die, das

When adding an artist to the database whose name appears to start with a definite article (eg. "The"), always check whether the definite article is actually part of the artist name. In cases where this is not known, ignore the definite article. In the case where an existing artist has a credit on a release starting with a definitive article and it isn't part of the artist name, include the definite article in the artist credit, not in the join phrase.