Wikipedia:Notability (albums)

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The following is a proposed Wikipedia policy, guideline, or process. The proposal may still be in development, under discussion, or in the process of gathering consensus for adoption. References or links to this page should not describe it as "policy". A proposal's acceptance or rejection is not determined simply by counting votes.

Shortcut: WP:LP

The guideline: Albums should only have an individual article if there is enough verifiable material to warrant a reasonably detailed article.

Notability and inclusion guidelines

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Albums that don't have an individual article should redirect to another relevant article, such as the artist or band in question. Albums should only have an individual article if there is enough verifiable material to warrant a reasonably detailed article. Even if an album is otherwise notable, there is no reason to indefinitely keep an article which can only list the names of the songs and who performed them. Remember that according to Wikipedia:Verifiability "If an article topic has no reputable, reliable, third-party sources, Wikipedia should not have an article on that topic". In particular, a band being notable enough to deserve an article does not mean that every individual recording deserves an article. Articles on different recordings should be merged into an established article unless the individual recording is a worthwhile subject of its own article.

Wikipedia does have some criteria (listed below) which, if met, will mean the album is notable enough for an individual article. However, it does not pretend to be exhaustive, and some albums not meeting these criteria may, none the less, be notable enough.

[edit] Inclusion criteria

An album is notable if the album has been the primary subject of multiple non-trivial published works whose source is independent of the artist or publisher of the album.

• This includes published works in all forms, such as newspaper articles, magazine articles, online reviews from reputable sources, and radio and television news except for the following:
  • Media reprints of press releases, announcements, or other promotional material.
  • Works carrying merely trivial coverage, such as retail catalogs, announcements of release dates or mentions in passing without discussion of the album's content.

[edit] Content

• Content about albums must conform to Wikipedia content policies, including but not limited to Wikipedia:Verifiability, Wikipedia:Neutral point of view and Wikipedia:No original research.
• Wikipedia is not an indiscriminate collection of information. Avoid excessive trivia and overly detailed coverage of chart performance.
• Extensive quotation from song lyrics is a violation of copyright and unlikely to be fair use.

[edit] See also

• Wikipedia:Notability (music)
• Wikipedia:Notability (songs)
• Wikipedia:WikiProject Albums