Wikipedia:WikiProject Music/MUSTARD
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Wikipedia has developed a large repertoire of articles about music. However, many music-related articles require significant improvement; MUSTARD is a project to develop guidelines for achieving high quality in music-related articles. These guidelines are a set of standards that WikiProject: Music uses as a benchmark for quality assurance. They are largely based on Wikipedia policies and guidelines, and common practice.
[edit] Capitalization
- The vast majority of music genres are not proper nouns, and thus should not be capitalized.
- The first letter in the first and last words in song, album and other titles is capitalized, except for short conjunctions, prepositions and articles. More specifically
- Capitalize the first and last word.
- Capitalize every noun, verb (including the verb to be) and adverb.
- Capitalize only those prepositions that are five or more letters long (e.g., through), are the first or last word of the title, or are part of a two-word phrasal verb (e.g., "Walk On").
- With compound hyphenated terms, capitalize each word-part separately, according to the applicable rule.
- Titles that include parentheses should be capitalized as though both the part inside and outside the parentheses are separate titles (e.g., "(Don't Fear) The Reaper")
- If possible, check with an authoritative source to determine whether the word the is part of a band's name. For example, The Beatles is correct, as is the Pixies. In either case, the opposite should always redirect (or be disambigged) to avoid multiple articles.
- If the, a or an is the first word in a band's name, it should always be capitalized, as in "It is my opinion that The Beatles rock, as does the Dave Matthews Band."
[edit] Categorization
- Top-level categories, such as Category:Songs and Category:Guitarists, should not be populated. Use subcategories such as Category:Jazz guitarists.
- Articles should not be in both a category and a subcategory of it. For example, do not put someone in both Category:Canadian musicians and Category:Canadian music, because the first is a subcategory of the latter.
[edit] Disambiguation
- All articles should be at natural titles, if possible. Do not disambiguate unless necessary.
- The most common disambiguators should be created using (band), (album), (musician), (record label), (song) or (composer). If further disambiguation is needed, use:
- countries for performers: X (US band) and X (Australian band) (if this does not resolve the ambiguity, use genre or time period); and
- performers for albums/songs/etc: Down to Earth (Ozzy Osbourne album) and Down to Earth (Stevie Wonder album) (if this does not resolve the ambiguity, use the year).
- In general, other terms that need to be disambiguated should involve the most simple, basic category possible; for example, do not use (70s concert promoter) when (concert promoter) is sufficient, or (Romantic concerto) when (concerto) will do.
- Other disambiguators may include: (concerto), (EP), (talent scout), (concert promoter), (symphony), (DJ), (ensemble), (manager), (record producer), (sound engineer), (songwriter), (librettist), (choreographer), (dancer), (opera), (orchestra), (conductor), (musicologist).
- The most common disambiguators should be created using (band), (album), (musician), (record label), (song) or (composer). If further disambiguation is needed, use:
[edit] Discographies
- Pages on performers should have discography sections. These should be subdivided into albums and singles, or other simple systems as needed. If a simple system cannot accommodate an artist's entire discography, a subpage should be created using summary style.
- Do not use album covers in discographies, as this is an unnecessary use of images and is not compatible with Wikipedia's fair use policy. This is disputed. See Wikipedia_talk:Fair_use#Album_cover_art_in_discography_articles.
[edit] External links
- External links should be used sparingly.
- Articles on performers should have a link to their homepage(s), or other official pages (e.g., the record company's page for that artist, if there is one, or an official fanclub)
- Articles on record labels should have a link to the company's official homepage.
- Anything used as a reference, preferably using Template:Cite web, from within the "References" section.
- External pages that include significant information that could not be placed on Wikipedia (e.g., copyrighted content that is not posted in violation of copyright law) should be linked to:
- external pages containing information that could be incorporated into the Wikipedia article (posted on the talk page); or
- respected databases of relevant information, where there is a significant quantity of information that is inappropriate for incorporation into Wikipedia.
- This may include such pages as fansites, provided that they are an established organization or a recognized fan community and are clearly more informative and more useful than most fansites. For example:
- a fansite that includes an exhaustive database of tour dates and setlists;
- a rights holder-approved lyrics site;
- a large repository of relevant images;
- a large repository of other trivia that may not be appropriate for Wikipedia; and
- forums or other community pages, only if there are unusually established and recognized institutions with an important focus.
- Articles on music genres should not have links to the homepages of an individual artist, unless it otherwise meets a criterion for inclusion.
- Fansites, unofficial fan clubs, online stores and similar sites should generally not be linked.
- Music of articles (e.g., Music of Maryland) may link to community-based music sites, provided that they are well-established and versatile. A page that lists local shows, for example, should be reasonably comprehensive, regularly and reliably updated, and specifically based around the topic place (e.g., Maryland).
- Local bands and other performers that do not have articles should not linked to in any section unless their notability is established by a cited, reputable and independent source. Do not create external links to specific performers on music of articles, unless they are being cited or otherwise qualify.
- Some performers may be sufficiently "notable" to include in an article on the music of a time, place or genre, yet without enough verifiable information for an article. Pages on these performers can be merged and redirected to an article or list, and should not generally be linked unless the target contains significantly additional useful information (e.g., a list of minor California punk bands of the 1970s with properly cited information)
- It is reasonable to remove a link that does not obviously prove itself under these guidelines. For example, do not remove a link to a band's official page from the band's article, but any other external link that is not cited as a reference or justified on the talk page may be removed. In general, when linking to a fanclub, unofficial community page or other such website, it may be wise to provide a justification on the talk page.
[edit] Formatting
- Songs and singles are in quotes. Albums and EPs in italics. The names of tours are not formatted beyond ordinary capitalization.
- Generic titles refer to those based on musical forms, such as the concerto or symphony, as are liturgical titles like agnus dei or kyrie. These should not be formatted beyond simple capitalization; e.g., Piano Concerto No. 5, Sixth Symphony
- True titles are specific to a work, and are always italicized; e.g., From me flows what you call time or Pelleas et Melisande
- Titles of songs, albums and other media that are not in English, or are in a non-standard variety of English, should follow ordinary rules of capitalization and punctuation for that variety. This guideline does not supersede other Wikipedia:Naming conventions, and only applies to whatever instances foreign language titles appear.
- The title of an article should be bolded on first appearance. Important redirects should be bolded on their first appearance, preferably in the lead section.
- Regarding the use-mention distinction, words should be italicized when they are referred to; e.g. "They chose the name The Supremes" or "They called their style jelly rock" rather than "They became The Supremes" or "They play jelly rock")
- Unless a word meets one of these criteria, or another standard English usage, it should not be italicized or bolded.
- Use either Unicode flat (♭= ♭) and sharp (♯ = ♯) symbols, or the words "flat" and "sharp". Do not use "b" for "flat" or # (the number sign) for "sharp".
[edit] Images and notation
- Wikipedia needs to use free images. Fair use is usable only in certain circumstances. Copyrighted images, such as album covers, can be used in an article only if a fair use rationale, specific to that article, appears on the image page.
- The {{album cover}} tag establishes fair use only in an article about the album in question.
- Fair use images cannot be used purely for decoration.
- Fair use images cannot be used in discography sections.
- Fair use images should be used sparingly. Each image must contribute specifically, uniquely and irreplaceably to the article.
- Images should be laid out in an unobtrusive manner.
- Start the article with a right-aligned image.
- When using multiple images in the same article, they can be staggered left-and-right (Example: Platypus).
- Avoid sandwiching text between two images facing each other.
- Use {{Commons}} to link to images on Commons wherever possible.
- Use informative and concise captions.
- The sharp (♯) and flat (♭) signs are
♯and♭, respectively. A natural (♮) can be entered with♮. - Superscript and subscript may be combined, as in figured bass, in math markup, <math>C_6^4</math> =
, see Wikipedia:TeX markup or m:Help:Formula. - A superscript circle, or degree sign, which indicates a diminished chord, that may not display correctly for everyone, "°", can be produced by typing
°,°, or (on Windows PCs) Alt+0176. A superscript lower case "o" (<sup>o</sup>) may be used instead. The slashed o, "ø", which may not display correctly for all readers, is produced by superscripting the character produced by typingø,ø, or Alt+0248. - For inversions and the degree sign superscript and subscript may be done thus:
- vii<sup>o</sup> , I<sub>6</sub> .
- which looks like
- viio, I6.
- Graphics of musical examples should be large enough to be legible but not so large that they overwhelm the text of an article. They also should not contain inordinate space between the notes.
- When creating a graphic in a musical notation program keep the score as large as possible (through the layout or display setting in your notation program). If your example is short, three measure or less, you may increase its size on the page and decrease the page margins. That way the example will be as large as possible, but will not contain large spaces between the notes. Example of large space:
-
- As can be seen in the above (which is reduced for display "|550px|"), the notes in both bars have fit within the space of one huge bar, unlike the following, which is not reduced for display
- Save the file as type or extension .PNG. If .PNG is not an option in your notation program then save the score as another type of image file and convert that to .PNG (with Paint, for instance). Trim the image so that it only contains the example (no blank space or large margins!) and upload it to Wikipedia.
- When you display that image in an article, then you specify the desired size between pipes ("|"s) as follows: [[Image:Example.png|550px|Example image]] Images larger than 550 pixels wide may not be conveniently displayed on 800x600 monitors, so keep images below that size where possible.
[edit] Internal links
- In general, do not link to non-existent articles about recordings, e.g., songs and albums. See also: #Notability and encyclopedic worth
- Do not use piped links to years in music (e.g., do not write: The Beatles Please Please Me came out in 1963). Instead, sparingly use parentheses after years mentioned in the article, such as The Beatles released Please Please Me in 1963 (see 1963 in music). In discography charts or other specialized forms, it is acceptable to use non-piped links to the 'year in music' articles. Generally avoid linking non-dated chronological items, such as "1988", "1920s" and "20th century".
- Do not link to self-titled albums like this: The New York Dolls released their debut in 1978. Instead, use some variation of "The New York Dolls released their eponymic debut, New York Dolls, in 1978".
- Songs that appeared in an album should be redirected (or disambiguated) to point to the album on which they were first released, unless the song itself has an article. (This may not apply to artists from the pre-LP era.)
[edit] Lists
- Lists are not appropriate content in and of themselves (i.e., an article that is mostly lists is a poor article). Small lists may be useful in music-related articles.
- Music genres should not contain lists of performers. A separate list page may be created.
- Lists of performers by genre or other criteria should not generally include musicians who do not have an article.
[edit] Lyrics
- Lyrics and Quotations
- Copyrighted lyrics can only be used under the WP:FU provision. Thus, they should only be used to illustrate specific points, documented by relevant sources.
- Lists of quotes from songs or other compositions or recordings are inappropriate, as are any sections consisting entirely or primarily of quotes.
- Uncopyrighted lyrics can be used freely. However, they should be incorporated into an article only to illustrate specific points, and documented by relevant sources.
[edit] Neutrality
- Opinions are desirable. However, they must be cited.
- If you want to mention whom a band or album sounds similar to, do so in a prose format (as in Operation Ivy has a ska punk sound similar to The Specials), not in a list. Making a list of "related bands" constitutes using your ideas and opinions, which violates both WP:NPOV and WP:OR.
- Do not link to 'similar performers' or 'related genres' in a see also section.
- Claims such as popular, critically acclaimed and well-received should be cited to a reputable source.
[edit] Notability and encyclopedic worth
- Articles on music-related topics should have all of the following qualities:
- content—significant and useful information;
- encyclopedic tone—written in an informative, precise and well organized fashion;
- historical awareness—informs the reader of the historical and cultural context of the topic;
- notability—exhibits, documents and explains encyclopedic significance; and
- objectivity—neutral in depth and breadth of coverage, in choice of content, and in presentation and phrasing.
- Articles on musicians, bands and other performers in the modern era should meet the criteria at WP:MUSIC.
- Albums and songs do not have any generally accepted specific criteria. This does not mean that all albums or songs are inherently notable, but rather that each should be decided on a case-by-case basis.
- There are proposed guidelines for songs as well. There may be discussion or proposals for record labels, albums and genres in the future.
[edit] Punctuation
- When putting titles in quotes or italics, put the punctuation outside the quotemark or italicization. For example, "I listened to "Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds", one of my favorite songs, from Sgt Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band, one of my favorite albums."
- Sentences should in end in periods. Exclamation marks are an example of unencyclopedic tone outside of direct, cited and described quotations. Question marks are also rarely appropriate in encyclopedic writing (e.g. don't do: What was grunge music? It was a youth subculture...). This also applies to section headings.
- Things that are not sentences should not end in period. If you make a list and it includes descriptions that are not complete sentences, do not use a period. If the list does use complete sentences, use periods. Be consistent.
[edit] References
Citing sources, Verifiability, Reliable sources
- Every article must have at least one verifiable and reliable reference.
- Articles describing a topic entirely from first-hand experience, where no documentation is known or likely to exist, qualify as original research, which is not allowed.
- References should be in a "References" section.
- Direct quotes, especially from living people, should always be specifically cited to a source.
- Citations may be in any style, but Cite.php footnotes are most typical in music articles on Wikipedia.
[edit] See also
- Most "see also" sections should be temporary. If a link is included elsewhere in an article, it does not need to be in a "see also" section. Most or all links in "see also" sections should be incorporated into the body of the article. See Wikipedia:Guide to layout#See also
[edit] Sounds and other multimedia
- Wikipedia needs to use music and video samples. Fair use is usable only in certain circumstances.
- Fair use music samples must be used sparingly. Each instance must contribute specifically, uniquely and irreplaceably to the article. The tag {{Music sample}} is not per se sufficient to establish fair use.
- Music samples should be integrated into the article rather than placed at the end of the article. Generally, reference to a sample should be made in the text; fair use is partly justified by the educational value of the sample, which can be reinforced by such reference.
[edit] Titles and section headings
- Only proper nouns (and the first letter) should be capitalized in article and section titles.
- Music genres are not proper nouns.
- Capitalization should follow standard practice for English capitalization, except for special cases in abundant evidence from multiple independent and reliable sources. This includes the use of all-upper-case or all-lower-case usage in album or song titles, stage or personal names, and the use of lower-case short prepositions, conjunctions and articles in the titles of albums, songs and other compositions or recordings.
- The titling of classical and other works can sometimes be confusing. Guidelines follow here; see Wikipedia:Manual of Style (music) and Wikipedia:Naming conventions (pieces of music) for more details.
- Bands whose names are in the format "X and the As" (e.g., Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers, Bob Marley & the Wailers) should use an ampersand and lowercase the. Redirects should be created for the forms Bob Marley And The Wailers, Bob Marley and the Wailers and Bob Marley & The Wailers. There should also be a redirect or disambiguator at The Wailers and Wailers. In most cases, backing bands do not need their own articles; there are exceptions, such as The Wailers and E Street Band.
- This may not apply in certain circumstances, such as when the lead performers and the band are not considered one unit. For example, if Eddie Vedder conducted a tour with The Temptations, they might be billed as Eddie Vedder and The Temptations. In these circumstances, do not use Eddie Vedder & the Temptations, but Eddie Vedder and The Temptations.
[edit] Trivia
- Trivial information is not appropriate on Wikipedia. If a particular fact is worthy of inclusion, it should be placed into proper context in the body of an article. Do not use the ==Trivia== subheading.
[edit] Usage
- Do not describe an album, single or other work as sophomore (meaning second). This is American music industry jargon and is uncommon (except in the context of post-primary school years), even in the United States. Use second instead.
- Some musical terms have multiple possible meanings. Unless a different meaning is obvious from the context (e.g., in a quote), use the same terminology as Wikipedia titles.
- Popular music is a broad category that is frequently compared to classical music or folk music; it need not be particularly popular. Pop music is mainstream, chart-topping music.
- Folk music is orally transmitted and generally informal and non-commercial. Traditional music and roots music are assumed synonyms.
- Music such as that of Bob Dylan should be described as and linked to something more specific, such as roots revival
- Unless it has already been established in the article, do not refer to classical music without qualifying it as Western, Indian, etc.
- Hip hop music is a music genre. The act of rapping is performed by rappers. When referring to a genre, hip hop should be used, except in circumstances such as gangsta rap. The word hip hop is, like most music genres, not capitalized; it is also not hyphenated.
- The use of titles within articles should follow the same conventions as for titles; see #Titles and section headings
