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Contents

How to write a profile

On the artist pages there are two links which will take you to the artist profile edit form.

1. If an artist is without an RYM profile, a link to submitting a profile is found near the top of the artist's page, underneath the artist's name:



2. If an artist already has a profile, but you want to make an edit to it, a link marked "Editing the artist's profile/bio" is found at the bottom of the artist page, in the contributions field:

Profile fields

Name

The First Name and Last Name fields should generally not be edited. Exceptions to this are if an Artist has a [bracketed-qualifier] to help differentiate from another Artist with the same name.

Please see Localized names for information on how to enter artists with names that are in a non-Latin alphabet. It also explains the proper name order for entering Chinese, Japanese, and Korean names.

Artist type

Solo artist

A solo artist is defined to characterize an Artist who is presented either via his/her own birth name or alias. He/she may have regular backing musicians who may or may not have a name for their collective, but releases are sold under the name of the lead musician.

Example: Bruce Springsteen has a regular backing group called The E Street Band, but the records are nearly always sold under the name of Bruce Springsteen. Springsteen is listed as a Solo Artist, and the members of The E Street Band are named in the Members field.

Band

A band can comprise any number of players. There are some bands which consist of only one player, but these are the exception.

Also note: profiles for split artists are credited as a band.

Collaboration

A collaboration profile is between multiple artists and/or bands.

Example: Tammy Wynette (solo artist) + George Jones (solo artist) = George Jones and Tammy Wynette (collaboration)

Scope

Select the proper scope (Music, Film, or Both) the artist is relevant to.

Birth/formation and death/disbandment

It is important to verify with multiple sources the Date of Birth/Date Formed and Date of Death/Date of Disbandment of an artist, as there will often be conflicting data. If one source says that a band/collaboration was formed in April of 1986, while another claims that it was formed in August of 1986, weigh the reliability of each, and if an authoritative decision cannot be made, leave the month blank. The same rule applies for birth dates and death-dates for solo artists.

When deciding between making a solo project a band or artist, note that bands display a "Formed Date" whereas artists display a "Birth Date".

Location

List as much information as possible about the place an Artist/Band was born/formed.

Place of origin

For artists, the place of origin should definitively be where that artist was born; for bands, the place of origin should definitively be where the band originally formed. Make sure that the source states that the artist was "born" or "formed" in a place; do not assume that if an artist is "from" a place, that the artist was "born" there or the band was "formed" there. Be wary of sources (like myspace) which often list where an artist or band is currently is located.

Before entering the field State/Prov, please consult Administrative divisions. USA States and Canadian Provinces should be entered with their 2 letter code, and all other countries should have their names entered in full. Please use Latin spellings for locations of countries that do not use the Latin alphabet, as they can't be dubbed by an AKA.

Current location

This location should indicate where the band or artist currently works from. This location does not need to be listed if it is the same as the Original Location (except for deceased solo artists or disbanded bands.)

Note that for solo artists who have died, their current location should reflect where they died not where they are buried.

Split artists do not have location fields.

Band members

All information in this field should be entered as one continuous line, without line breaks.

Member Names: Separate band members with a comma then a space. When possible, you may include instruments played and/or dates of membership in parentheses after that member's name.

Notes on the member listing:

1. Instrument names are listed in lower case (with the exception of brand names.) You may want to refer to the Music Role List for help.


2. Multiple instrument roles are separated by a comma and space.


3. When adding both instrument and date information for a member, list the instruments before the dates, using a comma and space to separate them.


4. Band members should be listed chronologically. For more details about dates and date ranges in member lists, see the next wiki item.


5. Use [Artistxxxx] shortcuts for band members with solo entries in the database. See Shortcuts for more information


6. Stage names should be listed with the individual's real name in square brackets; "Johnny Rotten [John Lydon]".


7. Nicknames can be listed in quotes, i.e. Sam "Lightning" Hopkins


8. Only collaborations may have a Band mentioned in the Band Members field.

Writing date ranges:

1. If a member is a founding member, and never left the band, do not list any dates.


2. For other members, separate years in a range with a dash: 1996-2004. Membership during only one year is listed as the year alone: 1987


3. If membership occurred in only one century, you can drop the century indicators from a second date in a range: 1973-77 or 2002-03.


4. Non-founders who never left the band should be listed as [start date]-present: 1987-present


5. Separate date ranges by a comma and space for members who left and then rejoined the band: 1973-77, 1980-81


6. A question mark (?) may be used when a date is unknown, such as when a source indicates a member was not a founder but not precisely when they joined, or it is not clear when a member left a band: ?-1974 or 2002-?


7. While "?-present" is valid, "present-?" and "?-?" are not valid, and no dates should be listed if either a joining or departure year can't be sourced.

Example Band Member Listing, taken from the entry for Stereo Total:

Member of

This field should be used only for solo artists. List any bands in which the solo artist was a active participating member (and not just a guest), separating each with a comma and space, and in one continuous line without line breaks.

Link bands in the database using [Artistxxxx] shortcuts (see Shortcuts for more information).

Only list bands, as collaborations appear as Directly Related Artists.

Directly related artists (DRAs)

List the DRAs alphabetically (sorted the same way that the RYM database alphabetizes artists), separated by a comma and space in one continuous line without line breaks. If a valid directly-related band is not in the database, they may be listed in plain text. Existing DRA entries may be deleted only after it has been confirmed they do not meet RYM criteria.

Note: Collaborations must be entered in this field only and not in members field.

Required: Each DRA must be explained in the Meta-Comments field. Failure to do so is a valid reason for profile voters to vote 'no' on your submission.

More Notes on Members as DRAs:
About two bands that have at least one member in common: the shared member(s) should have played a major part in each band (contributed to songwriting, played on several albums for each band, etc.). The relation is applicable to recordings only. For example, live backing vocalists or temporary players should not be entered.

Examples of acceptable DRAs:

Side projects, which are two bands that share one member, but only when it involves a side project and a main band. The side project should have released an album while the main band was still active. Whether or not the Artist who is part of said side-project has his own page, the link to the side-project may appear on the main band's page.
The Amps are a DRA to The Breeders since this was clearly a project of Kim Deal without disbanding The Breeders.

Two artists that worked together in the recording of an album (not only a song or a single, otherwise remixing DJ's would be related to everyone), but if not an entire release, at least 4 or more songs. Example: Neil Young and Pearl Jam, since both recorded the album Mirrorball.

A producer that had a major role at some point during another artist's career, and wrote or co-wrote songs for or with that artist is directly related to that artist, when the producer itself has released solo material. Otherwise it's not an artist, it's just a producer.

• Example: Kiss and Desmond Child; The Ronettes and Phil Spector.

A prominent songwriter in an artist's career who has written at least an album's worth of songs with, or specifically for, that artist, released by that same artist over any span of time during his/her career.

• A tribute-artist does not qualify under this criterion. Tribute-artist references should be placed in a note in Other Comments.

Exceptions

a) Orchestras: they only play other artists' material. So Metallica and the San Francisco Philharmonic Orchestra are not related artists.

b) Two solo artists that worked together in a band are not "related artists". Each of them is related to the band, unless they worked together on each other's solo albums.

• Example 1: Matthew Sweet, Shawn Mullins and Peter Drodge are related to The Thorns, but none of them is related to another of the same solo artists. Even though B.B. King & Eric Clapton is questionable, both solo artists should be related to "B.B. King & Eric Clapton" and not directly to the other.

Localized artist name

These fields only apply to artists who's names are written in a non-Latin alphabet. Please see Localized names for information on when and how these fields should be used.

Also known as (AKA)

AKAs should be separated by a comma and space, in one continuous line without line breaks.

Only the following may be listed:

1. Alternate recording, or performing names.


2. For a solo artist, they birth, married or maiden name, or any other legal name which differs from their performing name.


3. Translations or transliterations of their name, which have been used on released recordings.

Any editorial text, such as "birth name" must be entered between [square brackets], or it will affect how the artist name appears in search.

Informal nicknames which were not used on recordings may be entered as part of the Biography.

Biography

See Biographies / Descriptions

Other notes/comments

This field is to be left blank unless given permission by an Admin with the following exceptions:

1. An Artist is a "tribute-band" of another Artist.


2. An Artist is the relative of another Artist, but there is no other creative connection/collaboration. For example, for Maurice Jarre it is written "Father of Jean Michel Jarre." This applies to blood relatives and marriages only. Don't list current girlfriends, boyfriends, relationship rumors, etc. If you must include that information on the profile then put it in the Biography section (but be conservative in doing so; RYM is a music database and not a place for celebrity gossip).


3. In the case of orchestras - Conductor for [orchestra1] (1922-43), [orchestra2] or Musical director of [orchestra] (1989-2003)

In the past, this field has noted other details, such as tribute bands and split artists. Over time we will be removing this information. It is not encouraged to submit a profile solely to edit outdated usage of this field.

Search hint

The search hint field is used to help distinguish different artists with similar names. This field is required for any artists which have a non-unique name. The only place where the information added to this field will be displayed is during the entering of release/film credits, where it can help the person adding the credits to select the correct artist.

The search hint is simply the most identifiable role that this person has performed.

For music-scoped entries

Enter the most well-known role this artist performed.

Example: The search hint for Gavin Harrison could be "Drummer in Porcupine Tree."

For a film-scoped entries

Example: The search hint for Anthony Daniels could be "Voice actor of C-3PO in Star Wars."

Meta-Comments

This field is required and will not appear in the public profile for the artist.

The Meta-Comments field is the area where you must leave links to the sources for your submitted information, give explanations of how artists are directly related to another artist, and give brief explanations as to why you submitting your profile changes.

1. This is the only Artist field in which you may include links to websites outside of RYM.


2. Double check your information; multiple sources are always preferred, particularly when dealing with other public wikis or databases, which may not be publicly edited and not reliable.


3. Do not delete any existing meta-comments unless a moderator or admin requests you to do so. Always add your new meta comments below the existing ones.


4. If you are using an non-web offline source please be as precise as possible. Use [Albumxxxx] links if you are referring to an item in your collection. List basic bibliographic information for books and magazines, such as title, author, publication date, and page number.