Style / Artist Credits
| Status: This is an official style guideline. |
Artist credits should generally follow the actual credit used on the release / track, including the join phrases.
- The Fat of the Land is credited to "Prodigy" (rather than the main artist name "The Prodigy").
- Ferrari Boyz is credited to "Gucci Mane & Waka Flocka Flame"
- Cendre is credited to "Fennesz + Sakamoto" (as on the spine). Note that we use Sakamoto in Latin script (as printed) and not just the main artist name.
Artist credits are not considered titles, so the join phrases should be capitalized as normally written in the language they're in.
- The Chesterfield Broadcasts, Volume 1 is credited to "The Andrews Sisters with the Glenn Miller Orchestra" (not "With the").
- Mitten in Deutschland is credited to "Bianca Graf im Duett mit Ulli Schwinge" (since "Duett" is always capitalized in German).
Special cases
Featured artists
Featured artists should always be entered in the artist credit, not in the titles. You should generally enter the credit as it appears on the release, omitting any separators (like parentheses) that are intended to separate it from the track title. For example, if the tracklist has "Artist 1 - Song Name (featuring Artist 2)", enter "Song Name", by "Artist 1 featuring Artist 2".
- Umbrella is credited to "Rihanna feat. Jay‐Z".
- Game Over is credited to "Tinchy Stryder featuring Giggs, Professor Green, Tinie Tempah, Devlin, Example, Chipmunk" (all commas, as on the CD tracklist).
- Inflation is credited to "Promoe med Afasi".
Definite articles
If an artist name does not start with a definite article, but is credited with one, include the definite article in the artist credit. If the article can be seen as part of the join phrase ("and the", "with the", "y los") then include the article in the join phrase instead.
- In the Nutcracker Mood is credited to "The Glenn Miller Orchestra".
- The Chesterfield Broadcasts, Volume 1 is credited to "The Andrews Sisters with the Glenn Miller Orchestra".
- Les Fleurs du Mal is credited to "Gripper / The Destructors", since "/ the" isn't a logical join phrase.
Multiple artists / Splits
The artist credit for tracks and recordings containing multiple songs by different artists, and for split releases and release groups, should be "Artist 1 / Artist 2" (space, slash, space).
- Outsider / 14:31 / 110 Mistakes by "Burufunk / Global Communication / MOT" (track with 3 songs)
- The Faith / Void by "The Faith / Void" (split release)
Various Artist releases
Sometimes the cover of a various artists compilation will list some of the most well known artists that appear on it, often with a wording such as “X, Y, Z and many others”. This is a promotional exercise rather than a proper release credit, so such releases should still be credited to “Various Artists”.
- Now That’s What I Call Music is credited to Various Artists, although it lists artists on the cover.
No printed join phrase
If the release has no join phrase for multiple collaborating artists, but just lists them all separated by whitespace, use the default join phrases (an ampersand between the last two artists, and a comma between the others).
Specific types of releases
Some types of releases, like classical, theatre or audiobook releases, have their own, more specific guidelines for artist credits. Check our list of types of releases with their own guidelines. Those guidelines override this one.