Temp / StyleSheetTitles

Style Sheet for Titles of Releases and Songs

revised 9 July 2007 by wally creek

Introduction: The current guidelines have been determined to be insufficiently detailed for Second Hand Songs. Therefore, this is a first draft to establish a style sheet for the editors. An attempt has been made to incorporate the old guidelines into this style sheet to minimize disruption. This style sheet must be consistent with the style sheet for artists.

I. Release titles and song titles must essentially follow their releases.

This does not mean you follow the release exactly. Titles on releases are often given as all capitals, often without punctuation - this is undesirable. Rather, use the release as your primary refernce subject to the rules given below. Further, do not improvise titles. Example: the White Album by The Beatles is a nickname for the album; it is nowhere on the release. Here The Beatles is used as the title; this is on the release. For clarity, to avoid confusion with the several compilations using the same name, it is permitted to add [White Album] to the title used for the database. See below.

• When an exact title or title format is in question:

  • 1. Use a title, if present, on a record label or CD disc over what is on packaging.
  • 2. Use a title, if present, on an LP jacket back, 7” sleeve back, CD sleeve or CD case back, and spines of each type of release over what is on any other packaging (e.g. jacket face, CD booklet front, inserts).
  • 3. Use a title on packaging over what is found in other references.
  • 4. Other references include label websites, artist websites, fan sites, editor references from “Bookmarks”, print material, etc. Clearly, when the most preferred source is not found, use the next source, and so on. Make an effort to find the primary sources given above. These exist often enough and can settle doubts over artist and writer credits, catalog number format, and more.

• **Enter titles with upper and lower case characters - **see III. Capitalization. below. Do not enter titles into the database in all capitals or all lowercase. EXCEPTION: Stylistic quirks - oddities. These should be reproduced as best as possible.

• Use the language version of a title as given on its release. It must be in roman letters or else it must be romanized - see below. Example: When a song has a Spanish title and the lyrics are in English, use the Spanish title and not any English title that may exist. The song language here will be entered as English and the song will then be sorted in the database with any other titles in the English language.

  • Use properly accented characters. Enter them in Unicode format; you probably are doing this already. This is normally not a problem. If you get an error message during entry after a cut-and-paste entry in the title field, it is highly likely that an apostrophe or dash was rejected instead. Just retype those characters in the title field.

EXCEPTION 1: Stylistic quirks. These should be reproduced as best as possible. EXCEPTION 2: Variant characters are sometimes used on releases. Example: a German title might use ss instead of ß, a common practice. Follow the release.

• When a complete title is given in language A and also with a title in language B, enter the title that is given first on the release as the first title in the database entry. Then enter the second name in parentheses, whether it is that way on the releases or not. Title entirely in non-roman alphabets must be romanized - see below.

• Format and punctuation.

  • Always include a parenthetical part of a title if it appears that way on its release. Parenthetical parts might precede or follow the main title. Examples: (I Remember) Spain or Are You There (With Another Girl). Songs might use only the main part of the legal (registered) title, or might not use parentheses that its original does, or change ‘He’ to ‘She’ – follow the release used for each song.

EXCEPTION: Titles sometimes have the first word moved to the end of the title to support alphabetization schemes. Enter these titles in the correct order. Example: Love Supreme, (A). This song should be entered as A Love Supreme.

• When a title is in two separate parts as a main title and subtitle, the whole is entered with each part separated by a dash, with a space on either side of the dash. A colon is used only when it is used on releases. Example: based on the release photo shown here: http://www.secondhandsongs.com/release/6546, the album title is The Bridge – A Tribute to Neil Young. EXCEPTION: Do not do this unnecessarily when the artist name is used to complete an album title. See below.

Further, releases packaging often lists personnel, featured performers or other elements like ‘contains the hit single X’. Do not add these as part of the album title. Do not add a secondary (or third, etc.) subtitle. An editor must have a clear idea which is the primary subtitle. There may be a common subtitle used by other resources to clarify the choice.

• Retain/keep stylistic quirks as they are on the release – odd spellings and capitalization, for example. An editor’s note should be made to explain this. These should be reproduced as best as possible.

• Retain/keep spelling errors as they are on the release. A comment may be required to explain it.

• Retain/keep number formats as they are on the release. Example: When a release title includes 14 then enter that into the database, not fourteen, not XIV. Roman numerals should be kept as roman numerals, and so forth.

• Retain/keep punctuation as it is on the release, whether considered correct or incorrect. This includes double or single quotes.

• Retain/keep abbreviations as they are on the release. Ampersands (&) are retained and not changed to and. Conversely, do not create abbreviations where there are none on the release.

• Specifics for releases titles:

  • Use the artist name for a release title when it is the only major (large, prominent) text displayed on a release. EPs are often this way, with song titles also displayed on the sleeve but in smaller type, and no other text. Vinyl labels often do not give prominence in size or position to the artist name over song titles. When such conflicting situations occur for the same release, the title is then not the artist name, as the label information prevails over the packaging. You may not have a label and for practicality, if the artist name is displayed in large letters on a sleeve, use it as the title. You will be required to change it if conflicting label data is found later. Example: http://www.secondhandsongs.com/release/20221

  • When a release does not have a title otherwise, Use the first song on it as the release title. This is a standard music world convention. However, do not assume this kind of title is correct for database purposes when found in websites, etc.

    This is how most release singles are titled, with the A-side used for the release title. Sometimes the A-side is not clearly indicated and you will have to consult discographies and other sources to see what is commonly used for the A-side. Split singles (i.e., by two different artists) should use both song titles separated by a slash as the release title.

• Use complete album titles that incorporate the artist name. Example: Use The Buckaroos Play the Hits and not Play the Hits for the release title. That data happens to be formatted to make the arrangement clear; artistic license/stupidity may mean this is not clear. Live in Las Vegas is commonly used as a standalone name and is acceptable for database purposes. You must still check the release to make sure the artist name is not to be included.

• When different releases by the same artist have the same title, enter the later one(s) (as they are entered in the database, not necessarily in release date order) with the title of the first release, followed by a space and a short phrase in square brackets. The short phrase will be an alternate title, a common nickname for the album, a specific release format like EP, CD, an appropriate number or a combination as needed. Examples: Peter Gabriel [III - Melt]. With an existing EP in the database titled Sandie a vinyl LP for the same artist later added to the database is titled Sandie [LP]. These releases are typically named after the artist only.

• When variant releases like reissues have the same title as the original, enter them with the original title followed by a space and a short explanatory note in square brackets. The short explanatory note will be either a type like Reissue, Remaster, Limited edition; release formats like CD-R, EP; country of release with full names in the form given in the database popup lists; or numerals; or a combination of these as needed. Example: The Atlantic Sessions [Remaster - Japan]. This will apply to single releases where a more specific description is needed. Example: Yesterday [Limited edition - Germany]. Link an original release and its variant(s) using the comment field.

• Specifics for song titles:

  • Medleys:
    • When a medley has a title, use it. Examples: The Christmas Medley, Suite Charlotte Pike Medley.
    • When a title is not given, enter the component songs in order, separated by slashes. This becomes the de facto title. Example: Sun King/Mean Mr. Mustard/Polythene Pam/She Came in Through the Bathroom Window/I Want You (She's So Heavy).

II. When there is no release, an editor will determine the proper title using research at hand.

• Style rules including capitalization still apply. See Format and Punctuation above.

• Internet download:

  • When the exact title or title format is in question:

    • 1. Use the title from the originating source of the download over artist and label site information (if different).
    • 2. Use titles from artist and label sites over any other reference.

  • Indicate the download source in general terms in the comment field. No external links are to be entered in comments. External links may be entered as reference in editors notes . Examples: Available from artist website., Downloadable from fan site., Made available through iTunes for a limited time..

• Classical works:

  • Popular titles (if any) are preferred over work catalog numbers. The titles will be in the language (if any) of the originating work.

  • Alternate titles like the work catalog number (if any) will be entered in the comment field.

  • The title of its originating work (if any) will be entered in the comment field. Example: See the database entry for Pas des fleurs: http://www.secondhandsongs.com/song/6213.

• Film and stage first performances:

  • Enter the title of the originating work (e.g. film or stage musical) in the comment field. Example: From the musical “Oklahoma”.

• Traditionals:

  • Some explanation of the origin of a song is required. Example: Scottish folk song. may be the only piece of information you have, but is minimally sufficient.

III. Capitalization.

• Capitalize the first letter of a song or release title. EXCEPTION: Stylistic quirks.

• Capitalize proper nouns, i.e. names, placenames, etc. Each noun part of a hyphenated proper noun is capitalized. Examples: l'Orchestre National de Monte-Carlo, Pieces of a Dream, Stratford-on-Avon, Pointe-à-Pitre. There may be stylized names that may not capitalize this way - follow the release/source. Initials are capitalized when they are part of an artist, song or release name. Examples: the band KMFDM, the release B.B. King's Greatest Hits.

Be aware of parts of names that are not capitalized. Example: James apRoberts, Emilio deRosa. The latter name can be problematic - is it deRosa, de Rosa, DeRosa, or De Rosa? Further research into the proper name format may be needed over what you may see on a release or its packaging.

You can be fooled by proper nouns made so by their context/being used as s particular name. Editors are probably aware that The White House is the US presidential residence and is capitalized and that a title like La musique des XIXe Jeux Olympiques d'hiver is properly capitalized. But perhaps more obscure is a release title like Al balcón de la Casa Rosada, properly capitalized here if referring to the seat of Argentina's government. A direct translation is just "On the balcony of the pink house". That would result in capitalization as Al balcón de la casa rosada if you were unaware of that context. Follow the release/source but confirm that what you have is a proper noun or not.

Capitalization is also a function of context in the database. For the performer field, the entry is a descriptive phrase rather than a title (name). General terms like chorus, orchestra that are not part of a name are not capitalized. For a more extensive treatment of English rules see the Appendix below.

• For titles in mixed languages you must determine the primary language of the song or release. This will be based on the primary language of the song or release, the nationality of the performer, the country of origin of the song or release. Then use the capitalization rules for the primary language.

N.B. There are further capitalization or other requirements for English, German, Portuguese, Romanian. See the appendix below. There are no further capitalization rules for romanized Chinese, Dutch, Finnish, French, romanized Greek, Italian, romanized Japanese, Latin, Norwegian or romanized Russian. The style sheet will be updated for other languages. For dialects (e.g., Creole, Cajun), follow the release/source as their rules may not follow those of the parent language.