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Per my understanding of site rules a performance is required to be indexed to the earliest (possibly earliest known) release, with discretion to index to additional other releases (e.g. the related album, compilation).
Some personal experience history:
While I do exert reasonable efforts to find the earliest release for submission, sometimes the fresh eyes of editors find an earlier one. When one is found, some editors process without downgrading the submission's quality, others do downgrade. When my fresh eyes come across an earlier release for an existing SHS entry, I will usually/often (but not always) file an error report to document my findings. Certainly something star-worthy is error-worthy.
As stated above, I have had editors downgrade a submission based on their finding an earlier single or compilation. Hard to believe, but I have had an editor downgrade when they preferred a different compilation over the one submitted even when released on the exact same day. As stated in other threads, I have had an editor reject a submission just because they had a "hunch" that there was an earlier release.
Recently I posted related error reports with evidence that some relevant digital "teaser" singles were released a bit earlier than the album on site. In this case the report was met with hostility. (This from an editor who has materially downgraded submissions for not finding a Discogs entry that did not exist at the date of submission.)
In summary, I'm facing editors who get uppity when I don't find the earliest release and others that get uppity when I find a release earlier than they did. Granted, no one can expect, much less demand, uniform personalities, but consistent rules, guidelines, and submission expectations are a necessity for this type of database and contributor activity.
I suppose I am looking for confirmation of the applicable guidelines and rules, but also this is a request for the editors to develop some consistency in regards to this and other matters.