2 artists 1 release group

MusicBrainz
1

hello,

i’m wondering how to handle these two release groups:

these are the same album, by the same artist, containing the same recordings, with a slightly different track order and a different title. the first release group is the original European release, the second release is a US release by a different label who, for some reason, decided to credit the album to “Walter Trout” rather than “Walter Trout Band”. (source)

these releases should be in the same release group, but since “Walter Trout” and “Walter Trout Band” are different artists in the database, they can’t be since (as far as i know) a release group can only belong to one artist.

so, how to handle this?

  • add the same single release group to both artists, using a magic trick i’m not aware of (this would be the ideal solution)
  • merge the US release group into the European release group but leave the existing release/track credits (but i think this will make it hard for people to find the US album)
  • a secret third option

or, perhaps just leave things as they are, but i think it’s also confusing to have two release groups for the same album.

2 Likes
2

Perhaps the artist for both should be “Walter Trout Band”, but for the US release this should be credited as “Walter Trout”.

2 Likes
3

For the release group, style is to use the artist credit from the earliest release: Style / Release Group - MusicBrainz
This seems to be Walter Trout Band in this case.

4 Likes
4

I agree with both of the above. The original release is the one that defines the Release Group. Then when a different market changes the details, it is still the same Release and sits in the same Release Group. The album is basically the same original album, just different credits for that different market.

3 Likes
5

okay, it sounds like the consensus is to merge them into one release group. thanks everyone!