# About localized URL relationships **URL:** \ **Category:** MusicBrainz\ **Tags:** en, url-relationships, digital-media\ **Created:** [February 24, 2025, 7:10pm UTC](https://community.metabrainz.org/t/about-localized-url-relationships/745731 "2025-02-24T19:10:03Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![afrocat](https://community.metabrainz.org/user_avatar/community.metabrainz.org/afrocat/32/64972_2.png) [@afrocat](https://community.metabrainz.org/u/afrocat)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2025, 7:10pm UTC](https://community.metabrainz.org/t/about-localized-url-relationships/745731/1 "2025-02-24T19:10:03Z")
Apple music, iTunes, Amazon, Qobuz (and some other) URL relationships have some form of localization in the link itself, for example, [https://music.apple.com/us/artist/203209842](https://music.apple.com/us/artist/203209842) has /us/, and [https://music.apple.com/gb/artist/203209842](https://music.apple.com/gb/artist/203209842) has /gb/. Both of these links are valid, but which one is “correct”? Alix Perez is a British artist, so I would expect to see the /gb/ URL and not the /us/ URL, but at the moment, he has both versions linked as relationships on [his MB page](https://musicbrainz.org/artist/53d47497-63eb-4769-9013-5e34740a7e2d). It gets more interesting if we consider that he was born in Belgium. Should the relationship be [https://music.apple.com/be/artist/203209842](https://music.apple.com/be/artist/203209842) then? What about a group where the members are from different areas? [SHADES](https://musicbrainz.org/artist/f0e0ba82-c18e-45c9-80b8-75fa3d45e62c) doesn’t really have an area, one of the members is from the US, and the other one is from the UK. Which apple music link is the “correct” one for this group? I’m sure we can discuss other artists, like the worldwide [MusicBrainz Sound Team](https://musicbrainz.org/artist/6a0b0138-dc06-4d5c-87b3-fab64f0fd326), if it had an apple music page 😆 Here’s some other examples of artist pages with “incorrect” URL relationships: - [Visages - MusicBrainz](https://musicbrainz.org/artist/73c1b3ba-19c8-41c5-b627-d5c74c20a5e0) French group, has /gb/ apple music link, and /us/ iTunes link. - [IMANU - MusicBrainz](https://musicbrainz.org/artist/6d1a95e8-d0cd-4f88-84fa-af308c627acd) Born in France, based in the Netherlands, has /us/ iTunes and apple music links. - [Pendulum - MusicBrainz](https://musicbrainz.org/artist/beff21d3-88c7-4ee0-8b7a-40b6db22c6d7) Australian group, has US amazon, apple music, and iTunes links, and a UK qobuz link. Another thing I wanted to bring some attention to is [Harmony’s](https://harmony.pulsewidth.org.uk/) release actions feature. [Example here](https://harmony.pulsewidth.org.uk/release/actions?release_mbid=023e1822-b70c-4683-b8c9-200f54beab3d). It’s very useful, especially for newer editors to have an easy way to add URL relationships to artists, but it does create cases where duplicate links are added without double-checking. Circling back to the example above of Alix Perez, the /gb/ link was added [in this edit](https://musicbrainz.org/edit/117039511) with the help of Harmony, when the page already had an (incorrect, IMO) [/us/ link](https://musicbrainz.org/edit/114945117) added a few months prior. And continuing down this path, if I were to use the release actions page I linked above, I would end up adding a third, /nz/ apple music link to his page, because Harmony’s preferred location was set to NZ, so it found links that work in New Zealand. There’s also the case of releases. In my experience, the vast majority of digital releases are added with either US or GB links, regardless of where the artist or label are from. Again, these are perfectly valid, but one has to wonder if it’s the correct approach. Some time ago I asked @agatzk about it, in this edit [Edit #110247400 - MusicBrainz](https://musicbrainz.org/edit/110247400) I pretty much agree completely with their reasoning. If it can be any link, why not the artist’s country? In the same vein, I recently finished updating the label [Big Fish Recordings](https://musicbrainz.org/label/74ebfdf7-631a-45b6-82b9-32e23f5b1a03). I tried to add /ca/ links only, because it’s a Canadian label, which seems more correct to me than leaving it to the default /gb/, and easier than looking up the area of every artist 😆 I just wanted to create this thread to get a general consensus on what to do in these cases. As I mentioned before, all of these links are perfectly valid, but there’s gotta be an agreed upon way to handle these things. ---
**Author:** ![afrocat](https://community.metabrainz.org/user_avatar/community.metabrainz.org/afrocat/32/64972_2.png) [@afrocat](https://community.metabrainz.org/u/afrocat)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2025, 7:12pm UTC](https://community.metabrainz.org/t/about-localized-url-relationships/745731/2 "2025-02-24T19:12:41Z")
To kick off the thread, I found this interesting link from apple - [https://performance-partners.apple.com/linking](https://performance-partners.apple.com/linking) Here’s the interesting bit ![image](https://community.metabrainz.org/uploads/default/original/3X/1/0/107d6683af985b460d353bb9b659a2256a3fee8c.png) So a link like [https://geo.music.apple.com/artist/203209842](https://geo.music.apple.com/artist/203209842) will work no matter what ---
**Author:** ![aerozol](https://community.metabrainz.org/user_avatar/community.metabrainz.org/aerozol/32/116_2.png) [@aerozol](https://community.metabrainz.org/u/aerozol)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2025, 7:50pm UTC](https://community.metabrainz.org/t/about-localized-url-relationships/745731/3 "2025-02-24T19:50:53Z")
It’s definitely worth creating issues in Harmony if you have ideas for improvement: > **[kellnerd/harmony](https://github.com/kellnerd/harmony/issues)** > > Music Metadata Aggregator and MusicBrainz Importer - kellnerd/harmony I currently can’t find any there related to artist URL seeding. ---
**Author:** ![agatzk](https://community.metabrainz.org/user_avatar/community.metabrainz.org/agatzk/32/44684_2.png) [@agatzk](https://community.metabrainz.org/u/agatzk)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2025, 8:05pm UTC](https://community.metabrainz.org/t/about-localized-url-relationships/745731/4 "2025-02-24T20:05:03Z")
My opinion on this hasn’t changed much. Redundant links are no good, so for stores with localized URLs, why not add the one most relevant to the artist. We could perhaps standardize on global links, but it would probably need to be optional for local cases. Like how we automatically remove the words from a URL: [https://music.apple.com/us/album/2025-super-bowl-lix-megamix-dj-mix/1793843454](https://music.apple.com/us/album/2025-super-bowl-lix-megamix-dj-mix/1793843454) becomes [https://music.apple.com/us/album/1793843454](https://music.apple.com/us/album/1793843454) Maybe the best solution is a simple guideline e.g. “When adding external links to digital services or stores with localized URLs (e.g. Apple Music), the locale most relevant to the artist should generally be used.” I think we agree that this would not be enforced—any region link is valid and never does this guideline enable the removal or ‘no-voting’ of correct, unique data. * * * **On Harmony:** > [@afrocat](#): > > but it does create cases where duplicate links are added without double-checking. I have also encountered this issue and already mistakenly annoyed an editor [about it](https://musicbrainz.org/search/edits?auto_edit_filter=&order=desc&negation=0&combinator=and&conditions.0.field=voter&conditions.0.operator=%3D&conditions.0.name=agatzk&conditions.0.voter_id=2107733&conditions.0.args=0&conditions.1.field=editor&conditions.1.operator=%3D&conditions.1.name=mcknightenham&conditions.1.args.0=2288146&conditions.2.field=type&conditions.2.operator=%3D&conditions.2.args=90%2C233). That said, an external link to the service/store with a non-relevant location is also great (non-duplicate), so I think it’s good Harmony is helping us complete this data easily. It’s also fairly simple to detect and clean up the duplicates. ---
**Author:** ![afrocat](https://community.metabrainz.org/user_avatar/community.metabrainz.org/afrocat/32/64972_2.png) [@afrocat](https://community.metabrainz.org/u/afrocat)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2025, 8:23pm UTC](https://community.metabrainz.org/t/about-localized-url-relationships/745731/5 "2025-02-24T20:23:36Z")
> [@aerozol](#): > > It’s definitely worth creating issues in Harmony if you have ideas for improvement: Right now I wouldn’t really know how to tackle this. Maybe Harmony checks if the artist already has any apple music link? I’ll think of something and contact kellnerd there, or through the discord. > [@agatzk](#): > > We could perhaps standardize on global links In 2023 I learned that we can’t just remove the country code from apple music links > But we could do something with the global links I mentioned above. I have seen them being used on [RateYourMusic](https://rateyourmusic.com/release/ep/alix-perez/without-end/) > [@agatzk](#): > > Maybe the best solution is a simple guideline e.g. “When adding external links to digital services or stores with localized URLs (e.g. Apple Music), the locale most relevant to the artist should generally be used.” Agree 100% ---
**Author:** ![glawie](https://community.metabrainz.org/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/g/c4cdca/32.png) [@glawie](https://community.metabrainz.org/u/glawie)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2025, 2:22am UTC](https://community.metabrainz.org/t/about-localized-url-relationships/745731/6 "2025-02-25T02:22:21Z")
I guess the high proportion of US/GB links will be due to editor locations? I’d suspect there are more editors here from English-language locations than others. Could the code for the link-already-exists checks when adding External Links to an artist be adapted to ignore the country code between [apple.com/](http://apple.com/)??/album perhaps? It doesn’t solve for ‘correctness’ but it’d cut down the duplication. For bands with members from multiple countries (or folks from ‘disputed’ territories), there’s often not going to be one subjectively correct answer. Even for individuals: born in W, grew up in X, initially famous in Y, now lives and performs in Z. Or born in (unknown), lives in (unknown), releases music only online on internationally-accessible platforms would be another extreme. Global links that aim towards the user’s own locale would be best, in the same way wikidata links are preferred over wikipedia, if it can be generated in some way. ---
**Author:** ![reosarevok](https://community.metabrainz.org/user_avatar/community.metabrainz.org/reosarevok/32/69228_2.png) [@reosarevok](https://community.metabrainz.org/u/reosarevok)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2025, 9:45am UTC](https://community.metabrainz.org/t/about-localized-url-relationships/745731/7 "2025-02-25T09:45:55Z")
Different countries in most of those platforms can have somewhat different content, so in theory at least there’s a bit of a point on having multiple entries (that’s also why we don’t just standardize them all even when country-less links are supported by the sites - the artist page might not even exist in the country a country-less link gets redirected to). In most cases though, I just add _a_ link and I don’t think too much about what country Google sent me to, personally - most of the info is going to be as useful looking at the Guyana Apple Music page as the Great Britain one. ---
**Author:** ![tigerman325](https://community.metabrainz.org/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/t/b9bd4f/32.png) [@tigerman325](https://community.metabrainz.org/u/tigerman325)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2025, 2:57pm UTC](https://community.metabrainz.org/t/about-localized-url-relationships/745731/8 "2025-02-25T14:57:45Z")
What I have been doing for digital releases (and I’m not the first, I picked this up from another editor but can’t remember who) is looking at the country code within the ISRCs and pick the most common one for the country code for URLs for Apple Music & Qobuz if that link works in that country. So, typically US artist will have US links, etc. If it’s not available (US artist on different label in Europe, for example), then I’ll pick one that works. ---
**Author:** ![Comrade\_Mike](https://community.metabrainz.org/user_avatar/community.metabrainz.org/comrade_mike/32/60973_2.png) [@Comrade\_Mike](https://community.metabrainz.org/u/Comrade_Mike)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2025, 10:29pm UTC](https://community.metabrainz.org/t/about-localized-url-relationships/745731/9 "2025-02-25T22:29:43Z")
I add links to other countries when there’s significant differences in an artist’s discography, such as albums being released by different labels. ---
**Author:** ![afrocat](https://community.metabrainz.org/user_avatar/community.metabrainz.org/afrocat/32/64972_2.png) [@afrocat](https://community.metabrainz.org/u/afrocat)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2025, 10:59pm UTC](https://community.metabrainz.org/t/about-localized-url-relationships/745731/10 "2025-02-25T22:59:36Z")
I don’t think I’ve ever seen something like that. Do you have an example? ---
**Author:** ![DenizC](https://community.metabrainz.org/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@DenizC](https://community.metabrainz.org/u/DenizC)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2025, 3:50pm UTC](https://community.metabrainz.org/t/about-localized-url-relationships/745731/11 "2025-03-01T15:50:59Z")
I didn’t think much of the global links on Apple Music. But now that I tried them, I’ve realized that you’d get 404ed if trying to access a release that’s not available in your region. Making them the norm on MB might be problematic for releases that have a smaller reach of only a few countries or are excluded from major markets. Try [this album](https://musicbrainz.org/release/99471a0a-aaf4-4d64-8fa2-56e15903d48f) for example that should be available only in the German-speaking countries (DE+AT+CH): [https://geo.music.apple.com/album/522069047](https://geo.music.apple.com/album/522069047) Qobuz has a similar feature where you can drop the localization (us-en or other two-letter code combos for countries and languages) from their URLs, it will automatically direct you (depending on your prior browsing) either to the local store of your current location or the one that you last browsed. And if the release is not found there, it will re-direct you to the artist page. An example of how far you can go in simplifying Qobuz links: [https://www.qobuz.com/album/\_/iya3267xo3joa](https://www.qobuz.com/album/_/iya3267xo3joa) Admittedly, I’ve been guilty of adding these unlocalized Qobuz links, mostly because I use the [YAMBS seeder](https://yambs.erat.org/) (which drops the localization from URLs) where I can test releases for their UPC before I add them to MB. Maybe it’s not _that_ big a deal for a service that’s currently available in only 20+ countries. ---
**Author:** ![sibilant](https://community.metabrainz.org/user_avatar/community.metabrainz.org/sibilant/32/32220_2.png) [@sibilant](https://community.metabrainz.org/u/sibilant)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2025, 4:58pm UTC](https://community.metabrainz.org/t/about-localized-url-relationships/745731/12 "2025-03-01T16:58:21Z")
> [@agatzk](#): > > Redundant links are no good, so for stores with localized URLs, why not add the one most relevant to the artist. I agree with you in principle. Fortunately, editors don’t have to guess what region is most relevant to the artist, for that should be the artist’s “Area”. So, generally the URL’s region should be the same as the artist’s area. But, I was happy to learn from @afrocat that Apple Music URLs can still be region-free, as that’s my preference. ---
**Author:** ![afrocat](https://community.metabrainz.org/user_avatar/community.metabrainz.org/afrocat/32/64972_2.png) [@afrocat](https://community.metabrainz.org/u/afrocat)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2025, 7:15pm UTC](https://community.metabrainz.org/t/about-localized-url-relationships/745731/13 "2025-03-01T19:15:39Z")
Maybe I misunderstood how the apple music geo links work, then. Opening [https://music.apple.com/at/album/522069047](https://music.apple.com/at/album/522069047) works just fine, but [https://geo.music.apple.com/album/522069047](https://geo.music.apple.com/album/522069047) (no /at/) results in a 404. Opening [https://geo.music.apple.com/at/album/522069047](https://geo.music.apple.com/at/album/522069047) however, redirects me to [https://music.apple.com/mx/album/fantastisk-allerede/393489729](https://music.apple.com/mx/album/fantastisk-allerede/393489729) which is a different version of that release, with a different barcode. I think these geo links are supposed to redirect me to whatever’s actually available in my region instead of 404ing. Useful for casual users, not so useful for us I suppose. ---
**Author:** ![ernstlx](https://community.metabrainz.org/user_avatar/community.metabrainz.org/ernstlx/32/27258_2.png) [@ernstlx](https://community.metabrainz.org/u/ernstlx)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2025, 7:59pm UTC](https://community.metabrainz.org/t/about-localized-url-relationships/745731/14 "2025-03-01T19:59:04Z")
> [@afrocat](#): > > Opening [‎Fantastisk Allerede – Album von Kari Bremnes – Apple Music](https://music.apple.com/at/album/522069047) works just fine, but [https://geo.music.apple.com/album/522069047](https://geo.music.apple.com/album/522069047) (no /at/) results in a 404. I get no error - I’m redirected to _at_ and that’s correct for my location. ---
**Author:** ![afrocat](https://community.metabrainz.org/user_avatar/community.metabrainz.org/afrocat/32/64972_2.png) [@afrocat](https://community.metabrainz.org/u/afrocat)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2025, 8:09pm UTC](https://community.metabrainz.org/t/about-localized-url-relationships/745731/15 "2025-03-01T20:09:46Z")
Yeah, if you live in Austria it doesn’t need to redirect to anywhere else. As DenizC mentioned, that particular release is available in DE, AT, and CH. Attempting to open [https://geo.music.apple.com/album/522069047](https://geo.music.apple.com/album/522069047) (no country code) from anywhere else other than those 3 countries should result in a 404. But including the country code in that same “geo” URL results in a redirect to an available release for the user’s country, in my case, the version that’s available in Mexico. Like I said, useful for casual users who just want to access the music, not so useful for us, who care about the details of every version 😆 ---
**Author:** ![glawie](https://community.metabrainz.org/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/g/c4cdca/32.png) [@glawie](https://community.metabrainz.org/u/glawie)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2025, 10:26pm UTC](https://community.metabrainz.org/t/about-localized-url-relationships/745731/16 "2025-03-01T22:26:26Z")
Confirming that trying to visit [https://geo.music.apple.com/album/52206904](https://geo.music.apple.com/album/52206904) from the UK redirects to [https://music.apple.com/album/522069047](https://music.apple.com/album/522069047) …which gives “The page you are looking for can’t be found”. ---
**Author:** ![Comrade\_Mike](https://community.metabrainz.org/user_avatar/community.metabrainz.org/comrade_mike/32/60973_2.png) [@Comrade\_Mike](https://community.metabrainz.org/u/Comrade_Mike)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2025, 9:04pm UTC](https://community.metabrainz.org/t/about-localized-url-relationships/745731/17 "2025-03-24T21:04:47Z")
> [@afrocat](#): > > I don’t think I’ve ever seen something like that. Do you have an example? [Sigur Rós](https://musicbrainz.org/artist/f6f2326f-6b25-4170-b89d-e235b25508e8)’ discography is released by Krunk (the band’s own label) in North America ([US example](https://music.apple.com/us/artist/sigur-r%C3%B3s/73720797)); Krunk and local labels in [Iceland](https://music.apple.com/is/artist/sigur-r%C3%B3s/73720797); and Krunk and Parlophone everywhere else ([UK example](https://music.apple.com/gb/artist/sigur-r%C3%B3s/73720797)). ---
**Author:** ![boysmithers](https://community.metabrainz.org/user_avatar/community.metabrainz.org/boysmithers/32/94769_2.png) [@boysmithers](https://community.metabrainz.org/u/boysmithers)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2025, 3:18pm UTC](https://community.metabrainz.org/t/about-localized-url-relationships/745731/18 "2025-04-25T15:18:08Z")
Just jumping in here with a **Qobuz** specific solution… It was pointed out to me in the Qobuz forum that copying and pasting a url like this: > **[Qobuz](https://play.qobuz.com/album/zd4kmpbj2n7ha)** > > Listen to your music in high quality gives a region specific version of the album. BUT if you click share on the album page you get a “universal” link like this: > **[Open Qobuz](https://open.qobuz.com/album/zd4kmpbj2n7ha)** This is what I’ll be doing in future! Maybe there is a similar way of doing it for other streaming sites. ---
**Author:** ![tigerman325](https://community.metabrainz.org/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/t/b9bd4f/32.png) [@tigerman325](https://community.metabrainz.org/u/tigerman325)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2025, 4:15pm UTC](https://community.metabrainz.org/t/about-localized-url-relationships/745731/19 "2025-04-25T16:15:18Z")
Just use the “[www.qobuz.com](http://www.qobuz.com)”, ie. [https://www.qobuz.com/us-en/album/sallinen-sinfonia-chorali-string-quartet-paavo-berglund/zd4kmpbj2n7ha](https://www.qobuz.com/us-en/album/sallinen-sinfonia-chorali-string-quartet-paavo-berglund/zd4kmpbj2n7ha) link for where the ISRCs or artist is from. Your “universal” link isn’t universal. It only shows if you live in the region where it is. For example, if the release is only available in France, for example, it will give me a not found response since I live in the US. I can’t even view it. However, the [www.qobuz.com](http://www.qobuz.com) link will at least let anyone view the page no matter where they live. You are correct about using “play.qobuz” though. No one should use that as it won’t even let you view it unless you are a paying member. ---
**Author:** ![afrocat](https://community.metabrainz.org/user_avatar/community.metabrainz.org/afrocat/32/64972_2.png) [@afrocat](https://community.metabrainz.org/u/afrocat)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2025, 2:20am UTC](https://community.metabrainz.org/t/about-localized-url-relationships/745731/20 "2025-04-28T02:20:19Z")
> [@Comrade\_Mike](#): > > [Sigur Rós](https://musicbrainz.org/artist/f6f2326f-6b25-4170-b89d-e235b25508e8)’ discography is released by Krunk (the band’s own label) in North America ([US example](https://music.apple.com/us/artist/sigur-r%C3%B3s/73720797)); Krunk and local labels in [Iceland](https://music.apple.com/is/artist/sigur-r%C3%B3s/73720797); and Krunk and Parlophone everywhere else ([UK example](https://music.apple.com/gb/artist/sigur-r%C3%B3s/73720797)). I’ve been thinking about this again, and I feel like this artist should only have the /is/ link, and keep the US & UK links at the release level where appropriate. I think the artist URL relationship should just represent the fact that the music is available in that platform, and if people are looking for the specific US and UK releases, then they can look at the actual releases in MB, which should have those links. [Next page](https://community.metabrainz.org/t/about-localized-url-relationships/745731.md?page=2)