Oh yeah, here’s a famous example:
I don’t know if this album was physically manufactured with the original cover art or not. It sounds like the public release date was after the 11th, but that was postponed until the new cover art was made.
Anyway, Wikipedia has a lot of stuff documented
UPDATE
There was a promotional release with the original cover art
Street Date 9/4/01 For Promotional Use Only
So… was this “Canceled”, or “Withdrawn”, or neither?
As has previously been covered, I don’t think a promo can be ‘withdrawn’.
I haven’t read everything, but I don’t think it’s that complex tbh:
Released, then taken off the shelves: Withdrawn
Planned but never released: Cancelled
Something that was just sold out or stopped being manufactured ‘naturally’ doesn’t meet either of these criteria.
So… I started asking these questions, because of all this stuff:
https://musicbrainz.org/search?query=status%3Awithdrawn&type=release&limit=25&method=advanced
Is all of this stuff actually “Withdrawn”, and not just because an artist deleted their Bandcamp account.
(Skimming through the list, the Nirvana Pennyroyal Tea CD single definitely meets the criteria for Withdrawn status, and, maybe, maybe, the Taylor Swift stuff?.. but I don’t know about anything else…)
imo an artist deleting their Bandcamp account, or removing older albums because they have new ones they want to present instead, can be considered part of the ‘natural’ release cycle. Just like physical media eventually not being for sale anymore.
It’s a bit grey, but I think the artist or the label has to really disown the original release.
P.s. I didn’t realize Reo’s description for these new status’ wasn’t in the guidelines? That I could find? Something should go in huh
with the given definition
A previously official release that was actively withdrawn from circulation by the artist and/or their record company after being released, whether to replace it with a new version with some changes or to just retire it altogether (e.g. because of legal issues).
and especially considering the context given in the ticket
- Artist changing their name, and updating releases to use their new name.
&
A part of this behaviour will be to de-emphasize the withdrawn listings in favour of the Official status releases in release group listings, while allowing the withdrawn listings to still be available for historical reference, and to allow tagging to continue to work for people who obtained the release before it was withdrawn.
it seems like very many of these fit… i’m biased, because i added about 50 lol, but for example i happen to know $WAGGOT’s withdrawn releases are definitely because he actively hates them and doesn’t want people to listen anymore
i hate that my only frame of reference for everything is $WAGGOT lol, i can feel myself becoming annoying about it, but i just edit him a lot so i use him as examples for everything all the time
it’s a tough line to draw… i guess i personally would say “if the artist still considers it part of their discography, then it wasn’t withdrawn, just ‘sold out’ (or the digital equivalent)”. but the problem lies in what that means… not every artist is kind enough to give us a webpage listing what they consider to be their full discography.
i think once withdrawn releases are shown with the official discography it won’t matter so much
Something no longer available on Spotify is definitely not a case for Withdrawn, without corroborating evidence directly from the artist.
Not Withdrawn:
And then there’s Edit #87300648 - MusicBrainz which I don’t understand at all, since a real edit note was not provided.
How about if that release was removed from all streaming services, not just Spotify?
Here’s a release where this was the case. It has since been superseded by three separate releases with (formerly) region-specific bonus tracks, issued by the artist’s management company.
@reosarevok : We’re going to need some Style guidance here:
https://musicbrainz.org/edit/87300648
What should the status be on an album pre-release single track release after the album is released?
I’d say if in doubt, we should always err on the side of “Official”, which is the most neutral option. I’d only use “Withdrawn” if the intention is fairly clear.
I’d say “I hate all my music and I want nobody to listen to it” is pretty much “Withdrawn” though 
Some classical composers do that, and basically say “this work I wrote as a teenager or whatever shouldn’t be performed anymore” - of course, people will play it once they’re long dead if they’re now popular and famous and they start having “LITERALLY ALL X EVER WROTE” boxsets made But there’s a clear intention.
If, for example, the situation was “I can’t be bothered to deal with music anymore because I don’t get enough money out of it to compensate the time I dedicate, so whatever, I’m dropping my bandcamp and stuff” I’d probably keep it as Official.
@reosarevok, I have made an addition to the Style/Release doc with a summary, do you want to review?
Anyone else who’s keen please also pick it apart. I make no pretense of staying neutral so please balance it out!
Examples: Neil Young, and Black Dresses (to stop a song from being used in TicToK videos.)
So… Breaking news: Bandcamp is getting bought out, and I’ve already heard one artist talking about boycotting Bandcamp, and deleting all of their music from the platform.
I forgot to say that I transcluded this!
Am I doing it right? I figured this seems like a clear enough case of a digital release being replaced with a different one, rather than the usual vanishing for seemingly no reason.
For anyone joining here later, note that there is a more focused topic discussing what is and isn’t “Withdrawn” at What is "Withdrawn": a discussion thread + examples
Surely these terms would make more sense as secondary Release Statuses (schema addition)?
Edit: Upon further reflection, perhaps these terms would be even better suited as optional attributes of Release Events themselves? I suspect that this would better account for inevitable corner-cases.
I don’t think a secondary release type would work, since in most cases the release is replaced by a different release, whether with new album art, different artist credits, or a slightly different tracklist.
however, withdrawing a release in a particular country is quite possible. I don’t know of any particular cases offhand tho… even so, that could be added as a separate withdrawn release in whatever countries.
I don’t think a secondary release type would work, since in most cases the release is replaced by a different release,
I was referring to a hypothetical “Release” → “Secondary Status” (not “Release Group” → “Secondary Type”).
however, withdrawing a release in a particular country is quite possible. I don’t know of any particular cases offhand tho… even so, that could be added as a separate withdrawn release in whatever countries.
Could be, but wouldn’t that defeat the conceptual purpose of Releases (a representation of a particular media) and Release Events (the release of a media in X territory) in the first place?
could, it really depends on how you determine the line between different releases. for what it’s worth, I probably wouldn’t split releases like this, I was just putting it out there as an option~
do physical releases actually have to be made to be added?
because i’m questioning the validity of a vinyl that was scheduled, but not funded enough
vs a vinyl that actually exists, but was not released.
yes, I believe those would both be cancelled releases.