# Article capitalization in an artist's title

**URL:** <https://community.metabrainz.org/t/article-capitalization-in-an-artists-title/814239>\
**Category:** Style\
**Tags:** capitalization, artist-name\
**Created:** [February 16, 2026, 9:11pm UTC](https://community.metabrainz.org/t/article-capitalization-in-an-artists-title/814239 "2026-02-16T21:11:56Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 5\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![k-f](https://community.metabrainz.org/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/k/2bfe46/32.png) [@k-f](https://community.metabrainz.org/u/k-f)\
**Post date:** [February 16, 2026, 9:11pm UTC](https://community.metabrainz.org/t/article-capitalization-in-an-artists-title/814239/1 "2026-02-16T21:11:56Z")

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Hi! I noticed that there’s a “war of edits” happens with an artist [DJ Force & The Evolution - MusicBrainz](https://musicbrainz.org/artist/9cfb2e20-8a88-4d71-85b2-a4ad8a731fa1), regarding how the “the” article in their name should be capitalized.

[https://musicbrainz.org/search/edits?auto\_edit\_filter=&order=desc&negation=0&combinator=and&conditions.0.field=artist&conditions.0.operator=%3D&conditions.0.name=DJ+Force+%26+The+Evolution&conditions.0.args.0=312554&conditions.1.field=type&conditions.1.operator=%3D&conditions.1.args=2](https://musicbrainz.org/search/edits?auto_edit_filter=&order=desc&negation=0&combinator=and&conditions.0.field=artist&conditions.0.operator=%3D&conditions.0.name=DJ+Force+%26+The+Evolution&conditions.0.args.0=312554&conditions.1.field=type&conditions.1.operator=%3D&conditions.1.args=2)

So what is the correct way to record that artist’s name into MB after all?

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**Author:** ![IvanDobsky](https://community.metabrainz.org/user_avatar/community.metabrainz.org/ivandobsky/32/11785_2.png) [@IvanDobsky](https://community.metabrainz.org/u/IvanDobsky)\
**Post date:** [February 16, 2026, 11:03pm UTC](https://community.metabrainz.org/t/article-capitalization-in-an-artists-title/814239/2 "2026-02-16T23:03:26Z")

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Very slow war… years between shots fired… but as I understand it “Force, DJ & Evolution, The” seems pretty well correct to me. The “surnames” being the key here.

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**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 17, 2026, 1:53am UTC](https://community.metabrainz.org/t/article-capitalization-in-an-artists-title/814239/3 "2026-02-17T01:53:27Z")

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I think it would normally be “DJ Force & the Evolution” because artist names use the same capitalization guidelines as titles. The “&” is just “and” so it would be “DJ Force and the Evolution”. Like how it’s Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers (when not spelled out). I hope this makes sense.

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**Author:** ![liftarn](https://community.metabrainz.org/user_avatar/community.metabrainz.org/liftarn/32/100_2.png) [@liftarn](https://community.metabrainz.org/u/liftarn)\
**Post date:** [February 17, 2026, 7:53am UTC](https://community.metabrainz.org/t/article-capitalization-in-an-artists-title/814239/4 "2026-02-17T07:53:04Z")

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Ah, but if it’s two different artist names. Like Bob Marley The Wailers. Both had records on their own.

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**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 17, 2026, 9:58am UTC](https://community.metabrainz.org/t/article-capitalization-in-an-artists-title/814239/5 "2026-02-17T09:58:17Z")

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The vinyl pic [on RYM](https://rateyourmusic.com/artist/dj-force-and-the-evolution) is even “DJ Force and Evolution” 😅 So it seems any artist intent here is middling at best, so either option seems fine enough - in that case, maybe lowercase is the best pick, unless the rest of the group without DJ Force also play as “The Evolution” on their own.