How should a jazz release be credited when its cover features one artist prominently but also lists other musicians? Specifically, this came up on edit #122251074 (and associated RG/medium/recording edits) for this release:
This is a digital media release added from https://atleyking.bandcamp.com/album/unconditional, and the top of that page only credits Atley King (which I believe is the default for Bandcamp). The cover image says “Atley King” in a larger font and then lists King again with the other musicians in a smaller font.
I found similar-seeming releases credited to all of the artists:
I don’t think that the style guidelines explicitly say what to do here. Style / Release - MusicBrainz says “In general, you should just enter the artist(s) as shown on the release,” and Style / Artist Credits - MusicBrainz says “Artist credits should generally follow the actual credit used on the release / track, including the join phrases.” I’ve always interpreted that as meaning all artists regardless of prominence in how they’re listed, but it might be better to be explicit about that.
(This may also touch on one of my least-favorite debates, “What do you do when the webpage has different data from the cover image?” :-/)
I would not pay attention to information on the website (or maybe only for the RG). I would look at the cover, the spine. If there’s only one artist, or one of the artists is much more prominently presented, I would make it a solo album (at least this release). It often depends on your personal judgment and there is no 100% correct solution.
EDIT: I would also consider how much the artists contributed to the album, but only for the release group, not for a specific release.
I usually list all if they are presented that way, i.e. Main artist feat. performer. However, when it appears that it’s just listing the band members of the main artist or they are greatly diminished in font size without any join phrases on the cover, I typically don’t. Yes, if there is physical media available, I’d usually use that over the shops. Look at spine or medium labels.
Update: Example would be the Loose Blues above by Bill Evans. I think that should only be credited to Bill Evans because that’s how it’s listed on the spine. The others are performers listed on the back cover art.