Featured artist credited as their band when only one member contributed

MusicBrainz
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On release https://musicbrainz.org/release/7f1e6a3c-6a28-4fb7-a81c-7c9449b6924b several tracks have featured artists listed on streaming platforms using the featured artist’s band name. On the band’s webstore (https://thricemerch.com/collections/taita-vinyl/products/taita-20th-anniversary-reissue-12-vinyl-cloudy-clear-with-cream-green-blue-splatter) they state that it’s only the vocalists from the credited bands that contributed:

The Artist In The Ambulance Revisited revists all twelve original tracks, featuring guest vocals from Ryan Osterman (Holy Fawn), Chuck Ragan (Hot Water Music), Sam Carter (Architects), Mike Minnick (Curl Up and Die), Brian McTernan (Be Well), and Andy Hull (Manchester Orchestra).

There’s an open edit to change the credited band names to the individual vocalists: https://musicbrainz.org/edit/96630021

I don’t necessarily disagree that it’s clearer, but it goes against the style guide that says:

Artist credits should generally follow the actual credit used on the release / track, including the join phrases.

This leads to a second question about the join phrase. Different streaming services show the multiple artists in different ways: Apple Music uses “and” (e.g. Thrice and Hot Water Music), Amazon Music uses “&” (e.g. Thrice & Hot Water Music), Spotify uses “,” (e.g. Thrice, Hot Water Music). What join phrase should be chosen in this case?

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If anything, I guess & or , should be used as the join phrase? This album is only available digitally at the moment, and we know that digital services all use their own defaults and have their own limitations, etc. Several don’t even list the guests on the tracks. Architects has been changed to Sam Carter on these services as well.

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I usually follow Style / Artist Credits - MusicBrainz for digital releases if they don’t have “(feat. whoever)” in the title:

No printed join phrase

If the release has no join phrase for multiple collaborating artists, but just lists them all separated by whitespace, use the default join phrases (an ampersand between the last two artists, and a comma between the others).

Indeed, compare https://atisket.pulsewidth.org.uk/?cached=8720765763737-d_386588387-s_0fbix8RZLPYtBy4UcMzoIx-i_1659728720 with The Artist in the Ambulance - Revisited - Album by Thrice | Spotify. I wouldn’t be surprised if any of the others were to be changed later too.

It might be worth waiting until the vinyl is released and seeing how the artists are credited there. I’d definitely recommend that for the recordings.

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Great feedback, and I’m glad you found this source showing the release being updated. I’m going to vote yes on the edit for now, and revisit it when my vinyl arrives.

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