I have been using the discussions in here as a reference for my editing work over the past years, but it certainly does not cover all cases, so I collected some examples, rules of thumbs and other references and discussions in edits that I have participated in or noticed. This may not be the ideal location to document this in, but as far as I can tell, this place has by far the most information and instructions on doujin tagging.
I am also including examples where these guidelines are applied, by myself or someone else. Some of these decisions may not have been correct since the distinction between the cases I present is not always as simple as it sounds, but I claim to have abided by them in good faith. Sometimes you also don’t have all information available and need to make use of what you have.
Label
Basically what @tojikomori said earlier: Unless the release is distributed by a different label, use a personal label for the circle if there is one and consider adding one if there isn’t.
Release artist credit
Generally use the circle’s name as the release artist,
unless there is specific marketing on the product indicating otherwise, such as “Solo album” or the primary track artist is mentioned as the release artist directly.
Examples:
- Phant 2 by compllege is a release by the circle compllege.
- Phant Solo by Taishi is also distributed by the circle compllege but as a solo album of Taishi, indicated by the bandcamp entry. compllege only acts as the label here. (This schema was carried over to the follow-up releases Phant Solo II and Phant Solo III.
- soleil de minuit by 藍月なくる × Sennzai is a collaboration release. It is distributed by Qulalimstella (藍月なくる’s circle), which is the label, but the release is clearly credited to the duo.
- Vocis Helix by Vocis Helix is a collaboration release between Sennzai and alico, but is credited to their collaboration circle “Vocis Helix” as per their marketing on the website.
- Phant Prologue EP01 by compllege x Diverse System is a collaboration release between the two circles. Although all tracks where composed and arranged by Taishi of compllege, the release as a whole with design and visual engineering is a collaboration.
Track artist credit
Track artist credits have been inconsistently applied in the past. Following are the rules that I use for specifying the track artist, ordered by precedence.
- The track listing inside the packaging (back cover, booklet) or the discography page lists a dedicated artist for a track:
Use this as the artist. - The circle acts as a group or the release is credited to a single artist:
Use the release artist.
This is usually the case when arrangement and vocals are credited separately in a sub-note. - The release is a collaboration or does not fit into any of the above
Apply your best judgement.
Always apply the “featuring” rule as per MB standards.
Examples:
- tu:ki by WAVE uses individual track artists based on the “#1. 5. 6. … by cranky” notes on the back cover. This is a clear attribution of the given tracks to the artist and should be reflected in the tracklist. More detailed credits are in the booklet but have not been moved to the release entry as of writing this.
- STORYTELLER by WAVE is subtitled “Lily 10th Anniversary” (Lily is the vocalist), yet it is not a solo album and does not have individual track artists, so they are credited to the release artist (the circle).
- Vocis Helix by Vocis Helix is a collaboration album. The track listing does not have individual track artist and are thus credited to the release artist.
- soleil de minuit by 藍月なくる × Sennzai is a collaboration album. Unfortunately the website is not available anymore, but on the Diverse Direct store the tracks have individual credits, which is why they have been carried over.
- NON-STOP INTERCEPT phase three by Alstroemeria Records × DiGiTAL WiNG is a collaboration release between two circles. The tracklist shows the circle’s name next to the track title as a form of artist contribution, which is why the respective circle is used as the track artist and not the arranger or vocalist.
Related discussions:
I also wanted to write something about touhou arrangement albums, but that needs more time from my side and I will try to follow-up soon in a separate post.