I want to add this remix by Sunnexo to MB.
Besides YouTube, it was also uploaded to SoundCloud, with a link to download in the description.
(Note: the original song (here) is in Japanese but is called Lagtrain in English, which is the name that the remix uses.)
I have 2 problems with adding this release to MB.
My first one has to do with the mp3 tags:
The mp3 is tagged to the original artist of the track (inabakumori), and its album name is Lagtrain. There is no album artist credited.
Adding this as a single release being part of the album Lagtrain would make it appear on inabakumori’s discography, even though they never officially released this remix. This would also cause confusion since the original single’s English name is also Lagtrain.
My other option is to credit the Lagtrain album to the remixer, and have the tracklist credit the song to inabakumori, but I’m not sure if that’s right.
My second problem is how to credit the YouTube and SoundCloud releases.
The SoundCloud release sets the title to “Inabakumori - Lagtrain (Sunnexo Remix)” and credits the song to Sunnexo. I assume I should just enter this as it is into MB.
The YouTube upload is titled the same way. I think I should enter this just like the SoundCloud release, but this might depend on the first problem since the download is linked in the video description.
(Sorry if I made this more complicated then it should’ve been.)
If this is all you’re wanting to add right now, would it be worth adding as a Standalone Recording?
If you want to add it as a whole Release entity and just make a Single out of it, keep this in mind: the actual truth is more important than the info presented in official sources, even in the case of metadata on downloadable MP3s. So if you decide to make it its own Release, just fill in the info truthfully, without worrying too much about what the remixer says in their metadata.
Besides, even if you enter something incorrect, it can always get fixed later, so best-guessing things until you learn more is a perfectly acceptable practice.
Regardless, once you get either a Recording or a whole Release created for that item, you can add a lot of relationships (and maybe even a Work entity or two!) to help describe the exact nature of the original song, the remix, and how the two are related, more accurately than just plugging info into a Recording or Release entity.
(Edit: Said relationships can also be used to just link the Soundcloud / Youtube links directly into the database, and if the info in these locations contradicts the (hopefully truthful) information in the MB DB, editors that follow after you can make the call about whether info should be back-ported from those sources, since the links will be super-easy to spot and visit.)
And then there’s always Annotations if you want to go the extra mile and spell things out in a little text field for anyone who comes after you.
I’m not sure if there’s a right way to input “unofficial” remix releases like these.
as a general rule, if the song is modified enough, I’ll usually credit the remix artist as the recording/track artist (see Through the Tables and Memes or Bustin). if not, I’d credit the artist of the original track. I haven’t quite figured out where exactly the line is though…
either way, I’d likely credit the remixer as the album artist, and be sure to enter it as a remix single and relate it back to the original single release, if it exists
related edit from 2012, note this was almost 10 years ago, and I don’t agree with anything I said in the edit notes
