[Proposal DRAFT added - RFC] Artist field for pan-VOCALOID works - a discussion | 泛VOCALOID作品的艺术家字段填写讨论 | 広義ボカロ作品の「アーティスト」欄記入の討論

MusicBrainz
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【English version】

Handling of pan-VOCALOID Works on MusicBrainz

About Inclusion

Albums released through physical or digital means (Apple Music, Spotify, Dizzylab, etc.) should all be included. Regarding the inclusion of singles released via videos on Niconico/Bilibili/YouTube, although there is considerable debate on MusicBrainz (e.g., whether Standalone Recordings should be created instead of Releases), considering that these video websites are the nearly exclusive distribution channel for many pan-VOCALOID works (if they are not included in physical/digital albums), adding video Releases is necessary (see STYLE-2428: Step by step video (releases) guidelines thread). For these video Releases, only the full version of the song should be included, not trailers (unless the “short version” itself constitutes a complete work), unofficial uploads of album tracks, live recording clips, interviews, etc.

Remixes, covers, retunings (e.g. voice-manipulation using newer voice library), mash-ups, etc., should be handled according to MusicBrainz’s rules and conventions for derivative works, with no special considerations. For example, the track artist for a remix song should be the original artist, unless the original release material explicitly names the remix author as the artist (e.g., the remix tracks in “中华少女 Remeet” (Zhōnghuá Shàonǚ Remeet)).

About Field Entry

The following standards should be considered:

  1. Respect the original creator’s intent as much as possible.
  2. On the basis of the above, be as consistent and stable as possible.
  3. On the basis of the above, ensure convenience for searching. For example, “Various Artists” should be used with caution, as it renders this field largely unsearchable.
  4. On the basis of the above, be natural. For example, the crediting for a song should align with the public’s perception of its ‘producer’.

Additionally, for almost all VOCALOID-related albums/tracks, the three special purpose artists “[anonymous]”, “[no artist]”, and “[unknown]” should not be used, though “[no label]” may be applicable. See: Style / Unknown and untitled / Special purpose artist - MusicBrainz and Style / Unknown and untitled / Special purpose artist - MusicBrainz.

Filling in the Album Artist

For different release methods:

  1. A single release that does not belong to any series:
    • Example: “九九八十一” by 乌龟sui et al (“Jiu Jiu Ba Shi Yi” / “Ninety-Nine Eighty-One” by Wugui sui et al.)
    • Follow the “Detailed Rules for Filling in Album Artist” below. Note that for the same single (i.e., multiple occurrences of the same recording) included in different albums, the artist credits must be entered separately for each, rather than using a uniform album artist field (i.e., the “album artist” of a track on an album follows the album it is on, not the track itself).
  2. A single release that is part of a series (where the uploader has acknowledged, announced, or agreed upon the series):
    • Example: “Trémail Cpt.3 虚无祭典” by 花之祭p (“Trémail Cpt.3 Xu Wu Ji Dian” / “Trémail Cpt.3 Void Festival” by Huazhiji-P ‘FlowersRite’)
    • Take the union of all members of the series—members acknowledged, announced, or agreed upon by the uploader, or the de facto series planners and regular main collaborators (involved in basically every song)—and format according to the “Detailed Rules” below.
      • Example: “Trémail Cpt.3 虚无祭典”: “花之祭p & JUSF 周存” (“Trémail Cpt.3 Xu Wu Ji Dian” / “Trémail Cpt.3 Void Festival”: “Huazhiji-P ‘FlowersRite’ & JUSF Zhou Cun ‘Jusflydom’”)
  3. Albums, compilations, series released all at once, etc.:
    • Follow the “Detailed Rules for Filling in Album Artist” below.

After filling in the artist according to the “Detailed Rules for Filling in Album Artist” below, then consider the following situations for adding VOCALOID characters:

  1. If the singer is clearly indicated in the original release materials and is placed in the same position as other artists, connected with “feat.”, etc., or if it is a virtual singer’s solo album:
    • Follow Rule 1 of the “Detailed Rules” below and enter it as is.
      • Examples: “EXIT TUNES PRESENTS Vocalolegend feat. 初音ミク”: “初音ミク” (“EXIT TUNES PRESENTS Vocalolegend feat. Hatsune Miku”: “Hatsune Miku”), “Moments”: “洛天依” (“Moments”: “Luo Tianyi”), “世界征服”: “Neru feat. 鏡音リン、鏡音レン” (“Sekai Seifuku” / “World Domination”: “Neru feat. Kagamine Rin, Kagamine Ren”)
  2. Otherwise, if credited in the original release materials but not placed alongside the creators:
    • Examples: For “依睐·幻想曲” by 闹闹丶 (“Yi Lai · Huan Xiang Qu” / “Yilai Fantasia” by Nao Nao丶), the video title used at release was “洛天依Only同人专辑『依睐·幻想曲』试听PV【闹闹丶】” (“Luo Tianyi Only Doujin Album ‘Yilai Fantasia’ Audition PV [Nao Nao丶]”), clearly centered on Luo Tianyi. Another example is “平行四界Quadimension X-2” states “feat. 五维介质” (“Quadimension X-2” states “feat. MEDIUM⁵”). Yet another is that on the cover illustration of “平行四界Quadimension 5”, Luo Tianyi, Stardust, and Yuezheng Ling are holding hands.
    • Add “feat. [Virtual Singer]” after the credits determined by the “Detailed Rules” below.
      • Examples: “依睐·幻想曲”: “闹闹丶 feat. 洛天依” (“Yi Lai · Huan Xiang Qu” / “Yilai Fantasia”: “Nao Nao丶 feat. Luo Tianyi”), “平行四界Quadimension 5”: “平行四界 feat. 乐正绫, 星尘 & 洛天依” (“Quadimension 5”: “Quadimension feat. Yuezheng Ling, Stardust & Luo Tianyi”)
  3. Otherwise, if the VOCALOID singer used is not credited in the original release materials, CD cover, disc surface, etc.:
    • Examples: “花と水飴、最終電車” by n-buna (“Hana to Mizuame, Saishuu Densha” / “Flowers and Water-Syrup, Final Train” by n-buna), “CYNICISM” by Neru (“CYNICISM” by Neru).
    • Credit only the creators, not the VOCALOID singer.

Detailed Rules for Filling in Album Artist

Here, the “main creators” of a song are defined as those responsible for composition, lyrics, arrangement, voice manipulation, and planning. This differs slightly from VocaDB (by adding lyricists) but is consistent with VCPedia and Moegirlpedia’s Chinese VOCALOID sections. The decision to add lyrics to VocaDB’s criteria to align with the latter two was made because, in the Japanese VOCALOID scene, it is more common for one person to handle both lyrics and music, so this issue arises less frequently (meaning, in most cases, this difference does not have a substantial impact). In contrast, a higher proportion of Chinese VOCALOID works involve collaborations where lyrics, composition, arrangement, and voice manipulation are all done by different artists. Therefore, the practices of the Chinese VOCALOID community have been adopted.

A trickier issue is handling circles (社团, サークル), especially compilation albums produced by them. According to standard MusicBrainz practice, for compilation albums, the circle should be entered in the label field, and the album artist should be “Various Artists”. However, a major use of MusicBrainz is exporting its metadata to local music files with tools like Picard. Many local music software (including well-known ones like foobar2000) and most hardware music players (like the Walkman A series) cannot effectively use the “label” field, especially for displaying albums categorized by “label”. Therefore, the author hopes to enter relevant information in this field for easier searching and display, for instance, allowing a user to select Album Artist “EXIT TUNES” to display all albums released by EXIT TUNES—because for all relevant albums, if this isn’t done, this field would either be empty or “Various Artists”. After careful consideration, the author believes one should follow standard MusicBrainz practice to maintain database consistency. Support for local software and hardware players should be achieved through scripts on the MusicBrainz Picard side.

  1. If the original author/publisher clearly stated or strongly implied the “artist” of the single/album at the time of release, especially when the album is a “solo album” of a certain virtual singer or producer:
    • This rule should apply to most albums. Generally, refer to the artist credits displayed in a large font on the album cover, spine, etc. (rather than in the details like the tracklist or lyric booklet).
    • Examples: “恋爱理论” by 阿良良木健 × 洛天依 (“Lianai Lilun” / “Love Theory” by Alaliangmujian × Luo Tianyi), “音樂” (“Yinyue” / “Music”) is the solo album of virtual singer 乐正绫 (Yuezheng Ling).
    • Use the original author’s wording directly, or make minor changes to fit the format.
      • Examples: “恋爱理论”: “阿良良木健 × 洛天依” or “阿良良木健 feat. 洛天依” (“Lianai Lilun” / “Love Theory”: “Alaliangmujian × Luo Tianyi” or “Alaliangmujian feat. Luo Tianyi”), “SEASIDE SOLILOQUIES”: “Orangestar”, “音樂”: “乐正绫” (“Yinyue” / “Music”: “Yuezheng Ling”)
  2. Otherwise, if a “group” or “circle” (社团, サークル) is considered the main entity responsible for production (including ad hoc organizations, like the “秘宝旅人企划” (Mì Bǎo Lǚ Rén Qǐhuà, Treasure Traveler Project)):
    1. If most tracks are collaboratively created by most circle/group members, like a band:
      • Credit the circle name.
    2. Otherwise, if it is a one-person circle:
      • If the author is credited on the album cover, spine, or in the original release info (e.g., author’s name under the title, or an “A work by ○○” mark), credit the author’s name; otherwise, credit the circle name.
        • Example: “meteor”: “John Zeroness”
    3. Otherwise, if most participants have a member relationship with the circle, but there is one “main artist” who did the primary production work for the tracks, or is the album’s “producer”:
      • Example: “中华少女 Project” (“Zhonghua Shaonü Project” / “Chinese Maiden Project”): Released under the name of the circle ‘Sodatune’, but the creator 纯白p ‘Chunbai p / _shiro’ is the producer for most of the tracks.
      • Credit this producer.
        • Examples: “中华少女 Remeet” and “中华少女 Project”: “纯白p” (“Zhonghua Shaonü Remeet” / “Chinese Maiden Remeet” and “Zhonghua Shaonü Project” / “Chinese Maiden Project”: “Chunbai p”)
    4. Otherwise, for other situations:
      • Credit “Various Artists”.
  3. Otherwise, if there is no circle or similar entity, but one or more “main producers” are responsible for the tracks:
    • Example: “双向・轮回与幸福” (“Shuang Xiang · Lunhui Yu Xingfu” / “Bidirection - Reincarnation and Happiness”)
    • Credit only the “main producers”.
      • Example: “双向・轮回与幸福”: “JUSF 周存 & sya” (“Shuang Xiang · Lunhui Yu Xingfu” / “Bidirection - Reincarnation and Happiness”: “JUSF Zhou Cun ‘Jusflydom’ & sya”)
  4. Otherwise, if there is no circle or similar entity, but multiple creators were involved with no “main producer”:
    • Common in self-published compilations, e.g., “My Hood” by Hatty.G、Unreal Staff、ルイスヘヴン、背面８回宙返り (“My Hood” by Hatty.G, Unreal Staff, Luis Heaven, Haimen 8-kai Chuugaeri / 8 Somersaults Backwards).
    • Use “Various Artists”.
      • Example: “My Hood”: “Various Artists”

Filling in the Track Artist

Note that under no circumstances should “Various Artists” be used for the track artist. Generally, the track artist should be specified down to the individual, even in cases where a circle’s presence is strong, like “忘川风怀录” (Wàngchuān Fēng Huái Lù). A major point of contention here is how to handle situations where there “seems to be a significantly main producer,” for example, “冻夏” by 纯白p、举烛、风铃 等 (“Dong Xia” / “Frozen Summer” by Chunbai p, Ju Zhu, Feng Ling, etc.), but the main planner was Chunbai p, and the release on music platforms like NetEase Cloud Music only credits “soda純白 / 心华” (sodaChunbai / Xin Hua).
Here, for the sake of data integrity and respect for the original work, if the video release does not explicitly state that “the main creator is Chunbai p,” the decision is to list all individuals for the five main roles: lyrics, composition, arrangement, voice manipulation, and planning.
However, the above decision requires further discussion.

  1. If the original author/publisher clearly stated or strongly implied the “artist” of the single at the time of release:
    • Example: “Trémail 序章” is marked with “【花之祭p】” (“【FlowersRite】”) in the title (“Trémail Xu Zhang” / “Trémail Prologue” is marked with “【花之祭p】” (“【FlowersRite】”) in the title).
    • Use the original author’s wording directly, or make minor changes to fit the format.
      • Examples: “双向思念”: “JUSF 周存 & sya” (“Shuang Xiang Si Nian” / “Two-Way Thoughts”: “JUSF Zhou Cun ‘Jusflydom’ & sya”), “辛德瑞拉的假面舞会”: “ANK & 雨狸” (“Xinderuila de Jiamian Wuhui” / “Cinderella’s Masquerade Ball”: “ANK & Yuli”)
  2. Otherwise, if the track was entirely completed by a single person (including at least the planning/lyrics/composition/arrangement parts):
    • Example: “去时枝” by 沉林川 (“Qu Shi Zhi” / “The Tree Branches When I Left” by Chen Lin Chuan).
    • Credit this person.
      • Example: “光”: “公兔p” (“Guang” / “Light”: “Gongtu p”)
  3. Otherwise, in cases where planning/lyrics/composition/arrangement/voice-manipulation are done by different people:
    • Examples: “九九八十一”, “忆红莲”, “逆浪千秋”, “潮声回响” (“Jiu Jiu Ba Shi Yi” / “Ninety-Nine Eighty-One”, “Yi Hong Lian” / “Remembering the Red Lotus”, “Ni Lang Qian Qiu” / “A Thousand Autumns of Adverse Waves”, “Chao Sheng Hui Xiang” / “Echoes of the Tide”).
    • List the people responsible for these five roles in order: composition, lyrics, arrangement, voice-manipulation, and planning.
      • Examples: “忆红莲”: “水琴, 孤簧 & TOZZ” (“Yi Hong Lian” / “Remembering the Red Lotus”: “Shui Qin, Gu Huang & TOZZ”), “九九八十一”: “乌龟Sui, 邪叫教主 & 纳兰寻风” (“Jiu Jiu Ba Shi Yi” / “Ninety-Nine Eighty-One”: “WuguiSui, Xiejiao Jiaozhu & Nalan Xunfeng”)

After filling in according to the above rules, then consider the following situations for adding VOCALOID characters:

  1. If the virtual singer is clearly indicated in the original release materials, whether written as “vocal”, “singer”, “feat.” in the tracklist, lyric booklet, or video description, or marked in the video title like “初音ミクオリジナル曲” (Hatsune Miku original song):
    • Example: Basically all video releases.
    • Append " feat. [Virtual Singer Name]" to the above content.
  2. Otherwise, if it is an album track and the VOCALOID character is not indicated anywhere in the original release materials:
    1. If other releases of the same recording exist where the VOCALOID character is credited:
      • Example: “透明エレジー” (“Tōmei Erejī” / “Transparent Elegy”)
      • Do not credit it in the Track List of the album’s Release, but credit it with “feat.” in the corresponding recording.
    2. If no other releases exist:
      • Do not fill in the VOCALOID character, even if VocaDB credits a character (though the author is unsure where VocaDB’s character credits come from).
  3. Otherwise, if it is a single and the VOCALOID character is not indicated anywhere in the original release materials:
    • Do not fill in the VOCALOID character.

Filling in the Label

According to several MusicBrainz articles:

The priority is: Planning/Production > Distribution/Publishing > Manufacturing/Pressing, and the order of precedence for sources is Disc surface/CD case/cover/back cover > Original release promotional materials, information > VocaDB (Label(s) field) > Various Wikis (Wikipedia, VCPedia, etc.) > Various digital music platforms (very chaotic, basically unreliable).

  1. For overly complex or contradictory cases, ask in the community/group or leave it blank, and add a note on the page.
    • Example: “恋爱理论 你的·心加心版”(“Lianai Lilun - Ni De · Xin Jia Xin Ban” / “Love Theory - Your · Heart Plus Heart Edition”) has four identifiers: “朝花夕拾” (Zhaohuaxishi), “听点好的音乐工作室” (Ting Dian Hao De Yinyue Gongzuoshi / Let’s Music Production), “Atunemic” (digital version only, or perhaps just the uploader’s username, not mentioned elsewhere), and “阿良良木健” (Aliangliangmujian).
  2. For any Release, whether an album or single, when “production” is explicitly stated:
    • Example: The video description for “一花依世界” states: “bilibili音乐@哔哩哔哩音乐姬” (“Yi Hua Yi Shi Jie” / “One Flower, One World” lists “bilibili音乐@哔哩哔哩音乐姬” (bilibili Music@Bilibili Music-hime) in its video description).
    • Use this name, or a common name for the same entity.
      • Examples: “千里邀月”: “超电文化” (“Qian Li Yao Yue” / “A Thousand Miles’ Invitation to the Moon”: “超电文化” (Chao Dian Wenhua / Hyperz Culture)), “一花依世界”: “bilibili音乐” (“Yi Hua Yi Shi Jie” / “One Flower, One World”: “bilibili音乐” (bilibili Music))
  3. If a “group” or “circle” is considered the main entity responsible for production and release, or if the entire album has a clear planner:
    1. When this group, circle, or planner has a label name other than their company/circle name:
      • Example: 上海禾念信息科技有限公司: “Vsinger” (Shanghai HENIAN Information Technology Co., Ltd.: “Vsinger”); another example, although “ふたりの” (“Futari no” / “Of the Two”) is published and distributed by SMM, it is produced by a studio with the label name “スタジオごはん” (Studio Gohan / Studio Rice). Therefore, according to the priority above, the latter is preferred.
      • Use this label name.
        • Examples: “Moments”: “Vsinger”, “殿堂 2”: “殿堂团队” (“Dian Tang 2” / “Hall of Fame 2”: “殿堂团队” (Dian Tang Tuandui / Hall of Fame Team)), “秘宝旅人 I”: “秘宝旅人企划” (“Mi Bao Lü Ren I” / “Treasure Traveler I”: “秘宝旅人企划” (Mi Bao Lü Ren Qi Hua / Treasure Traveler Project))
    2. Otherwise, i.e., there is no separate label name:
      • Use the company/personal name of the group, circle, or planner.
        • Examples: “遇依”: 安知芋 (“Yu Yi” / “Meeting Yi”: Anzhiyu), “三月雨”: “Days幻梦年华乐团” (“San Yue Yu” / “March Rain”: “Days幻梦年华乐团” (Days Huan Meng Nian Hua Yuetuan / Days Phantom Dream Years Band))
  4. Otherwise, if this Release is an album and is released through a commercial publisher:
    • Example: Most albums by EXIT TUNES.
    • Use the label corresponding to this company, or the company name if one doesn’t exist.
      • Example: “SEASIDE SOLILOQUIES”: “U&R Records”
  5. If this Release is a single and there is no “group,” “circle,” or other entity responsible for production, i.e., it can be confirmed that no “label” exists:
    • Example: Most video submission Releases.
    • Use “[no label]”.
  6. Other situations:
    • For example, manufacturing, distribution, proxy distribution, etc. A specific example is “万籁音” by 花之祭p (“Wan Lai Yin” / “The Sound of Myriad Nature” by Huazhiji-P ‘FlowersRite’): proxy distributed by CrossOz 十字仙踪 (CrossOz Shizi Xianzong).
    • Leave blank. Do not use “[no label],” as the latter is used only when it is definitively determined that no such institution exists, whereas “uncertain” or “unknown” is a different situation.

(translated with Gemini 2.5 Pro)