Proposed text for definition of "Soundtrack" on Release Group /Type documentation

MusicBrainz
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11

So there are several comments saying what’s wrong with my proposed text, but no suggested changes to improve it. I’m trying to start a conversation that will result in a clearer definition that clarifies the ambiguities/inaccuracies of the current one.

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In my view, a soundtrack is the complete score or collection of recordings etc. not part of it.

Singles from the soundtrack are simply singles that happen to be released from soundtrack album, not a ‘normal’ one. Why does it need to be more than this?

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That’s the point of the part below (I just realized I used the word “release” where it was confusing. I hope changing it to “single/EP” makes more sense):

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I think it would be clearer if the word ‘complete was included:

A soundtrack is the complete musical score or collection of recordings…

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Ok, done. I was a little concerned that someday, somewhere, someone would say “What does ‘complete’ mean?” Many, maybe most, soundtrack albums don’t include every second of music that was in the movie (see the bootleg “score” releases of much of Hans Zimmer’s stuff).
https://musicbrainz.org/release/f1d32590-1d4a-43bf-8500-255d560712f9

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16

It’s common for a label to intentionally release a soundtrack in separate parts (e.g., Vol. 1, Vol. 2…), and it would be the intention of the label that these are a soundtrack to a specific thing. Therefore, I don’t think adding “complete” is an accurate discriminator.

What’s been said by the Style Leader is more along the lines of,

A compilation of various recordings from unrelated soundtracks would not itself be a soundtrack - just a compilation.

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17

A good point, but my request was to emphasise that there’s just one and it’s the whole thing and parts of it (e.g. singles ) can’t be treated as soundtracks.

open to alternative words…

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Do you have an example
please?

My reason for suggesting to include the word complete is that the text without it doesn’t convey to me the basic concept of what a soundtrack is. That’s my opinion as someone not previously involved in debate.

19

How about “published” instead of “complete?”

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I’ve found a few video game soundtracks that come in volumes. Haven’t found any from movies (also found a bunch of stuff that shouldn’t be marked as soundtracks).

Here’s a search:
Search results - MusicBrainz

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21

and the majority of Japanese anime.

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22

isn’t published a state of the album? eg released / unreleased. what about “entire”?

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I think “complete” or “entire” is far too high a requirement It’s not just “not every second” - parts of the score may be missing for copyright reasons, e.g. Zabriskie Point (Stones song missing), or lack of capacity of the medium, e.g. Koyaanisqatsi (only half of the tracks compared to the film).

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24

Here are some from streaming shows:

Stranger Things (Netflix):

Watchmen (HBO):

Both sets just cover single seasons, I believe.

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25

Not sure on this. I’d guess it depends. The counter is true. Many soundtrack albums that include complete songs while only part maybe heard in the film. However, isn’t it what is released on the soundtrack ‘album’ that defines the soundtrack, not what is heard in the film / concert etc?

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26

So the stranger things list is three releases and three separate soundtracks. Not one…

27

Depends on what is defined to be a soundtrack. :smile:
But in most cases it’s not complicated, as you can read on the cover that it’s a “soundtrack”.
What seems to cause the most problems: it is not explained that “soundtrack” does not affect the individual parts. And the misleading examples for “soundtrack artists” that are no soundtracks at all. (→ https://musicbrainz.org/edit/106437396 )

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What would you suggest?

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29

Don’t focus on one word. A soundtrack is music from a film/show/game. Most soundtrack CDs are only a small part of the film audio. Bootlegs come along and fill in the gap and rip every little part from a film. (So rules out using words like “Official”)

“Complete” \ “Entire” and words like that are misleading as copyright and other issues stop the music from bring complete. It is a collection of audio from a film, but not necessarily all of the audio.

I recommend to return to the dictionary. Soundtrack - Wikipedia

And with current edits as an example, need to point towards it being for one film and not a compilation of tracks from multiple films.

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30

The proposed text is just fine. I would not suggest to add words like “complete” or “entire”.
And we should look for better soundtrack artist examples, taken from soundtrack RGs.

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