When I was a young music buyer, I’d often keep the receipts for my purchases in the CD booklet. As I’m scanning my collection and adding the scans to MusicBrainz, I wonder if I should include scans of these receipts.
Here’s an example:
While this isn’t “cover art”, it may have some value as a historical document about the release. If this is acceptable, I’ll keep uploading them when I find them. If it is absolutely out of line, I’ll leave them alone.
Thoughts?
If it helps solve a “when was it released” argument, I can see a need for it. But I also know a lot of editors who will delete it as it is not needed to identify the release. As it has US style dates it will always need translating otherwise it would just add to confusion.
Agree, I was ‘rummaging’ through my Amazon orders this week back to 2005 to check on a purchase date for a certain KT Tunstall cd. I also thought it might be handy to be able to tag my copy of the release with the date of when I purchased it
I love it. I don’t think ‘cover art’ is the correct place for it. I wouldn’t remove it personally, but I can’t say I’d vote no on a proposed removal. Maybe it’s possible to do something like upload it directly to archive.org and then link to the receipt image in the annotation?
Although it can have useful information (like price) and I love finding receipts for CDs in old cases, I don’t think cover art is the place… where instead I’m not sure
From the documentation on ‘Cover Art’
Cover art on MusicBrainz is often used as a form of evidence for the data that appears in the database, this can include elements such as tracklist sequencing, performance and composition credits, licensing and publishing information,
So, Cover Art is not limited to just the art on the packaging. We already include images of the CDs and the matrix area to differentiate. Purchase receipts help to support the release date in the database… while not exact, the release date cannot be after the date on the purchase receipt (unless it’s an advance order)
IMO it’s interesting. 
Love it!
I agree with the others that it’s probably technically a bit shaky to put it in ‘cover art’, but I would definitely add it anyway, myself 
edit: ooh a bootleg too
The MusicBrainz database documents release events, which are indeed difficult to track down as they aren’t necessarily printed on physical releases. The valuable information to support a release event is the date of purchase (as the release date should be anterior to it), the country, and in a lesser extent the store (to show that it’s neither a resell nor an import). Edit notes are the intended way to store such information.
I don’t think that MusicBrainz is ever going to document release prices for example, so I’m not sure that storing such scanned receipts would add anything. It might also contain personal information. However @bitmap is the expert about the CAA, its purpose and extendability.
Although this applies to other uploads as well, e.g. I wonder how many fingerprints we have in the database from smudges on CD scans.
Interesting. I might just proceed this way in the future.
Great points. Thank you.
Thanks yvanzo.I’m glad that some of the information that is contained on receipts is useful. Since that is the case, I believe photographic evidence of that information may be useful as well. Though it sounds like any information of release date, country, store should also be transcribed into the edit notes.
As for personal information, I won’t upload an image that contains information that I don’t want to be released. I’m more concerned about the fingerprints all over my older booklets.
Whether they belong in the coverartarchive collection is dubious, since they aren’t part of the release. That said, it’s the job of the MusicBrainz community to curate the IA collection, so “we” could decide that they’re useful or interesting (insofar as they document release availability) and make a dedicated type for them. “Cover art” isn’t an encompassing term for what we allow already (e.g. pictures of merch that come with a release, like t-shirts or buttons are acceptable). Receipts are extraneous and pushing the envelope, but it’s mostly about what’s accepted by the community. For example, old physical receipts from brick and mortar shops might be interesting to people, but I wonder how much problem people would have if I started uploading PDFs of email receipts from every record store I order from online (if it’s a local pickup, I don’t even have to redact my address :)).
Thanks Bitmap. While still torn, I do believe I’ll continue uploading these when I find them. As dpr points out, receipts do provide some documentary information so, even if marginally useful, they have some value. Hoping it doesn’t turn into an online order PDF repository, as you pointed out is possible.
Also, thanks for pointing out that merch that came with a release is acceptable. I’ve had this since the '90s (wore it on my jacket in high school for a while) and just had to upload an image of it:
