Hello everyone,
I’d like to ask for broader community input regarding the removal of Extra Title Information (ETI), such as “(Live Version)” or “(Studio Live),” even when these are explicitly included in the official track titles across an entire digital release.
This came up in this edit ( Edit #110144909 - MusicBrainz), where the original tracklist (as shown on Spotify and in the digital metadata) included “(Live Version)” on multiple tracks. I preserved this ETI in my edit, but it was voted down based on the current practice of omitting such data when applied uniformly.
I understand this convention aims to avoid redundant information — for example, when a live release already has its type set to “Live,” adding “(Live Version)” to each track may seem repetitive.
However, I’d like to respectfully ask:
- Is this convention clearly documented in the official style guidelines? If so, where?
- If not, is it appropriate to systematically remove visible and verifiable data purely based on long-standing community practice, especially when this creates a disconnect between the source material and the database?
- Doesn’t this contradict the stated goal of MusicBrainz: to be “as complete and accurate as possible”?
My concern is not about the musical or technical meaning of terms like “(Live Version)” — but about removing information that is actually printed on the tracklist. This can be particularly problematic when:
- The same recordings are reused in future releases that may omit the ETI,
- Different platforms (Spotify, Apple Music, etc.) show the ETI explicitly,
- And users expect the database to reflect what they actually see when viewing a release.
I understand that disambiguation fields can be used for live information, and I have already included the specific tour dates there. But the presence of “(Live Version)” in the digital release metadata seems like something that, in the absence of a rule forbidding it, should not be removed based solely on internal interpretation.
I’m not trying to ignore past consensus, but I do want to clarify the rationale and explore whether current practice could be improved or better documented.
Thank you for your time and insights.