When to use ETI and when to use a Disambiguation Comment

[scotia]

So, reading https://musicbrainz.org/doc/Style/Titles and https://musicbrainz.org/doc/Disambiguation_Comment I was wondering which should be used to distinguish releases by the same artist that have an identical name.

An example given in Disambiguation_Comment is:

• The album Weezer has the disambiguation comment “Red Album”
• The album Weezer has the disambiguation comment “Green Album”

However Style/Titles says: “Additional information on a release … name that is not part of its main title, but intended to distinguish it from different releases … with the same main title …, should be entered in parentheses after the main title”.

Wouldn’t that also apply to the Weezer albums? If so, are both approaches equally valid?

[draconx]

ETI is referring to words that are actually printed on the packaging or equivalent.

In this case I don’t think “Red Album” is printed anywhere so it is not ETI and the guidelines for ETI are not relevant.

[scotia]

Thanks for clearing that up. When it says “Additional information on a release” I guess it means literally “found on” or “printed on”.

[tigerman325]

Yep, if it’s printed on the artwork, than it’s ETI. If it’s just on the promo material or website, than it’s disambiguation.

[tunehound]

Sure, this is a bit old but would appreciate some clarity on edit #97348771. This is an edit to move the ETI from the Name to the Disambiguation. The information (“Bill Laswell’s remix”) does not appear on the packaging on the original CD release:

But the change was voted down by a single user pointing me to the ETI section of the wiki.

Based on my reading of the documentation and of this thread, I do believe that the information belongs in the Disambiguation field of the recording. What is the best next step to keep this edit? I’m also happy to discuss this further if there is disagreement with my view.

Also happy to start a new discussion if resurrecting this old thread wasn’t the best approach.