Hi
I have a question about which language is better choice as a release title, artist name and tracklist for this release.
Brief summary of which language is used.
Front cover is in English
Obi is in Japanese
spine is in Japanese
Backcover with tracklist is both in Japanese and English.
Booklet tracklist both in Japanese and English.
The Composer, conductor, soloist are Japanese and they have Japanese character name.
It is currently input in Japanese for release title, artist name, tracklist.
I think front cover is priority for source, so I think release title and artist are in English. And then tracklist is in English for consistency to release title.
There might be another choice such as release title and artist name are in English, track title in Japanese. That is in pseudo-release https://musicbrainz.org/release/b317f7c2-9325-4c8f-aefc-642361e770ee
Do you have any suggestion?
Thanks.
There isn’t a Japanese classical guideline, so the handling isn’t really standardized for classical. Here’s a few things I usually do when entering Japanese classical releases:
Using the OBI/spine for the title, especially if it’s in Japanese but the cover is in English.
The use of colons to separate work and movement are not common in Japanese (space is used instead, since spaces are a more natural separator),
Using a fullwidth ／ instead of / and no spaces to denote multiple works. Again, punctuation matching the country.
I do use regular commas and semicolons for the artist credit, it’s meant to be a list type of entries. There’s a recent discussion on it: Japanese classical commas
Using the exclusively the front cover for Japanese releases in particular is not a good idea, the OBI is part of the packaging and clearly visible as part of the front cover on a physical release. It’s almost always in Japanese. Therefore, it makes sense for Japanese releases to put the English title on the front cover in addition to the canonical title on the front cover, since the OBI is almost always in Japanese, not vice versa. This is how the release packaging actually looks.
Previous discussion, although not related to classical:
edit #80089945 - rejected series of edits trying to change based on artwork edit #75112784 - Japanese artist credits edit #34139763 - front cover as source for title on Japanese releases
I see the Original release is in Japanese, with all the canonical titles and names.
And the Pseudo-release is in Latin.
It’s already quite good like that.
Trying to understand the argumentation here when very english cover with side band in japanese takes precedence.
What release event created a need for a pseudo release ? Was is reissued under seprate catalog or marketing ? Is there a separate release domestically and internationaly ?
The band on the left, I think it is called OBI, does it stay around after CD is unwrapped ?
This release cover screams in English, although original artist and works might be Japanese, isn’t this a case for original language spelling and “published as” functionality? Widely used for cyrylic alphabet composers or performers.
Pseudo-releases are used for tracklistings in another language or script. They are not real releases. The ones you mentioned would be a new release, not a pseudo-release.
Yes, it’s sealed with it. The OBI and spine takes precedence over the front cover on Japanese releases, English title on front cover and Japanese titles everywhere else isn’t uncommon.
Hi
Thanks for replay.
Your answer makes sense for me as long as we can see the OBI.
OBI is usually not sticking to the case and it is often disposed after opening the package.
If you get a CD as used, it’s often OBI is not included. (You can check auction page, many CD images are without OBI)
If a CD is rent from a public library, it’s very rare to have a OBI.
The case I see the OBI on a CD rent from a public library is it’s only source of Japanese translation.
I have recently borrowed 5 CDs from a public library, none of them with OBI.
And OBI image is usually not available from official site for classical release.
When I input the data based on a CD without OBI, is front cover data recommended?
And you set the space between 交響曲 and 第6番. It doesn’t have space on OBI and spine.
It has a space on back cover of CD and booklet tracklist. But the title of the program note in the booklet doesn’t have a pace.
It is not always to set space there in Japan. I checked some CDs and concert programs.
Some have the space there and some don’t have.
I meant that on brand-new sealed CDs, the OBI is on the inside of plastic wrapping, not on the outside (like a sticker is). They can be disposed by customers or libraries, but a lot of people (including me) keep them. If OBI is absent, spine or booklet can be used instead, but I would not go by front cover unless that’s the only source you have.
You are right that the space should be removed from the album title. I just fixed the title, thanks for catching it.
CD collectors including me keep OBI. But I’m not sure normal people are keeping.
So I counted Yahoo auction page of Japan pops category till total CD becomes 20.
I excluded unopened (of course it has OBI), not a Jewel case, not for sale as retail CD and a auction with more equal 2 different CDs.
As a result 12 is with OBI, 8 is without OBI. So 40% CD is sell without OBI as used. I don’t think a lot of people keep OBI.
DENON is a Japanese label that released in multiple territories. Are you sure that your releases are actually intended for the Japanese market? Do you own OBI strips for those releases or do you just assume they came with one originally? They have releases with similar or the same catalog numbers but different barcodes and languages, where the version without Japanese text is intended for export. If there is a barcode, is the barcode JAN (starting with 45 or 49)?
Most of classical releases in Japan use Latin text only for front cover including release from DG, Decca, EMI. I rarely see Japanese text front cover for a classical release. So DENON is using the same format, I guess.
We can understand the title in English front cover, and if we didn’t understand it, we can see the booklet which have Japanese track list.
Most of them are one side of spine is in Japanese and the other side is in Latin.
