Skip to end of metadata
Go to start of metadata

Differentiating the various types of contributors and artists

  • The indirect/musical work contributors are involved in the creation of the abstract work… i.e. the composition
  • The resource contributors are involved in the creation of the the sound recording or video
  • Artists are the parties labels grant the primary creative credit to. It may reflect a combination of the actual role they played, their contractual relationship with the label with respect to the content, and branding/marketing concerns
  • Display Artist on resource level are needed for formal identification of the creation and on release level are influenced by commercial / marketing factors
  • Display Artist Name is a formatted string, containing a grouping of all Display Artists. It is a provided by the label as a suggestion on how to present the Display Artists to the consumer.

More details on how to use DisplayArtist and DisplayArtistNames can be found here.

More information on contributors and artists:

"Compound" Artists

Individual artists shall always be communicated in different tags (see info box on the right). This does not include "compound artists" such as "Simon & Garfunkel" (one should list Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel as Resource Contributors, alas).

Various Artists and abnormal spellings

The artist "Various" or "Various Artists" does not allow an end user to find a specific artist – and thus such values should be used sparingly. While they are meaningful on Release level, they are only very seldom appropriate on Resource level.

The same problem arises for artists who chose to use "odd" spellings for their name. Whether it is P!nk (instead of Pink) or TAFKAP instead of Prince, they make it hard for consumers to discover their music.

The following XML snippets each expresses a different reality:

One Person with Two Roles (ERN-3) 
<ResourceContributor>
  <PartyName>
    <FullName>
      John Smith
    </FullName>
  <PartyName>
  <ResourceContributorRole>
    Soloist
  </ResourceContributorRole>
  <ResourceContributorRole>
    Producer
  </ResourceContributorRole>
</ResourceContributor>
One Person with Two Roles (ERN-4) 
<Contributor>
  <ContributorPartyReference>P345</ContributorPartyReference>
  <Role>Soloist</Role>
  <Role>Producer</Role>
</Contributor>
Two People with One Role each (ERN-3) 
<ResourceContributor>
  <PartyName>
    <FullName>
      John Smith
    </FullName>
  <PartyName>
  <ResourceContributorRole>
    Soloist
  </ResourceContributorRole>
</ResourceContributor>
<ResourceContributor>
  <PartyName>
    <FullName>
      John Smith
    </FullName>
  <PartyName>
  <ResourceContributorRole>
    Producer
  </ResourceContributorRole>
</ResourceContributor>
Two People with One Role each (ERN-4) 
<Contributor>
  <ContributorPartyReference>P345</ContributorPartyReference>
  <Role>Soloist </Role>
</Contributor>
<Contributor>
  <ContributorPartyReference>P741</ContributorPartyReference>
  <Role>Producer</Role>
</Contributor>

The sample on the left shows one person, John Smith, who played two roles, soloist and producer, during the creation of a sound recording or video. The sample on the right, shows two different people, unfortunately both called John Smith, each of which plays one role each. To avoid this confusion, it is recommended to always add a Party ID to any composite describing parties.

Role Codes

Before creating a user-defined role code, an implementer is encouraged to investigate whether its role codes are in-line with the separation between direct contributors and indirect contributors. If in doubt, they are encouraged to contact DDEX for advice.

Localisation

There are two ways of "localise" information such as contributor names. One is by using the Release/ResourceDetailsByTerritory and the other is to use several PartyName composite inside a single ResourceContributor element.

The first approach must be used if the data communicated is materially different (e.g. when a band has different names in different territories, e.g. "The Charlatans" are thus called in the UK but are called "The Charlatans UK" in the US).

The second approach shall be used to support translations and transliterations of the same name (e.g. different spellings of Tchaikovsky in Cyrillic and/or Latin scripts). In this case, each  PartyName has to be accompanied by an appropriate LanguageAndScriptCode attribute.

  • No labels

7 Comments

  1. Anonymous

    What is an artist contributor me please help

  2. DDEX Secretariat

    Generally speaking, the "artist" is the name under which a sound recording or Release is marketed. It's the big name on the front of the cover. Artists can be individuals ("David Bowie") or groups ("The Beatles").

    "Contributors" are the individual(star) musicians that play a role in creating a, say. sound recording. The term encompasses performers as well as engineers, studio producers and other personnel. The equivalent applies to musical works.These contributors are, however, not listed in big letters on the front cover of an album. In many cases the artist is also a contributor.

     (star) In rare cases, contributors can also be groups...

  3. Anonymous

    Hello, Why is Remixer not available as ArtistRole? 

    Thanks, Ronald

  4. DDEX Secretariat

    It is currently been considered as a new value.

  5. Anonymous

    Hi there, any update on the Remixer as ArtistRole? Would be really nice to have. Many thanks. jens

  6. DDEX Secretariat

    Yes: the forthcoming ERN 4.1 will allow to differentiate between a remixer and the remixed artist... This new standard is currently is expected to be published in 1 to 1 1/2 months.

  7. Anonymous

    Dear DDEX Secretariat, 

    thank you very much for your prompt reply. Best. jens