Wikipedia:WikiProject Musicians/Style

This is an essay on style. It contains the advice or opinions of one or more WikiProjects on how to format and present article content within their area of interest.

This information is not a formal Wikipedia policy or guideline, as it has not been thoroughly vetted by the community.

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WP:MUSICSTYLE

Style

Naming

The article name should be the name of the group or artist, disambiguated if necessary. Do not pre-emptively disambiguate! When there is no other encyclopedic use of the name, the article should reside at the normal name, e.g. Red Hot Chili Peppers, not Red Hot Chili Peppers (band). However, it should be disambiguated when the band name is a dictionary word or there are other articles having the same name, e.g. Flaw (band), not Flaw. One exception is when other articles having the same name only derive their name from the band, such as self-titled albums, e.g. Wintersun, not Wintersun (band).

In cases where disambiguation is needed, the term (band) or (musician) should be used , e.g. W.A.S.P. (band). For multiple bands or artists with the same name, use the music genre or nationality to distinguish the different bands, e.g. Space (English band) and Space (French band).

Do not use special characters to make the name look like the logo of the band or artist, e.g. N.E.R.D, not N*E*R*D. Feel free to set up redirects for other common (mis)spellings. See WP:MOSTM for more information.

For an artist or group that has recorded under many names, use the name that is most common or famous, e.g. Aphex Twin, not Caustic Window. Redirect all the other names to one article. For an individual without one recording name that is more prolific or famous than the others it may be easiest to use his or her birth name.

Capitalization

In names, the standard rule in the English language is to capitalize:

The first word and last word in the title.
All other words other than coordinating conjunctions (and, but, or, nor), prepositions (to, over, in, for), articles (an, a, the), and the word to in infinitives. Note that short verbs (Is, Are, Be, Do) and pronouns (Me, It, His) are capitalized.

Disambiguating links

When linking genres and other terms in the article, be sure it points to the appropriate music-related article and not a disambiguation page. For example, rock should point to rock music and not rock; alternative should point to alternative rock and not alternative, a disambiguation page. Use piped links if necessary. Other terms to look out for are: pop music, band (musical ensemble), LP (gramophone record) and several more.

For further suggestions and guidance on style, see Wikipedia:WikiProject Music/MUSTARD.