This proposal is designed to improve the correctness of artist names in the database, where the artist name starts with "The" or some other definite article. It also aims to improve the consistency of artist credits for these artists.

The proposal is as follows.

Insert the designated text in:

https://wiki.musicbrainz.org/User:LordSputnik/Definite_Article

At the end of the "Name" section of http://musicbrainz.org/doc/Style/Artist.

So that it reads:

"The artist name is the official name of an artist, whether it is a person or a band. In most cases, it is the name as found on releases. If an artist uses multiple names, see the guideline for artists using multiple names for more details.

Note that you can change how an artist is credited on a release or track when you enter that release. There is usually no need to add a new artist to the database if the artist is already present in our database under a (slightly) different name.

When adding an artist to the database whose name appears to start with a definite article (eg. "The"), always check whether the definite article is actually part of the artist name. In cases where this is not known, ignore the definite article.

In the case where an existing artist has a credit on a release starting with a definitive article, include the definite article in the join phrase, not in the artist credit."