-
Improvement
-
Resolution: Unresolved
-
Normal
-
None
-
None
-
None
For the "recording of work" relationship, there is no consensus on what "cover" means within MB, and no consistency in how it is applied. I think it has no value in MB unless/until it is defined.
Previous discussion @ http://musicbrainz.1054305.n4.nabble.com/Cover-relationship-Recording-Recording-tp3867677.html
Edit (jesus2099): fmera suggested to mark original recordings only, instead of all covers.
This idea has to be better defined but really is promising, IMO:
- Original is more easy to define
- No need to mark hundreds of covers (never ending job)
- is duplicated by
-
-
- Closed
-
[STYLE-519] either define "cover" flag on recording-work rel, or get rid of flag
Original would not even be a requirement.
It's just that if someone wants a recording being seen as not the original, they would have to find the original to mark it as such.
Long time ago, before works existed, we would have to find the original to link covers to it.
If this option would require having one "original", then it wouldn't work for most classical and folk music.
From these discussions, really, the best idea from fmera:
https://musicbrainz.org/edit/21155965
fmera:
on a side note, i wish the editing system were set up so all you need to do is identify the original version and set that as ‘original’, since there could only be one original. then all the rest, less those specifically identified as ‘‘not’’ covers, would automatically be ‘covers’ w/o editors having to do anything. saves a ton of cleaning up/editing work. the present way is tedious.
The main thing, to me, would be to make sure that the guidelines/help provide clear guidance on fairly common questions like:
- Is it ever a cover when the performing artist is one of the authors?
- Is it a cover when an artist performs a work by/for a band they were a member of (at the time they wrote/performed that work)?
The closest I can get to a "definition" as it is is "Use the cover attribute when an artist performs a work that was originally performed by someone else, in a popular music setting" - this is a bit like "what is classical".
Other option would be adding an "original performer" relationship to works, which would have its uses in any case but might not always work for covers (is it a cover if Bruce Springsteen performs a work first performed by Bruce Springsteen & the E-Street Band?).
I'll open a call for feedback and ideas a bit after the schema change, and hopefully someone will have better ideas than I do about this!
However "original" or "cover" is defined, if a songwriter (creator) performs the work at anytime, the cover-checkbox should be locked out. In other words, a creator cannot do a cover of their own creation. Irving Berlin cannot perform a cover of White Christmas. This does not affect Bing Crosby as original artist, and everybody else as cover.