In reference to the latest update below, we've incorporated a full-fledged artist database which adds features like linked artist names in album credit fields, dynamically generated artist discographies, the ability to define artist aliases and groups, and so on. It's a major functionality upgrade that we're definitely excited about.
Guests are now able to view artist links and profiles, although the artist management interfaces are limited to editors and staff for the time being while we integrate the system with our moderation queue. More information is available in
this thread.