New Organization Roles

[nstz]

Some new roles for have been added for organizations on VGMdb to help us represent organizations associated with releases more extensively, and also to try any make things more consistent between Japanese record companies.

For new submissions only the label or publisher (as appropriate) is required. The additional roles are something to be filled out by more experienced users and/or based on scans (similar to instrumentalists).

Currently available roles:

Label
A label is an imprint, brand or trademark of a record company that is used for the marketing of sound recordings.

Any label which is printed on the release can be linked. For example on this release both AUGUSTA RECORDS and BMG should be added as labels as they are both printed on the disc.

Record companies are not labels and should not be linked as such. For example the entity linked as a label should be Lantis, not Lantis Co., Ltd..

Not every logo on the release is necessarily a label. For example, logos can appear representing the artist management company, which would not be considered a label.

On enclosures generally only the labels present on the CD should be linked. Labels present only on the anime Blu-ray or game disc should not be added to the entry.

Publisher, Manufacturer and Marketer
The Publisher role is very straightforward in a lot of cases with no change from before. Generally it is the person, group or company who published the release.

For Japanese record companies assigning these roles is a bit more complicated. Japanese releases generally provide a credit of 発売元 available on the back and/or the obi. Most companies seem to use 発売元 to mean "Manufactured by", but some others like UNIVERSAL MUSIC LLC use it to mean "Marketed by". The role to which 発売元 is linked should be picked as follows;

- If there is a "Manufactured by", "Made by" etc. credit printed on releases then this company should be linked as a Manufacturer and no Publisher should be linked.
- If there is a "Marketed by" credit printed on releases then this company should be linked as a Marketer and no Publisher should be linked.
- If there is no English credit of Manufactured by or Marketed by printed on releases, then the company under 発売元 should be linked as the less-specific Publisher role.
- Sometimes the company credited as the manufacturer maybe explicitly different from the company credited under 発売元. In this case both Manufacturer and Publisher can be linked. An example is this release: https://vgmdb.net/db/covers.php?do=view&cover=417737
- Some companies like BANDAI NAMCO Arts only provide a English credit on some of their releases. However, the translation can be assumed to apply to all of their releases.

発売元 credit is available in advance from many stores (i.e. Rakuten Books, Yodobashi), so these roles can be added in advance to upcoming releases if desired.

Distributor
This is the company responsible for distribution of the release, to different retailers and such. On Japanese releases it is usually given as 販売元.

販売元 credit is also available in advance from many stores (i.e. Rakuten Books, Yodobashi), so this role can be added in advance to upcoming releases if desired.

Phonographic Copyright
This is the entity which owns the copyright for sound recordings on the release. It is usually given as "℗ (year) (entity which owns the copyright)" on the back of releases. Some digital retailers, like iTunes, also provide phonographic copyright data. Most commonly phonographic copyrights are assigned to companies. However sometimes they are assigned to labels.

This role should only be assigned once the credit is available (do not add guesses in advance to upcoming releases).

Note: Phonographic Copyright (℗) is different from Copyright (©), companies only credited as © should not be linked as phonographic copyright holders.

Retailer
This role should be linked for items sold exclusively by one retailer (or just a few retailers). For example a retailer bonus by GAMERS should have GAMERS linked as the retailer. A release sold exclusively on iTunes Store can have iTunes Store linked as the retailer. The distributor role should no longer be used for retailers.

Package Publisher, Package Manufacturer
These roles apply to enclosures only, and should be used when the CD and the enclosure are by different companies. An example is this release where the CD is by NIPPON COLUMBIA CO., LTD. and the package is by KADOKAWA CORPORATION: https://vgmdb.net/album/91065

Examples:

Spoiler:

https://vgmdb.net/album/98666
Organizations: Columbia (Label), NIPPON COLUMBIA CO., LTD. (Manufacturer, Distributor, Phonographic Copyright), BANDAI NAMCO Entertainment Inc. (Phonographic Copyright)

https://vgmdb.net/album/87901
Organizations: SQUARE ENIX MUSIC (Label), SQUARE ENIX CO., LTD. (Publisher), Sony Music Solutions Inc. (Distributor), Tokyo RPG Factory Co., Ltd. (Phonographic Copyright)

https://vgmdb.net/album/69310
Organizations: PULLTOP (Label), WillPlus, ltd. (Publisher)

https://vgmdb.net/album/71314
Organizations: Lantis (Label), Lantis Co., Ltd. (Manufacturer, Phonographic Copyright), BANDAI VISUAL CO., LTD. (Distributor)

https://vgmdb.net/album/82372
Organizations: SACRA MUSIC (Label), Sony Music Labels Inc. (Manufacturer), Sony Music Marketing Inc. (Distributor), Aniplex Inc. (Phonographic Copyright), SACRA MUSIC (Phonographic Copyright)

[ᄐv๑–X²]

I'm all for this but the outlook on those entries looks too messy under the "organization" section. I don't know if this can be discussed as committee but as a suggestion how about putting breaks in between?


For example:

Label : COLUMBIA
Manufacturer, Distributor, Phonographic Copyright: NIPPON COLUMBIA CO., LTD.
Phonographic Copyright : BANDAI NAMCO Entertainment Inc.

[Illidan]

New organization links are now open to all Trusted Editors, you can find them under the "Manage Orgs" link in the Edit Album menu.


@ᄐv๑–X²: sorry, missed the post. We have iterated a bunch of times on the design and the current one was the only one that looked good on both small and big albums that have a ton of performer credits, adding a lot of new rows on those one didn't look very good.

[konpekiHana]

If I see "製作", do I need to mark the manufacturer?



http://www.romajidesu.com/dictionary/meaning-of-製作.html

[nstz]

Yes, I think adding 製作 as the manufacturer should be fine.

Edit: Ignore the above. 製作 is also often used for production companies (esp. on anime), so it's best not to add 製作 as the manufacturer if an English translation isn't provided on the release.

[konpekiHana]

If the package from the included bonus or on a regular release does not clearly indicate "発売元", "販売元" and so on, then I can only mark the company as a label?

[nstz]

Only a brand/imprint should be linked as a label, not a company.

Even if isn't clearly given on the release, you can still link the publishing company when it's known from reliable online sources or otherwise.

[SaintSquall]

Can an album have several labels? For example on this album 2 logos appear on the spine, the obi and the disc, namely "WAVE MASTER" and "Sammy":
https://vgmdb.net/album/16201

[nstz]

Yes, it's fine to have more than one label.

[nstz]

Some small updates to the label guidelines to deal with cases where multiple labels are printed more consistently.

Labels
A label is an imprint, brand or trademark of a record company that is used for the marketing of sound recordings.

Any label which is printed on the release can be linked. For example on this release both AUGUSTA RECORDS and BMG should be added as labels as they are both printed on the disc.

Record companies are not labels and should not be linked as such. For example the entity linked as a label should be Lantis, not Lantis Co., Ltd..

Not every logo on the release is necessarily a label. For example, logos can appear representing the artist management company, which would not be considered a label.

On enclosures generally only the labels present on the CD should be linked. Labels present only on the anime Blu-ray or game disc should not be added to the entry.

Changes:
- Add a definition for labels (very similar to the one used on Discogs).
- Add new policy that any label printed on the release can be linked.