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> The spelling of an artist’s name must be correct and remain consistent across all content for that artist. However, some artists change names. Famously Prin

> The spelling of an artist’s name must be correct and remain consistent across all content for that artist. However, some artists change names. Famously Prince, became "The artist formerly known as Prince" and then Prince again, but appears to only exist on iTunes/Apple Music as Prince. Meanwhile, Japanese artist Yumi Arai, changed her name to Yumi Matsutoya in 1976 after getting married and exists as two separate artists under former name and current name.

Hamuko 5y ago
I've seen a lot of artists that change either how their name is spelled or use a slightly differently name depending on the release. I've also seen some artists credit a song to be "X vs. Y", where X and Y were both different aliases of the same artist. There's also artists that have many names that they perform under. The eurobeat scene is one that brings to mind immediately, since Giancarlo Pasquini aka Dave Rodgers also performs under the names "Derek Simon", "Robert Stone", "Patrick Hoolley", "Mario Ross", "Red Skins", "RCS", "Aleph", "The Big Brother" and "Thomas & Schubert".
onorton 5y ago
A small technicality, but I don't think he ever released under the name "the artist formerly known as Prince" but as the Love Symbol [0]. An example album being the Gold Experience [1]. [0] https://compote.slate.com/images/39fd61d7-da5c-4975-aad4-84e5ff537438.jpg https://compote.slate.com/images/39fd61d7-da5c-4975-aad4-84e... [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Gold_Experience https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Gold_Experience
wolverine876 5y ago
So many edge cases ... If a performer changes to using a nickname, say from Robert Johnson to Bobby Johnson, should they be listed separately? If a band keeps the same personnel, music, etc. and changes only its name? What if they change one person, and the name change is for intellectual property reasons (e.g., the departed person owns rights to the original name)? What if they also were an acoustic folk band and plug in, switching to rock? To jazz? What if everything changes - personnel, music, etc. - except for the name? What if they retroactively rename the band or music for intellectual property reasons? ... as with every attempt to specify reality.
umisays 5y ago
and do we file them under the name they were using when they released it, or the name they settled on? Spotify has two entries, one for "Mos Def" and one for "Yasiin Bey" even though they are the same person.
- nathancahill 5y ago
  Spotify/Apple Music have entries for: MF DOOM, King Geedorah, Madvillain, DANGERDOOM, JJ DOOM, Viktor Vaughn, probably more.
historyloop 5y ago
> Famously Prince, became "The artist formerly known as Prince" Famously he did become, in public media, yes. To his frustration, as he kept telling everyone to stop calling him "artist formerly known..." until he gave up and went back to Prince. Though in public media's defense, it's very hard to reference someone who literally had no name for a period of time.
- extra88 5y ago
  Prince changed his stage name because of a dispute with his label. He changed it back after he signed with a new label.
1123581321 5y ago
There’s no conflict here. The name of the artist with multiple names is decide for each release, and then the name is consistent within the releases that share the artist name.
reaperducer 5y ago
However, some artists change names. Famously Prince, became "The artist formerly known as Prince" and then Prince again, but appears to only exist on iTunes/Apple Music as Prince. The B-52's have been both "B-52's," and "The B-52's." Prince made his name change as an artistic protest in the years before search engines. Apple is trying to encourage discoverability. Different incentives in different times. People are messy.
derefr 5y ago
Unless the artist is genuinely performing under different "personas" (sort of like how there are sometimes two-or-more distinct bands with the same members), you/iTunes will want all of the artist's albums grouped into a single album collection. And the artist's name happens to be sort key/grouping key for that album collection. (The ARTISTSORT field exists, but old devices, e.g. original iPods, don't know about it, so digital distributors tend to eschew the use of it, instead using the regular artist field as the ARTISTSORT field.)

Hamuko 5y ago

I've seen a lot of artists that change either how their name is spelled or use a slightly differently name depending on the release. I've also seen some artists credit a song to be "X vs. Y", where X and Y were both different aliases of the same artist. There's also artists that have many names that they perform under. The eurobeat scene is one that brings to mind immediately, since Giancarlo Pasquini aka Dave Rodgers also performs under the names "Derek Simon", "Robert Stone", "Patrick Hoolley", "Mario Ross", "Red Skins", "RCS", "Aleph", "The Big Brother" and "Thomas & Schubert".

onorton 5y ago

A small technicality, but I don't think he ever released under the name "the artist formerly known as Prince" but as the Love Symbol [0]. An example album being the Gold Experience [1]. [0] https://compote.slate.com/images/39fd61d7-da5c-4975-aad4-84e5ff537438.jpg https://compote.slate.com/images/39fd61d7-da5c-4975-aad4-84e... [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Gold_Experience https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Gold_Experience

wolverine876 5y ago

So many edge cases ... If a performer changes to using a nickname, say from Robert Johnson to Bobby Johnson, should they be listed separately? If a band keeps the same personnel, music, etc. and changes only its name? What if they change one person, and the name change is for intellectual property reasons (e.g., the departed person owns rights to the original name)? What if they also were an acoustic folk band and plug in, switching to rock? To jazz? What if everything changes - personnel, music, etc. - except for the name? What if they retroactively rename the band or music for intellectual property reasons? ... as with every attempt to specify reality.

umisays 5y ago

and do we file them under the name they were using when they released it, or the name they settled on? Spotify has two entries, one for "Mos Def" and one for "Yasiin Bey" even though they are the same person.

nathancahill 5y ago
Spotify/Apple Music have entries for: MF DOOM, King Geedorah, Madvillain, DANGERDOOM, JJ DOOM, Viktor Vaughn, probably more.

historyloop 5y ago

> Famously Prince, became "The artist formerly known as Prince" Famously he did become, in public media, yes. To his frustration, as he kept telling everyone to stop calling him "artist formerly known..." until he gave up and went back to Prince. Though in public media's defense, it's very hard to reference someone who literally had no name for a period of time.

extra88 5y ago
Prince changed his stage name because of a dispute with his label. He changed it back after he signed with a new label.

1123581321 5y ago

There’s no conflict here. The name of the artist with multiple names is decide for each release, and then the name is consistent within the releases that share the artist name.

reaperducer 5y ago

However, some artists change names. Famously Prince, became "The artist formerly known as Prince" and then Prince again, but appears to only exist on iTunes/Apple Music as Prince. The B-52's have been both "B-52's," and "The B-52's." Prince made his name change as an artistic protest in the years before search engines. Apple is trying to encourage discoverability. Different incentives in different times. People are messy.

derefr 5y ago

Unless the artist is genuinely performing under different "personas" (sort of like how there are sometimes two-or-more distinct bands with the same members), you/iTunes will want all of the artist's albums grouped into a single album collection. And the artist's name happens to be sort key/grouping key for that album collection. (The ARTISTSORT field exists, but old devices, e.g. original iPods, don't know about it, so digital distributors tend to eschew the use of it, instead using the regular artist field as the ARTISTSORT field.)