I really think a stupid-simple labeling scheme is the most ideal path. You can get by with only 3 tables and 6 columns if you do this. Sure, you'd have to have

I really think a stupid-simple labeling scheme is the most ideal path. You can get by with only 3 tables and 6 columns if you do this. Sure, you'd have to have labels like "Release Year 1999", "Track #2", etc., but this path can actually be very elegant and desirable at query time. A few generic columns added to the label/tag table would allow workarounds to most of the edge cases. For example, if you added an "IsSequential" column, then labels like "Track #1", "Track #2" can be interpreted as such. I think the dragon is trying to build a schema that directly represents the business of music. There are so many genres, cultures, varieties, etc., that you would go insane before you had everything properly covered.