Wikipedia:WikiProject Songs

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For songs about Wikipedia, see Wikipedia:Song.

Working off the Albums project, and using a similar template, let's start this up. The goal is to make the song pages give the basic information in a quick and easy-to-read fashion. A lot of this project has been lifted directly from the Albums project. This project is not yet fully defined, so feel free to modify and clarify it.

Very few song articles have been tagged with {{songs}}. Many articles still need to be graded based in quality (|class=X Stub, Start,B,A, GA,FA) and importance (|importance=X Low, Mid,High, Top). Please help today so we can see where our project stands. Read more below.

Contents 1 Notability 1.1 Articles listed at Wikipedia:Articles for deletion 1.1.1 Archive 1.1.2 Current 2 Articles at Featured Article Candidates 3 Articles at Peer Review 4 Naming conventions 5 Template 5.1 Project tag 5.2 Infobox conversions 6 Categories 7 Infobox 7.1 Single cover 7.2 Details 7.2.1 Chart positions 7.3 Chronology 7.4 Infobox examples 8 Article content 8.1 Main body 8.2 Single track listings 8.3 Lyrics and music videos 8.4 Charts 8.5 External links 8.6 Stubs 9 Models 10 Members 11 See also 12 Resources 12.1 Chart listings

[edit] Notability

There are currently no specific guidelines for the notability of songs. It is currently being discussed at Wikipedia talk:WikiProject Music/Notability and Music Guidelines/Songs. Feel free to make comments there.

[edit] Articles listed at Wikipedia:Articles for deletion

See also Wikipedia:Centralized discussion/Lists of songs.

[edit] Archive

• Wikipedia:Categories for deletion/Log/2006 March 21#.5B.5B:Category:The_Waterboys_recordings.5D.5D
• Cheeseburger In Paradise (AfD discussion)
• List of songs with particularly long titles (AfD discussion)
• Box of Rain (AfD discussion)
• Bouncing Off The Ceiling (Upside Down) (AfD discussion)
• Gone Before It Happens (AfD discussion)
• The Playboy Mansion (song) (AfD discussion)

[edit] Current

[edit] Articles at Featured Article Candidates

[edit] Articles at Peer Review

[edit] Naming conventions

When creating any music articles remember that song and single titles go in quotation marks "like this" and album titles are italicised like this.

Song article titles should be named after the song, without quotation marks, for example, "Paranoid Android". If there is another article with that name use the format '<song name> (song)', for example, "Country House (song)". If there is more than one song article with a title then disambiguate by putting the artist name in the title to make '<song name> (<artist name> song)', for example "Because (The Beatles song)".

When using these titles within articles, use piping to conceal the disambiguation terms, for example use the syntax "[[Because (The Beatles song)|Because]]", to make the link simply appear as "Because".

Also, although piping is normally discouraged on disambiguation pages, song and album titles are an exception:

• for a song, use double quotes with the syntax: [[Because (The Beatles song)|"Because" (The Beatles song)]], to format the title as: "Because" (The Beatles song).
• for an album, use pairs of single quotes with the syntax: [[Abbey Road (album)|''Abbey Road'' (album)]], to format the title as: Abbey Road (album).
• See Wikipedia:Manual of Style (disambiguation pages) for details

[edit] Template

[edit] Project tag

This article is within the scope of WikiProject Songs, an attempt to build a comprehensive and detailed guide to songs on Wikipedia. If you would like to participate, you can edit the article attached to this page, or visit the project page, where you can join the project and/or contribute to the discussion.

Please add {{songs}} along with the importance and quality of the article. You can do this by putting |class=X (Stub, Start,B,A, GA,FA) and |importance=X (Low, Mid, High, Top), (Case sensitive)

Importance isn't currently implemented. Is this functionality required?

Please see Wikipedia:Version 1.0 Editorial Team/Assessment for explanation of terms. The project is currently rating articles based on their class for use by the Version 1.0 team and others, including this project itself. Importance is a parameter of potential use to the project itself, possibly in determining which articles are top contenders for future collaboration. However, as the specific importance of articles varies between projects, it is less of a priority right now than determining the quality of the articles which fall within the scope of this project.

[edit] Infobox conversions

For articles with old-style or subst'ed infoboxes, please add one of the following templates to the top of the article:

Template	Appearance
{{newinfobox|type=singles}}	This page has a deprecated or subst'ed infobox and needs a new one. Please replace with {{Infobox Single}}. See WP:SONGS for details.
{{newinfobox|type=songs}}	This page has a deprecated or subst'ed infobox and needs a new one. Please replace with {{Song infobox}}. See WP:SONGS for details.

As a regular maintenance task, please convert the infoboxes to the new style. Check Category:Needs single infobox conversion and Category:Needs song infobox conversion for articles needing attention.

[edit] Categories

Song articles should be placed into two categories, a subcategory of Category:Songs by artist ("Category:<Artist name> songs") and a subcategory of Category:Songs by year (a subcategory of Category:Singles by year for singles). Other than Category:Songs by artist, "Category:<Artist name> songs" should be placed into at least two other subcategories, a subcategory of Category:Songs by country and one or more subcategories of Category:Songs by genre.

For example, "Country House" by Blur was released in 1995, so it is in Category:Blur songs and Category:1995 singles while Category:Blur songs is in Category:Songs by artist, Category:British songs, and Category:Rock songs.

Note: For consistency, the artist name in "Category:<Artist name> songs" should be the same as the name in the title of the article (minus any disambiguation).

Note: Please do not place song articles directly in Category:Songs or Category:Singles.

[edit] Infobox

Click edit to the right to view the source of this singles table to copy to other single articles. Again, similarly to the Albums project, you can use the Infobox Single for the singles. Use Template:Song infobox for album tracks and b-sides.

{{Infobox Single <!-- See Wikipedia:WikiProject_Songs -->
| Name           = 
| Cover          = 
| Artist         = 
| from Album     = 
| B-side         = 
| Released       = 
| Format         = 
| Recorded       = 
| Genre          = 
| Length         = 
| Label          = 
| Writer         = 
| Producer       = 
| Certification  = 
| Chart position = 
| Last single    = 
| This single    = 
| Next single    = 
}}

• Any field in brackets (such as [Writer]) is optional, and can be omitted if desired.
• "This single" is optional. When left blank it'll display arrows.

"Country House"
Single by Blur
from the album The Great Escape
Released	14 August 1995 (UK)
Format	7", cassette, CD
Recorded	1995
Genre	Britpop
Length	3:57
Label	Food / EMI
Producer(s)	Stephen Street
Chart positions
#1 (UK) #4 (Finland) #10 (Sweden) #26 (Italy, Switzerland)
Blur singles chronology
"To the End" (1994)	"Country House" (1995)	"The Universal" (1995)

For album tracks, use {{Song infobox}}.

[edit] Single cover

Again, similarly to the Albums project:

Upload a copy of the single cover (under fair use - use the tag "{{albumcover}}"). Ideally the image should be 200px wide. It can be added in the table with the code below:

<Image Name>.jpg

[edit] Details

Try to fill in as many of the details as you can. The Released date should refer to the earliest known date. Similarly, Record label should refer to the label on which the single/album was originally released. Where significantly different versions have been released (featuring alternate track listings) e.g. U.S. vs. UK, the later release date and/or record label should be mentioned in the article. Recorded should include details on where and when the song was recorded. If you can't find out some details, leave the section blank or with "???" to make it easier for someone else to fill in later.

[edit] Chart positions

The chart positions included should probably be for the artist's home chart and charts on which the single reached the Top 40. For USA chart entries, use the Billboard Hot 100 which is the most comprehensive USA chart. Other U.S. chart positions may be included, indented. Charts should be listed in order of the single's position. For example:

• #1 (Italy, UK Singles Chart)
• #6 (USA Hot 100)
  • #1 (Modern Rock Tracks)
• #9 (France, Germany)
• #17 (Canada)

Note the usage of bullets in the code.

* #1 <small>([[Italy]], [[UK Singles Chart]])</small>

To render correctly, there must be a space between the asterisk (*) and the pound sign (#).

[edit] Chronology

The chronology section should link to the previous single on the left and the next single on the right.

• For first singles the left box (the "Last single=" field) should be left blank.
• For latest singles, the right box (the "Next single=" field) should be left blank, or with a " . . . ".
• For final singles, the right box (the "Next single=" field) should be left blank.

Wikipedia's date style guidelines recommend that years should not be linked within the chronology section.

[edit] Infobox examples

Here are some examples of articles using the infoboxes:

• "Country House"
• "I Want to Hold Your Hand"
• "Smells Like Teen Spirit"

[edit] Article content

[edit] Main body

Write a description of the song. Write the basics first (this is often the information contained in the infobox). Then write about the music and lyrics, its influences and its effect on culture. Because the entire article is about the song, it is recommended that there be no section headers with titles such as "Song information" or "About the song".

[edit] Single track listings

If this song is a single include track listings for the single's different formats.

[edit] Lyrics and music videos

Do not include the song's entire lyrics or embed the song's music video in the article unless you are certain they are in the public domain. Most lyrics and music videos will be copyrighted so we cannot legally put them in an article. It may be acceptable to use small portions of a song's lyrics or music video in the main body to illustrate a point. Lyrics and music videos that are in the public domain may be entered at Wikisource. Links to external websites that provide lyrics and music videos belong in the "External links" section.

Per Wikipedia policy, please do not link to websites that are in violation of the artist's own copyright. See Wikipedia:Copyrights#Linking to copyrighted works.

[edit] Charts

See #Chart listings. For displaying chart information in table format, see the Music Project's guidelines for chart tables.

[edit] External links

Include such things stated below on the external links:

• chords
• lyrics
• parodies
• tabs/sheet music
• anything else relevant

[edit] Stubs

If the article is a stub, please use one of the following stub templates at the bottom of the page:

• {{song-stub}}
  • {{anthem-stub}}
  • {{single-stub}}
  • {{beatles-song-stub}}
  • {{blues-song-stub}}
  • {{country-song-stub}}
  • {{electronic-song-stub}}
  • {{hip-hop-song-stub}}
  • {{pop-song-stub}}
    • {{pop-standard-stub}}
  • {{metal-song-stub}}
  • {{punk-song-stub}}
  • {{rock-song-stub}}
    • {{1970s-rock-song-stub}}
    • {{1980s-rock-song-stub}}
    • {{1990s-rock-song-stub}}
    • {{2000s-rock-song-stub}}
  • {{show-tune-stub}}
  • {{worldmusic-song-stub}}

[edit] Models

The following are a list of featured articles on songs and singles. These are articles that the community as a whole have judged as being some of the best articles on Wikipedia. They can serve as excellent examples for articles on singles and songs.

• "1987 (What the Fuck Is Going On?)"
• "All You Need Is Love (The JAMs song)"
• "Cool"
• "Dixie"
• "Fuck the Millennium"
• "Hey Jude"
• "Hollaback Girl"
• "(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction"
• "Just My Imagination (Running Away with Me)"
• "Layla"
• "The Long and Winding Road"
• "Old Dan Tucker"
• "Something"
• "Yesterday"

[edit] Members

To add yourself as a member, put the userbox labeled {{User WikiprojectSongs}} on your userpage.

[edit] See also

List of notable songs: an editable list created as part of the Missing encyclopedic articles WikiProject

[edit] Resources

[edit] Chart listings

• allmusic.com has a complete list of all charting singles on Billboard charts including Hot 100 and other singles charts (ie; R&B, country) in its articles for the artist and the album.

• top40-charts.com has an extensive database of charts from 2000 onwards but beware of the popups. Has been known to give false information.

• ARIA has end-of-year Australian charts from 1989 onwards and a list of certifications at the end of each year for singles and albums (platinum and gold).

• songfacts.com lists US and UK chart positions on their database of songs see this article on Hotel California as an example.

• Oz Music Charts has a list of #1 hits in the US, UK and Australia dating back to the 1950's.

• everyhit.com has top-40 positions for UK singles from 1952.

• the Database of Popular Music has an extensive database of songs and includes hits by year for both UK and USA.

• Randy Price has compiled the Cash Box magazine Best Selling Record charts from 1950 on.

• Chartstats.com Archive of weekly UK singles charts runs since 1952.