I agree this can be difficult, and especially when an artist has apparently sanctioned a release but can't say so because of their contract with the record company. What worries me more than the label we apply to the release is the way we normalise bootlegs or select a group label among official only entities. It seems to me we confuse what's official with what carries the approval of the artist. But specifically, I don't have an answer for you. The problem, arguably, is the inclusion of 'and/or' in the definitions. Perhaps if it was 'either the artist or the record company' in both definitions then you'd know that if either had sanctioned it, it was official?
On 16 August 2013 10:13, lixobix <arjtap...@aol.com> wrote: > There are some types of edge cases that do not easily fit into our broad > definitions of official and bootleg releases: > > > http://musicbrainz.org/doc/Release wrote* > > official > * > > > > Any release officially sanctioned by the artist and/or their record > > company. Most releases will fit into this category. > * > > bootleg > * > > > > An unofficial/underground release that was not sanctioned by the artist > > and/or the record company. This includes unofficial live recordings and > > pirated releases. > > The particular type I'm thinking of are those releases where the artist > gives the release to someone outside of the band/management/label, knowing > that they are very likely to circulate it, and sometimes with instructions > to do so: > > http://musicbrainz.org/release/b16a2d0f-ddc2-4cb2-a475-16af2bfb7164 > http://musicbrainz.org/release/74e62569-209f-43c2-a5f3-600c7f3d0133 (later > given by artist to "Bootleg Dave" circa 2000) > > Personally, I think the above two should both be official releases, as they > both involved distribution (albeit limited to 25/a few copies respectively) > outside of the band/label/management. This would fit with the current > definition, as the artist sanctioned initial distribution of those copies. > > This is a particularly important debate in the digital domain, as many > artists use the same distribution methods as bootleggers to release > material. > > Thoughts? > > > > -- > View this message in context: > http://musicbrainz.1054305.n4.nabble.com/Official-and-bootleg-definitions-tp4656907.html > Sent from the MusicBrainz - Style mailing list archive at Nabble.com. > > _______________________________________________ > MusicBrainz-style mailing list > MusicBrainz-style@lists.musicbrainz.org > http://lists.musicbrainz.org/mailman/listinfo/musicbrainz-style >
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