Listening to WikiProject Songs
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This week, we sang along with WikiProject Songs, which focuses on articles about songs of every generation and genre. The project initially began as a rough outline in October 2002 and was reimagined in March 2004 using its parent WikiProject Albums as a template. Today, the project is home to 53 Featured Articles, 75 Featured Lists, and 845 Good Articles. The project maintains a list of helpful resources, some sample articles that have achieved Featured status, a watchlist of the 1500 most popular articles about songs, and a way to monitor requests for new articles about songs. We interviewed Lil-unique1 (Lil_℧niquℇ №1).
What motivated you to join WikiProject Songs? Have you worked on any of the project's Featured Articles, Featured Lists, or Good Articles? Are you a member of any other WikiProjects dealing with musicians or the recording industry?
- I am highly interested in music, I spend a lot of time listening to music when working, cooking, studying and when I'm bored. It pains me that sometimes articles about songs I've heard on the radio are poorly written when there is a huge abundance of information available that is reliable, particularly if one looks hard enough. I work closely on albums, singles and sometimes pages for artists or their discographies. I've worked on the featured list discography for Kelly Rowland, as well as numerous good articles for the likes of Cheryl Cole, Kelly Rowland, Diddy-Dirty Money and Jennifer Lopez amongst others. You can find a list of my special contributions including GAs, FAs, FLs and DYKs at User:Lil-unique1/Current & Finished Works.
Has the project dealt with many enthusiastic fans running afoul of Wikipedia policies? What do people add to song articles that typically gets removed? At what point do discussions of lyrics, reception, controversy, and cultural references become too much?
- I think there is a close group of editors who constantly come up with new ideas for the policies on songs and music based on current trends. Not just trends in music but also in the internet as this is increasingly the biggest reference for information. The biggest issue facing the project is probably two individual problems: firstly the addition of copyright images. This usually takes the form of fan-made cover arts which simply are not official and break non-free content criteria. The second big issue is fan-cruft. Some editors express the behaviour of over-zealous fans and like to add speculation from blogs or sometimes even just their own random opinion which sadly isn't qualified or reliably sourced or of the correct tone.
Does Wikipedia's coverage of songs tend to skew toward particular time periods or genres? Are there any significant gaps in coverage with which the project could use some help?
- Personally I only edit pop and R&B articles, typically what you would see in the top 40 charts of an major country. I think there is an issue with older releases and perhaps artists from smaller countries. E.g. in the UK and US there are specific industry-related publications and websites. The US has Billboard, while the UK has the likes of Music Week and crucially sites like Digital Spy which have 13 million unique entertainment visitors a year. Whereas sometimes it can be difficult to get coverage that relates to performance or artists beyond the UK and US.
How frequently does the project deal with notability issues for songs? Does every song on an album need an article on Wikipedia? How are cover versions of songs handled?
- There is a huge issue with notability. We have criteria at WP:NMUSIC and I have personally campaigned for clearer and more stringent guidelines. I've been involved in and witnessed many fiercely contest article for deletion discussions with editors who feel it necessary for every charted song on an album to have an article. Sometimes there warrants reason, i.e. where there is significant coverage and/or unique information such as a promotional video and/or release. Personally its my belief that charting alone is NOT enough to warrant an individual page. Cover versions of songs are usually covered on the page of the original version as a new section. Sometimes where the information becomes too much a new page is started.
Does the project deal with music videos and live performances of songs? How much overlap do you see between WikiProject Songs and the projects that cover other forms of media?
- The project makes a concerted effort to document a song's music video as an integral part of the song's article. An unsourced synopsis can be used but often coverage that details the technical information about a song is lacking.
What are the project's most urgent needs? How can a new contributor help today?
- We could do with people to help copy edit. Many of the articles require additional eyes to help improve the prose quality.
Next week, we'll visit the world's largest lusophone country. Until then, search for "order and progress" in the archive.
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