Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/The Shells

The Shells

The Shells (edit | talk | history | protect | delete | links | watch | logs | views) – (View log)

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I see no indication that they meet the requirements in WP:BAND. They've been nominated for one little award (so little that the article about that award wasn't even created until less than two weeks ago) so this certainly doesn't count as a "major music award" or "major music competition" as described in the requirement linked above. As for substantial coverage in independent sources, all I see is three sentences in Seventeen and someone's blog. No album released yet, no charting singles, no nothing. And for a band that's supposed to be the WP:up and coming next big thing (which is not an appropriate reason for an article anyway), not that many people are looking them up on Wikipedia (pageview stats). rʨanaɢ ^talk/_contribs 00:13, 13 September 2009 (UTC) rʨanaɢ ^talk/_contribs 11:09, 13 September 2009 (UTC)

• Delete, no charting albums (actually, that unreleased album should be up for AFD too), non-notable label (which was recently speedied), nominated for a minor award that they might not even win (we'll see tonight). No prejudice against recreation if they do explode onto the charts overnight...or something like that. As of now, they fail WP:BAND for the reasons described above. talkingbirds 16:45, 13 September 2009 (UTC)
  • You're right about the album, I forgot to mention that in the nom statement. To the closing admin: if this article is deleted, Written Roads should be deleted along with it. rʨanaɢ ^talk/_contribs 19:28, 13 September 2009 (UTC)

• Striking comment They lost the award, so I'm definitely going delete. If they would have won this minor award, I would have been a little more lenient on the deletedeletedelete argument. But simply being nominated for a small award that will probably not be introduced again next year & was not presented on-air is not enough justification to pass WP:BAND. talkingbirds 21:13, 14 September 2009 (UTC)

• Delete for now. Maybe next month, we'll have more to talk about. THE AMERICAN METROSEXUAL 21:19, 13 September 2009 (UTC)
• Keep. All part of the rich tapestry.  HWV258  07:39, 14 September 2009 (UTC)
  • Do you intend to address any of the policy issues raised above, or do you just like the article? rʨanaɢ ^talk/_contribs 17:22, 14 September 2009 (UTC)
  • "All part of the rich tapestry"? What? THE AMERICAN METROSEXUAL 18:31, 14 September 2009 (UTC)

• Strong Keep. This band article clearly satisfies WP:BAND, and therefore should be kept.

The guidance's test for band notablity is that it meet any 1 of 12 criteria. Here, as is discussed below, the band meets 3 of the criteria. Three times what it must meet to qualify.

1. Subject of Multiple Non-trivial Independent Reliable Public Works. One criterion that it has met is #1, in that it has "been the subject of multiple non-trivial published works whose source is independent from the [band] itself and reliable."

Specifically, among others, as the article itself reflects, (a) Seventeen Magazine (in their article last month: " "Band Spotlight: The Shells"), and (b) Queens Chronicle (in their article just this month) have published reviews on the band and its work.

The review of the band by Seventeen Magazine (which has a circulation of 22 million, 65 years in circulation, is the #1 magazine subscribed to by college freshmen, and has the 39th-highest circulation in the US) is wholly consistent with Seventeen Magazine''s band review format. In part, the review states:

Band Spotlight: The Shells

Album: Written Roads (coming out October 8!)

Myspace: myspace.com/bombshelltrio

The vibe: Indie folk-rock mixed with a little R&B. Very Dixie Chicks meets Indigo Girls.

Why you should listen: These three gorgeous girls wrote most of the songs on their new album themselves! Their original sound was dubbed "cosmo country" — a blend of city pop with folk. Love it!

Our fave songs: Give a Little Take a Little, Wrong from the Start

Furthermore, the proposing deleter's statement above that the Seventeen article is only three sentences long is an innaccurate and misleading exageration, as can be seen by inspecting the review. Not that it matters--it is the magazine's format of choice, and it is appears to work for Seventeen inasmuch as the magazine is the largest-selling magazine to US college freshman. Importantly, it also meets the criteria of the guidance, as the guidance indicates that what is meant by "trivial" are those articles that do not do more than “simply report performance dates, release information or track listings, or the publications of contact and booking details in directories.” This article clearly does much more than that, providing the reviewer's actual reviews and opinion of the band and the band's CD.

The review by Queens Chronicle this month (a newspaper which has been reporting for 30 years and now reaches 400,000 readers) says inter alia that:

"The Shells, one of the hottest rock groups around, are one of three finalists vying for the MTV Best Breakout NYC Artist Award. The trio consists of singers Jessica Waltz, Melanie Klaja and Carrie Welling, who lives in Astoria. Along with a set of backup musicians, they frequently play shows in western Queens and elsewhere in the city.... [T]he MTV competition [is] set for Sept. 11 at the Fillmore New York at Irving Plaza in downtown Manhattan....
These sirens warrant it. They’re great performers and are about to release their first album, “Written Roads,” next month. Winning the best breakout artist award would be the icing on the cake, as it brings with it performance and licensing deals with MTV. The award be presented during the network’s Video Music Awards, set for Sept. 13 at Radio City Music Hall.

This article also meets the guidance's standards, and is clearly non-trivial. These two reviews together are sufficient to satisfy the guidance's first criterion.

(They are addition to various established music industry blogs. Blogs, of course, are a not uncommon venue for written reviews of indie bands. The reviews themselves, as well as the fact that the band was reviewed, arguably also reflect the notability of the band – they are highly positive reviews, as distinct from mentions along the lines of “nothing special; much like any other band".)

2. Nominated for Major Music Award. A second criterion that this article meets is #8, in that the band has been "nominated for a major music award."

The MTV Video Music Awards are clearly major music awards. (Despite the proposing deleter’s anti-peacock characterization of the VMA as a “little” award. Furthermore, while he notes that it is “one” award, that is of course the requisite number under this guidance).

The band was nominated for the "MTV VMA Best Breakout New York City Artist Award", as you can clearly see from the official rules.

As you can see here, the MTV VMA logo attaches to official releases regarding this award, clearly calling it the MTV VMA Best Breakout NYC Artist Award.

Other official communications refer to the award as a VMA as well, and the award was given out at the official MTV VMAs ceremony.

The award appears to be a new VMA, and information with regard to the VMA (and, hence the Wikipedia article on it) have naturally only appeared recently. But that of course doesn't warrant exclusion (as the proposing deleter appears to suggest, when he seeks to create a standard that does not appear in the guidance of “when was a Wikipedia article created on it?)-- any more than a new Grammy or Oscar would warrant exclusion. And the VMAs have a long history of introducing new awards and pulling old awards).

3. Won or Placed in a Major Music Competition. A third criterion that this article meets is #9, in that the band has "won or placed in a major music competition." The competion for the above award was a major one, in that it was an MTV competition (MTV being a major name in the music field), the competition at the outset involved 190 bands, the competition between the final three nominee bands was held at a major venue (The Fillmore at Irving Plaza; a major 1,100-person NYC venue).

As to the editor who suggested he would have voted for inclusion had they won, but will not as they only came in the top 3 (out of 190), I would point out that that his analysis is at odds with the guidance. The guidance treats all nominees -- whether they win or place -- as being notable. Thus, if you believe that the winner would be notable, the top 3 nominee shoudl be treated as notable as well.

Irrelevant discussion. The proposing deleter focuses on the number of pageviews of this new article. First, that’s simply not a test under the guidance. Second, the number of pageviews of this article are far more per day than the number of pageviews of, say, the article on "The Shells (doo wop band)" from which this band is disambiguated. And – someone may know how to determine the number – from what I can see far more than a substantial number and proportion of Wikipedia articles.

Also completely irrelevant is the proposing deleter’s discussion of what criteria the band does not meet. As indicated earlier – all that is asked for is that the band meet 1 criterion (if it only meets 1, of course it will not meet the other 11 – no need to discuss them).

Aside. As an aside, it is more than slightly troubling that this entire discussion came about as follows: (a) I indicated to one editor that on Sept. 8 that I had a difference of opinion with him on a separate issue (see [1]; (b) while he and I had never edited the same article before, suddenly I found him wikistalking me and making 100s of reversions to my entries, with special attention to those articles I created (see [2] -- when I reported the incident, it was closed out as "no violation", though there were suggestions that I could follow up my wikistalking complaing elsewhere and that wikistalking was innapropriate behavior); which was followed by (c) him appealing to another editor (see [3] – who (d) then proposed deletion here (as well as at another of related pages that I started -- something the initial editor didn't even do). My wikistalker has suggested that my charge is untrue -- but I am confident that if anyone checks his many edits in the days after he and I first communicated, that will see clearly that the vast majority of his hundreds of edits were to undo my edits on various pages I had touched that he had followed me to, as previously indicated. I'm at a loss. I'm just trying to be a helpful contributing editor, but I've apparently crossed the wrong editor who has made it his life's work this week to undo my (hopefully helpful) edits, and the baton has now been passed to an equally enthusiastic second editor.

In summary, this band clearly meets the WP:BAND criteria. Three times over. While I understand that the goal of standards is to not have non-notable garage cover bands whose best claim to fame is that they placed at a local church “best band of the church” competition, or had a write-up in a school newpaper as to when they were next playing, or whose best award experience was placing for the “best band on our block” award, this band is clearly far above those criteria. Allowing this article to remain is in accord with Wikipedia’s main policy of being comprehensive.

I'll leave friendly notices at a limited number of spots for editors who may have reason to have interest in following or joining this discussion. Thanks.

References

--VMAsNYC (talk) 02:15, 16 September 2009 (UTC)

• • • Way too long. But in response to your comments: 1) No, the band has not been a subject of substantial coverage. What you claim is "part of" the Seventeen review is actually the entire review—they say almost nothing, not substantial in the least. 2&3) The "Best Breakout New York Band" thing was not a competition they were involved in, they didn't win it, and it was not major (it's so minor it's not even listed anywhere on the VMA's website, and the article about it is up for deletion). rʨanaɢ ^talk/_contribs 02:22, 16 September 2009 (UTC)