Wikipedia:Notability (music)

[[Category:Wikipedia {{{1}}}s|Notability (music)]]

See: Wikipedia:Importance.

This page gives some rough guidelines which we might use to decide if a musical topic is notable.

Many of us who spend a lot of time improving Wikipedia's musical coverage feel that notability is required for a musical topic (such as a band) to deserve an article here. Please note that the failure to meet any of these criteria does not mean an article must be deleted; conversely, the meeting of any of these criteria does not mean that an article must be kept. These are merely rules of thumb which some editors choose to keep in mind when decided whether or not to keep an article that is on votes for deletion.

Also, please keep in mind that the article in question must actually document that the criterion is true. It is not enough to make vague claims in the article or rant about a band's importance on a talk page or VfD page -- the article itself must document notability.

Musicians and ensembles

There are a lot of bands, singers and other musicians and musical ensembles with articles in the Wikipedia (see category:Musicians).

A musician or ensemble (note that this includes a band, singer, rapper, orchestra, hip hop crew, dj etc) is notable if it meets any one of the following criteria:

1. Has had a Top 100 hit on any national music chart, in a large or medium-sized country*
2. Has gone on an international concert tour, or a national concert tour in a large or medium-sized country*
3. Has released two or more albums on a major label or one of the more important indie labels (i.e. an independent label with a history of more than a few years and a roster of performers, many of which are notable)
4. Has been prominently featured in any major music media
5. Contains at least one member who was once a part of or later joined a band that is otherwise extremely notable; note that it is often most appropriate to use redirects in place of articles on side projects, early bands and such
6. Has become the most prominent representative of a notable style or the local scene of a city (or both, as in British hip hop); note that the subject must still meet all ordinary Wikipedia standards, including verifiability.
7. Has won a major music award, such as a Grammy, Juno or Mercury Music Award

Note

• There are, at present, no precise definitions of a "small", "medium" or "large" country in this context. However, a very limited definition of "small" will generally be used, excluding only a few of the world's smallest countries.