Questions about artist pages, band pages, aliases and naming conventions

Hi everyone!

Over the last few months I've been making quite a few contributions to Equipboard, and while doing so I've come across several situations where I wasn't entirely sure what the preferred approach was. Rather than opening a separate thread for each one, I thought it might be useful to collect them here in case they also help clarify the current guidelines for future contributors.

1. Stage names vs. real names

I found a couple of cases where I wasn't sure what the preferred convention is.

For example, Lola Indigo is a solo artist (https://musicbrainz.org/artist/c56f7a49-0e17-4fd8-a830-d334fe773434), but currently has a band page on Equipboard (https://equipboard.com/band/lola-indigo).

On the other hand, Malice (https://equipboard.com/pros/gene-thornton) appears under their real name instead of their stage name, even though they're primarily known professionally by that alias (https://musicbrainz.org/artist/e3c0a8e1-c404-4b52-b4aa-722185258eaa).

Is there a general guideline for these situations, or are they handled on a case-by-case basis?

2. Side projects, aliases and former names

A few weeks ago I asked about Mike Shinoda (https://equipboard.com/pros/mike-shinoda) and Fort Minor (https://equipboard.com/pros/fort-minor), and I was told that side projects are currently something of a grey area, with the founders/admins generally deciding on a case-by-case basis.

I was wondering if there's any more guidance on this.

For example:

*If an artist has another musical project or alias, is it generally better to create a separate profile, or should the gear be kept under the main artist profile? *Does the same logic apply to bands?

For instance, Linkin Park (https://equipboard.com/band/linkin-park) was originally known as Xero (https://equipboard.com/band/xero). Would it be preferable to keep those as separate profiles, or would that generally be considered a duplicate?

Similarly, Noah Thomas (https://equipboard.com/pros/noah-thomas) has another musical project under a different name (https://musicbrainz.org/artist/5a371ed9-77c0-433a-a768-c9a822922992). Would that normally warrant its own profile, or would it make more sense to include it under the existing artist page?

3. Band profile images

I also noticed that contributors don't seem to be able to upload or update profile images for band pages.

For example:

Bands without an image: https://equipboard.com/band/relative-degree, https://equipboard.com/band/pacifica, https://equipboard.com/band/silk-sonic Band with an outdated image: https://equipboard.com/band/panic-at-the-disco, https://equipboard.com/band/twenty-one-pilots

Is this intentional, or is there another way to submit images for bands that currently don't have one, or to replace outdated photos?

4. Artist pages vs. band pages

Finally, I have one question regarding artist and band pages.

Some time ago I asked about alpha to omega, which originally was listed as a solo project but is now a band (this has already been updated on MusicBrainz). A moderator explained that only the founders/admins can convert an artist page into a band page, or rename the existing profile so a new band page can be created.

I was just wondering whether requests like this are generally still being reviewed, or if there's any additional information contributors should provide when reporting these cases.

Thanks again to everyone maintaining the site and helping contributors. I've really enjoyed contributing over the past few months, and I just want to make sure I'm following the intended conventions as closely as possible.

Hi xero13,

I'm not an admin, but I'll try to answer some of your questions as best as I can.

We can't control every edit that users make, and preventing people from editing altogether would be even worse. That's why we use a combination of IQ points, moderation, and community feedback to help keep the information accurate. An admin may be able to give you more detailed information about how this works.

We also try to respect artists who prefer not to be identified by their real names whenever possible. Of course, we can't catch every edit that users make, which is why your feedback and the feedback from other users is so valuable.

Many artists don't have profile pictures. I'm not sure why you aren't able to edit those yourself, but I have updated some of the band pictures you mentioned.

About artists and bands in general:

One thing to keep in mind is that we only provide the platform after someone requests an artist or band to be added. We usually don't know who made that request it could have been the artist themselves, a dedicated fan who knows everything about them, or simply someone who discovered them a few minutes earlier.

Because of that, we encourage everyone to contribute as much information as they can. The person adding or editing an artist may have knowledge that we simply don't have, or they may even be directly connected to the artist.

As a result, some artist and band profiles remain incomplete. They may have no image, no gear listed, or very little information because they were added a long time ago, when the site had a much smaller community and received far less attention.

We regularly go back and update older, empty profiles ourselves whenever we can, but with such a large database it's inevitable that some artists and bands get lost in the data jungle. That's why community contributions and feedback are so important they help us keep the database growing and improving over time.

1. Stage names vs. real names

When an artist is primarily known by their stage name, such as "Slash," we generally keep it that way. If both the real name and stage name are commonly used, a good compromise is to display it as First Name "Stage Name" Last Name.

In the case of Lola Indigo, she's overwhelmingly known by her artist name, so that's what we use. If she's later added under a different name, we'll have to consider how the artist is recognized by the general public. At some point, we have to follow common usage.

The same applies to brands. Some brands have very long official names but are almost always referred to by a shorter version, while others have abbreviations that hardly anyone uses. In the end, public recognition is the most important factor. Otherwise, we'd constantly be debating names and creating unnecessary confusion.

2. Side projects, aliases, and former names

Yes, all of an artist's gear stays on a single profile. We simply add their different projects, bands, or aliases.

For example, if someone produces electronic drum & bass but also plays banjo in a folk band, we don't separate their gear into different profiles. It's still the same musician using that equipment.

Likewise, if someone plays guitar in a death metal band called "The Never Relief" but also performs violin with the "London Symphony Orchestra," you'll find both projects listed on the same artist profile, along with all of their gear.

Band pages don't have their own gear lists because each member has an individual gear profile instead.

Could this be improved? Probably. It would certainly be useful to know which gear an artist uses for a specific project, or whether a particular piece of equipment is current or no longer in use.

However, maintaining that level of detail would require a huge amount of work. For those kinds of specific questions, it's usually better to ask in the forums, where users can discuss and clarify details about an artist's setup.

Maybe it's something that could be explored in the future, perhaps with AI helping to organize that information. But for now, we keep all of an artist's gear together on a single profile.

3. Band profile images

I'm not sure why you can't upload or edit band profile images yourself. It could be related to your IQ points, or perhaps there were spam issues in the past. An admin would have to answer that one.

For now, I've added some of the pictures you mentioned.

In general, band images don't have to be perfectly up to date. They're mainly there to help users recognize that they've found the correct band. Of course, if the artists themselves request an updated photo, we'll happily replace it.

Also when you find a Band without an Image , or wrong Image , a bad Image , .... just give me a call and I will try to add one, as long we are unclear why you can not add Band Images.

4. Artist pages vs. band pages

Unfortunately, I can't really help with this one. That kind of change isn't something moderators can do an admin would need to handle it.

I also don't know whether a request has already been made or if it was declined, so I'm sorry I can't provide more information on that.

Hi hashimoto, thanks a lot for taking the time to write such a detailed reply! That definitely clears up several of my questions.

Regarding the first point, I think I accidentally grouped one of my examples under the wrong heading. Lola Indigo was actually meant as an example for the artist vs. band question rather than the stage name question. She is listed as a band and she is a solo project.

As for Malice, that's the one I was mainly wondering about. He's generally presented under his rapper alias rather than his real name, so I wasn't sure whether that could be changed to his stage name, or if that's something only an admin can do.

Regarding side projects and aliases, that makes perfect sense. Based on what you explained, I assume that profiles like Fort Minor and Xero would technically be considered duplicates of Mike Shinoda and Linkin Park, since the gear belongs to the artist's main profile.

One thing I'm still curious about: is there currently any way to indicate an artist's side projects or aliases on their profile, or is that information automatically pulled from MusicBrainz? I noticed some profiles list associated projects, so I wasn't sure whether contributors can edit those or if they're synced from another source.

About the band images, thank you very much for adding the missing ones! I really appreciate it.

My guess is that editing band images may simply be a permission reserved for moderators and above, since I can edit artist images without any issues but don't get the option on band pages.

And finally, regarding the artist vs. band question, no worries at all—I understand that's something only the founders/admins can answer. I'll leave that part in case one of them happens to see the thread.

Thanks again for all your help!

Lola Indigo was actually meant as an example for the artist vs. band question rather than the stage name question.

Ah, yes, that was my mistake. I just used her as an example to explain the difference between an alias, stage name, and real name.

Adding an artist or a band is not always straightforward either. Some are technically solo artists, but they regularly perform with a full band, dancers, or other musicians. Because of that, some may initially end up being added as a band, even though they are actually solo artists. In some cases, this also helps avoid having to make changes later when additional artists or band members are added. And yes sometimes we might need to change that, depends on how important it is.

As for Malice, I wasn't sure whether the name could be changed to his stage name, or if that's something only an admin can do.

Yes, once the name has been created, only an admin can change it. Usually, the name is taken from the established artist database. Likewise, whether an entry is classified as a solo artist or a band can only be changed by an admin. There are certain fields that moderators cannot edit because they are fixed when the entry is first created. This helps prevent issues such as duplicate names and keeps the database consistent. Yes this can be problematic for example the Database has the Name just in Kanjis or not the Artist Stage Name and so on .....

Regarding Linkin Park, Xero, and Relative Degree: they are correctly listed as separate bands and are not duplicates. The members only have one profile on Equipboard, and that single profile is linked to all the bands and projects they have been part of, such as Linkin Park, Xero, and Relative Degree.

It only becomes a duplicate if you create the same artist again just to associate them with another band. For example, creating one Mike Shinoda profile for Linkin Park and a second one for Xero would be incorrect. It's much better to have one artist profile linked to all the bands and projects they are or have been involved with.

Once a band or project has been created (whether through a request or otherwise), you can simply add the artist to that band.

To do this, go to Edit on the artist's page, then under Bands & Groups, select Add bands & groups to "Mike Shinoda" (for example). From there, search for the band or project you want to add the artist to. I do not know if you can Edit this, when not a Mod can do this.

Just remember that the band or project must already exist. If it hasn't been created yet, it won't appear in the search results. And you will not be able to Add a new Band or Project to an Artist.

And regarding projects and which gear an artist used, you can't always determine it, but in many cases you can see how the gear is linked to the artist. The source or description often includes information about where or how the gear was used for example, on a specific song, in the studio, live on stage, during a promotional appearance, or in another context.

It doesn't answer every question, but it's usually a good starting point when trying to determine which project or situation the gear belongs to.

Yes.The remaining questions still need clarification, so an admin will have to answer those.

Thanks again for the explanation!

I think there may have been a small misunderstanding regarding my Xero example.

I wasn't referring to the members being linked to multiple bands—that part makes perfect sense. What I meant is that Xero is simply Linkin Park before the name change, rather than a separate band running alongside it.

So I was wondering whether, in cases like that, it would generally be preferable to keep both band pages, or to treat the former name as an alias of the current band instead.

Regarding side projects, I also wasn't completely sure how this applies to Fort Minor. Based on your explanation that an artist should have a single profile with all of their projects linked to it, would the existing Fort Minor artist page be considered redundant? Or is there a reason to keep a separate profile for projects like that?

Other than that, your explanation about artists having a single profile linked to multiple projects makes perfect sense. Thanks for clarifying that!

As you mentioned, I think the remaining questions—particularly those about artist vs. band pages, renaming existing entries, and cases like Xero/Fort Minor—will probably need an admin's input, so I'll leave them here in case one of the founders/admins gets a chance to take a look.

Thanks again for all your help!