MusicBrainz Ontology - for describing music Revision: 1.03 The MusicBrainz Ontology Specification provides main concepts and properties fo describing music (i.e. artists, albums and tracks) on the Semantic Web. This document contains a detailed description of the Music Ontology. A person or a group of people whose musical creative work shows sensitivity and imagination Single person whose musical creative work shows sensitivity and imagination. Group of musicians, or musical ensemble, usually popular or folk, playing parts of or improvising off of a musical arrangement. Organization or group of individuals and/or other organizations involved in the music market. Trade name of a company that produces musical works or expression of musical works. Distinct intellectual or artistic musical creation. From the FRBR final report: A work is an abstract entity; there is no single material object one can point to as the work. We recognize the work through individual realizations or expressions of the work, but the work itself exists only in the commonality of content between and among the various expressions of the work. When we speak of Homer's Iliad as a work, our point of reference is not a particular recitation or text of the work, but the intellectual creation that lies behind all the various expressions of the work. By exemple: work #1 J. S. Bach's The art of the fugue * expression #1 the composer's score for organ * expression #2 an arrangement for chamber orchestra by Anthony Lewis * . . . . By contrast, when the modification of a work involves a significant degree of independent intellectual or artistic effort, the result is viewed, for the purpose of this study, as a new work. Thus paraphrases, rewritings, adaptations for children, parodies, musical variations on a theme and free transcriptions of a musical composition are considered to represent new works. On a pragmatic level, defining work as an entity in the model serves a number of purposes. It enables us to give a name and draw relationships to the abstract intellectual or artistic creation that encompasses all the individual expressions of that work. Thus, when we describe a work of literary criticism dealing with Homer's Iliad, for example, we are able to relate the work of criticism to the work that it treats as its subject. By naming Homer's work and defining the relationship between it and the work of criticism, we are able to indicate that the subject of the work of criticism is in fact the abstraction we know as the Iliad, and not any specific expression of that work. Defining work as an entity also enables us to establish indirect relationships between expressions of the same work in cases where we are unable to draw direct relationships between individual expressions. For example, there may exist many translations of a work (e.g., Anne of Green Gables), and it may not always be possible or necessary to specify the text that has served as the basis for a given translation. In that case we do not draw a direct relationship between individual expressions of the work (i.e., between the translation and the text or texts on which the translation was based), but we relate those and other texts and translations of the work implicitly by relating each of them to the entity we call the work. Relating expressions of a work indirectly by relating each expression to the work that it realizes is often the most efficient means of grouping related expressions. In effect, the name we give to the work serves as the name for the entire set or group of expressions that are realizations of the same intellectual or artistic creation (e.g., Lancelot du Lac). It is the entity defined as work, therefore, that provides us with this grouping capability. A movement is a self-contained part of a musical work. While individual or selected movements from a composition are sometimes performed separately, a performance of the complete work requires all the movements to be performed in succession. Often a composer attempts to interrelate the movements thematically, or sometimes in more subtle ways, in order that the individual movements exert a cumulative effect. In some forms, composers sometimes link the movements, or ask for them to be played without a pause between them. Intellectual or artistic realization of a musical work. From the FRBR final report: The second entity defined in the model is expression: the intellectual or artistic realization of a work in the form of alpha-numeric, musical, or choreographic notation, sound, etc., or any combination of such forms. An expression is the specific intellectual or artistic form that a work takes each time it is "realized." Expression encompasses, for example, the specific words, sentences, paragraphs, etc. that result from the realization of a work in the form of a text, or the particular notes, phrasing, etc. resulting from the realization of a musical work. The boundaries of the entity expression are defined, however, so as to exclude aspects of physical form, such as typeface and page layout, that are not integral to the intellectual or artistic realization of the work as such. Inasmuch as the form of expression is an inherent characteristic of the expression, any change in form (e.g., from alpha-numeric notation to spoken word) results in a new expression. Similarly, changes in the intellectual conventions or instruments that are employed to express a work (e.g., translation from one language to another) result in the production of a new expression. Strictly speaking, any change in intellectual or artistic content constitutes a change in expression. Thus, if a text is revised or modified, the resulting expression is considered to be a new expression, no matter how minor the modification may be. By exemple: Work #1 Franz Schubert's Trout quintet * Expression #1 the composer's score * Expression #2 a performance by the Amadeus Quartet and Hephzibah Menuhin on piano * Expression #3 a performance by the Cleveland Quartet and Yo-Yo Ma on the cello * . . . . Defining expression as an entity in the model gives us a means of reflecting the distinctions in intellectual or artistic content that may exist between one realization and another of the same work. With expression defined as an entity, we can describe the intellectual or artistic attributes of a particular realization of a work, and use the differences in those attributes to signal differences in intellectual or artistic content. Defining expression as an entity also enables us to draw relationships between specific expressions of a work. We can use the entity called expression to identify, for example, the specific text on which a translation is based, or the specific score used for the performance of a musical composition. We can also use the entity defined as expression to indicate that the intellectual or artistic content embodied in one manifestation is in fact the same as that embodied in another manifestation. If two manifestations embody the same intellectual or artistic content, even though the physical embodiment may differ and differing attributes of the manifestations may obscure the fact that the content is the same in both, we can make the common link through the entity defined as expression. Recorded instance of a MusicalExpression. One or more track issued together. This is a type of MusicalManifestation defined by the musical industry. Recording of the questioning of a person. This is a type of MusicalManifestation defined by the musical industry. Spoken word is a form of music or artistic performance in which lyrics, poetry, or stories are spoken rather than sung. Spoken-word is often done with a musical background, but emphasis is kept on the speaker. This is a type of MusicalManifestation defined by the musical industry. Book read by a narrator without music. This is a type of MusicalManifestation defined by the musical industry. Collection of previously released manifestations of a musical expression by one or more artists. This is a type of MusicalManifestation defined by the musical industry. A musical manifestation that was recorded live. This is a type of MusicalManifestation defined by the musical industry. Musical manifestation that primarily contains remixed material. This is a type of MusicalManifestation defined by the musical industry. Sound recording on a narrow strip of a motion picture film. This is a type of MusicalManifestation defined by the musical industry. Physical embodiment of an expression of a musical work. This entity is related to the edition/production/publication of a musical expression (musical manifestation are closely related with the music industry (their terms, concepts, definitions, methods (production, publication, etc.), etc.) From the FRBR final report: The entity defined as manifestation encompasses a wide range of materials, including manuscripts, books, periodicals, maps, posters, sound recordings, films, video recordings, CD-ROMs, multimedia kits, etc. As an entity, manifestation represents all the physical objects that bear the same characteristics, in respect to both intellectual content and physical form. When a work is realized, the resulting expression of the work may be physically embodied on or in a medium such as paper, audio tape, video tape, canvas, plaster, etc. That physical embodiment constitutes a manifestation of the work. In some cases there may be only a single physical exemplar produced of that manifestation of the work (e.g., an author's manuscript, a tape recorded for an oral history archive, an original oil painting, etc.). In other cases there are multiple copies produced in order to facilitate public dissemination or distribution. In those cases there is normally a more formal production process involved, and a publisher, producer, or distributor takes responsibility for the process. In other cases there may be only a limited number of copies made of an original exemplar for purposes such as private study (e.g., a dubbing of an original recording of a piece of music), or preservation (e.g., a photocopy produced on permanent paper of an author's original typescript). Whether the scope of production is broad (e.g., in the case of publication, etc.) or limited (e.g., in the case of copies made for private study, etc.), the set of copies produced in each case constitutes a manifestation. All copies produced that form part of the same set are considered to be copies of the same manifestation. The boundaries between one manifestation and another are drawn on the basis of both intellectual content and physical form. When the production process involves changes in physical form the resulting product is considered a new manifestation. Changes in physical form include changes affecting display characteristics (e.g., a change in typeface, size of font, page layout, etc.), changes in physical medium (e.g., a change from paper to microfilm as the medium of conveyance), and changes in the container (e.g., a change from cassette to cartridge as the container for a tape). Where the production process involves a publisher, producer, distributor, etc., and there are changes signaled in the product that are related to publication, marketing, etc. (e.g., a change in publisher, repackaging, etc.), the resulting product may be considered a new manifestation. Whenever the production process involves modifications, additions, deletions, etc. that affect the intellectual or artistic content, the result is a new manifestation embodying a new expression of the work. Work #1 J. S. Bach's Six suites for unaccompanied cello * Expression #1 performances by Janos Starker recorded in 1963 and 1965 o Manifestation #1 recordings released on 33 1/3 rpm sound discs in 1965 by Mercury o Manifestation #2 recordings re-released on compact disc in 1991 by Mercury * Expression #2 performances by Yo-Yo Ma recorded in 1983 o Manifestation #1 recordings released on 33 1/3 rpm sound discs in 1983 by CBS Records o Manifestation #2 recordings re-released on compact disc in 1992 by CBS Records Changes that occur deliberately or even inadvertently in the production process that affect the copies result, strictly speaking, in a new manifestation. A manifestation resulting from such a change may be identified as a particular "state" or "issue" of the publication. Changes that occur to an individual copy after the production process is complete (e.g., the loss of a page, rebinding, etc.) are not considered to result in a new manifestation. That copy is simply considered to be an exemplar (or item) of the manifestation that deviates from the copy as produced. Defining manifestation as an entity enables us to name and describe the complete set of items that result from a single act of physical embodiment or production. The entity manifestation serves to describe the shared characteristics of copies of a particular publication, edition, release, etc., as well as to describe unique productions such as manuscripts, original oil paintings, etc. With the entity defined as manifestation we can describe the physical characteristics of a set of items and the characteristics associated with the production and distribution of that set of items that may be important factors in enabling users to choose a manifestation appropriate to their physical needs and constraints, and to identify and acquire a copy of that manifestation. Defining manifestation as an entity also enables us to draw relationships between specific manifestations of a work. We can use the relationships between manifestations to identify, for example, the specific publication that was used to create a microreproduction. A single exemplar of a musical expression. For example, it could be a single exemplar of a CD. This is normally an single object (a CD) possessed by somebody. From the FRBR final report: The entity defined as item is a concrete entity. It is in many instances a single physical object (e.g., a copy of a one-volume monograph, a single audio cassette, etc.). There are instances, however, where the entity defined as item comprises more than one physical object (e.g., a monograph issued as two separately bound volumes, a recording issued on three separate compact discs, etc.). In terms of intellectual content and physical form, an item exemplifying a manifestation is normally the same as the manifestation itself. However, variations may occur from one item to another, even when the items exemplify the same manifestation, where those variations are the result of actions external to the intent of the producer of the manifestation (e.g., damage occurring after the item was produced, binding performed by a library, etc.). A means or instrumentality for storing or communicating musical manifestation. Data Audio Tape used as medium to record a musical manifestation. Digital Compact Cassette used as medium to record a musical manifestation. Compact Disc used as medium to record a musical manifestation. Mini Disc used as medium to record a musical manifestation. DVD-Audio used as medium to record a musical manifestation. Super Audio Compact Disc used as medium to record a musical manifestation. Vinyl used as medium to record a musical manifestation Magnetic analogue tape used as medium to record a musical manifestation. Transmission over a network used as medium to broadcast a musical manifestation Musical work or the expression of a musical work's release status. A giveaway musical work or the expression of a musical work intended to promote an upcoming official musical work or the expression of a musical work. An unofficial/underground musical work or the expression of a musical work that was not sanctioned by the artist and/or the corporate body. Any musical work or the expression of a musical work officially sanctioned by the artist and/or their corporate body. Any of various devices or contrivances that can be used to produce musical tones or sound. Stringed musical instrument, in which sound is produced by plucking, striking, or bowing taut strings. Wind musical instrument, in which sound is produced by the vibration of reeds in the mouthpiece, or by the passing of air across the mouthpiece. Wind musical instrument, that consists of a brass tube blown by means of a cup-shaped or funnel-shaped mouthpiece. Musical instrument that produces sound by striking the body. Musical instrument that has a set of keys that consist of scale. Musical instrument that use digital principles to express musical sequences. An expressive style of music. Classical music genre. Traditional genre of music conforming to an established form and appealing to critical interest and developed musical taste Rock musical genre. Genre of popular music originating in the 1950s; a blend of Black rhythm-and-blues with White country-and-western) "rock is a generic term for the range of styles that evolved out of rock'n'roll." Jazz musical genre. Genre of popular music that originated in New Orleans around 1900 and developed through increasingly complex styles. World musical genre. World music is a term that covers all music that is not part of mainstream popular music or classical music and has some kind of "ethnic" component. The connotation of the term is popular and folk music from the third world, European popular and folk music that uses influences from the third world, and traditional music especially but not only from the third world. Hiphop musical genre. Genre of African-American music of the 1980s and 1990s in which rhyming lyrics are chanted to a musical accompaniment. Country musical genre. Simple style of folk music heard mostly in the southern United States; usually played on stringed instruments Blues musical type. Type of folksong that originated among Black Americans at the beginning of the 20th century; has a melancholy sound from repeated use of blue notes Electronica musical genre. Covers a wide range of electronic or electronic-influenced music. Gospel musical genre. Folk music consisting of a genre of a cappella music originating with Black slaves in the United States and featuring call and response; influential on the development of other genres of popular music (especially soul) Funk musical genre. Earthy type of jazz combining it with blues and soul; has a heavy bass line that accentuates the first beat in the bar Pop musical genre. Music of general appeal to teenagers; a bland watered-down version of rock'n'roll with more rhythm and harmony and an emphasis on romantic love Melodic musical genre. Term that covers various genres of non-classical music which are primarily characterised by the dominance of a single strong melody line. Rhythm, tempo and beat are subordinate to the melody line or tune, which is generally easily memorable, and followed without great difficulty. Melodic music is found in all parts of the world, overlapping many genres, and may be performed by a singer or orchestra, or a combination of the two. Reggae musical genre. Popular music originating in the West Indies; repetitive bass riffs and regular chords played on the off beat by a guitar. Indicates a pictorial image (JPEG, GIF, PNG, Etc.) of a musical work, the expression of a musical work, the manifestation of a work or the examplar of a manifestation. Method used to convert analog electronic signals into digital format such as "MP3 CBR @ 128kbps", "OGG @ 160kbps", "FLAC", etc. Used to link a stream with its URL address. Used to name a musical work, the expression or the manifestation of a musical work or one of its exemplification of it. A track that records a musical expression. A musical artist that is member of a musical group. A musical work may be realized through one or more than one musical expression. An musical expression is the realization of one and only one musical work. Indicates the duration of a track in millisecons. Indicates the TRMID of a track. TRM IDs are MusicBrainz' old AudioFingerprinting system. TRM (TRM Recognizes Music) IDs are (somewhat) unique ids that represent the audio signature of a musical piece (see AudioFingerprint). Indicates the PUID of a track. PUIDs (Portable Unique IDentifier) are the IDs used in the proprietary MusicDNS AudioFingerprinting system which is operated by MusicIP. Indicates the BPM of a track. Beats per minute: the pace of music measured by the number of beats occurring in 60 seconds. Rate of speed or pace of music. Tempo markings are traditionally given in Italian; common markings include: grave (solemn; very, very slow); largo (broad; very slow); adagio (quite slow); andante (a walking pace); moderato (moderate); allegro (fast; cheerful); vivace (lively); presto (very fast); accelerando (getting faster); ritardando (getting slower); and a tempo (in time; returning to the original pace). Indicates the pitche of a track. Term referring to the high-low quality of a musical sound. The pitch is determined by the frequency of the tone, ie, the number of vibrations per second. Indicates the timber of a track. Distinctive property of a complex sound (a voice or noise or musical sound). Indicates the timber of a track. Any of 24 major or minor diatonic scales that provide the tonal framework for a piece of music. Used to define a creative work, especially a musical composition numbered to designate the order of a composer's works. Used to define a creative work, especially a musical composition numbered to designate the order of a composer's works. Indicates the position of a track on a record medium (a CD, etc.). A similarity relationship between two artists. Normally talk about a similarity between two individuals (foaf:Person) or two groups (foaf:Group). The similarity level is defined by the Similarity ontology (http://purl.org/vocab/similirity/0.1/) Used to link an work, an expression of a work, a manifestation of a work, a person, an instrument or a musical genre to its corresponding WikiPedia page. The full URL should be used, not just the WikiName. Used to link a person to its corresponding MySpace page. Used to link an artist, a musical work or the expression of a musical work to its corresponding MusicMoz page. Used to link a musical work or the expression of a musical work, an artist or a corporate body to to its corresponding Discogs page. Used to link a work or the expression of a work to a website where the work or the expression of the work is available for free download. It can also be used to link from a person to the website where they make their works available. Used to link a track to a tabulature file for track in the On-Line Guitar Archive. Used to link an artist to a fan-created webpage devoted to that artist. Used to link a person with an online community web page like a blog, a wiki, a forum, a livejournal page, Etc. Used to link a work or the expression of a work to the license under which they can be manipulated (downloaded, modified, etc). This is usually used to link to a Creative Commons licence. Used to link a work or the expression of a work to a review. The review does not have to be open content, as long as it is accessible to the general internet population. Used to link a work or the expression of a work to its corresponding Amazon ASINs page. Use this link a musical work or the expression of a musical work to the recording studio where (part of) this musical work or the expression of a musical work was recorded Used to link an artist to their online biography. Used to links an artist to an online discography of their musical works. The discography should provide a summary of each released musical work of the artist. Used to link a musical work or the expression of a musical work to a website where people can buy a copy of the musical manifestation. Used to link an artist, a musical work or the expression of a musical work to their equivalent page on IMDb, the InternetMovieDatabase. Used to link a musical work or the expression of a musical work to a website where people can buy an electronic copy of the musical work or the expression of the musical work. It can also provide a link from an artist to a site where all of that artist's musical work is available. Used to relate an artist who remixed a musical work or the expression of a musical work. This involves taking just one other musical work and using audio editing to make it sound like a significantly different, but usually still recognisable, song. It can be used to link an artist to a single song that they remixed, or, if they remixed an entire musical work. Used to relate a musical work or the expression of a musical work to an artist who remixed it. This involves taking just one other musical work and using audio editing to make it sound like a significantly different, but usually still recognisable, song. It can be used to link an artist to a single song that they remixed, or, if they remixed an entire musical work. Used to relate an person or a group of person who composed a work or the expression of a work. Used to relate a work or the expression of a work to the person or a group of person who composed it. Used to relate an person or a group of person who produced the manifestation of a work. Used to relate the manifestation of a work to a person or a group of person who produced it. Used to relate an artist who sampled the manifestation of a musical work. Used to relate the manifestation of a musical work to an artist who sampled it. Used to relate an person or a group of person who compiled the manifestation of a musical work. Used to relate the manifestation of a musical work to a person or a group of person who compiled it. Used to relate an artist who djmixed a musical work or the expression of a musical work. The artist usually selected the tracks, chose their sequence, and slightly changed them by fading (so that one track blends in smoothly with the other) or pitching (so that the tempo of one track matches the tempo of the following track). This applies to a 'Mixtape' in which all tracks were DJ-mixed together into one single long track. Used to relate a work or the expression of a work to an artist who djmixed it. The artist usually selected the tracks, chose their sequence, and slightly changed them by fading (so that one track blends in smoothly with the other) or pitching (so that the tempo of one track matches the tempo of the following track). This applies to a 'Mixtape' in which all tracks were DJ-mixed together into one single long track. Used to relate an person or a group of person who performed a work or the expression of a work. Used to relate a work or the expression of a work to a person or a group of person who performed ait. Used to relate an artist who provided instrumentation for a musical work or the expression of a musical work. Instrumentation deals with the techniques of writing music for a specific instrument, including the limitations of the instrument, playing techniques and idiomatic handling of the instrument. Used to relate a work or the expression of a work to an artist who provided instrumentation for it. Instrumentation deals with the techniques of writing music for a specific instrument, including the limitations of the instrument, playing techniques and idiomatic handling of the instrument. Used to relate an artist who orchestrated a musical work or the expression of a musical work. Orchestration includes, in addition to instrumentation, the handling of groups of instruments and their balance and interaction. Used to relate a work or the expression of a work to an artist who orchestrated it. Orchestration includes, in addition to instrumentation, the handling of groups of instruments and their balance and interaction. Used to relate an artist who conducted the manifestation of a musical work. Used to relate the manifestation of a musical work to an artist who conducted it. Used to relate an artist who wrote lyrics for a musical work or the expression of a musical work. "Lyrics" in this case are sequences of words in a particular language, in a form that can be written down. Nonsense vocal sounds and noises are generally not considered to be lyrics, and nor are interjections ("oh yeah!", "c'mon!") which don't form a meaningful component of the lyrics. Used to relate a work or the expression of a work to an artist who wrote lyrics for it. "Lyrics" in this case are sequences of words in a particular language, in a form that can be written down. Nonsense vocal sounds and noises are generally not considered to be lyrics, and nor are interjections ("oh yeah!", "c'mon!") which don't form a meaningful component of the lyrics. Used to relate an artist who wrote the libretto for a musical work such as an opera, operetta, musical, balet. Used to relate a musical work such as an opera, operetta, musical, balet to an artist who wrote the libretto for it. Used to relate an artist who provided technical, engineering support for the manifestation of a musical work. There are several different kinds of engineering disciplines covered by this: Audio Engineered, Sound Engineered, Live Sound Engineered, Mixed, Recorded, Mastered Used to relate the manifestation of a musical work to an artist who provided technical, engineering support for it. There are several different kinds of engineering disciplines covered by this: Audio Engineered, Sound Engineered, Live Sound Engineered, Mixed, Recorded, Mastered Used to relate an artist who arranged the manifestation of a musical work. In this sense 'arrangement' is used as a catch-all term for all processes that turn a composition into a form that can be played by a specific type of ensemble. Used to relate the manifestation of a musical work to an artist who arranged it. In this sense 'arrangement' is used as a catch-all term for all processes that turn a composition into a form that can be played by a specific type of ensemble. Used to relate an person or a group of person who published the manifestation of a work. Used to relate a musical manifestation to a person or a group of person who published it. Used to relate an artist who performed chorusmaster for a musical work or the expression of a musical work. Used to relate a work or the expression of a work to an artist who performed chorusmaster for it. Used to relate an artist doing long-time instrumental or vocal support for another artist. Used to relate two collaborating people on a work. Used to relate the remix of a musical work in a substantially altered version produced by mixing together individual tracks or segments of an original musical source work. Indicates that a musical expression is a medley of several other musical expressions. This means that the orignial musical expression were rearranged to create a new musical expression in the form of a medley. Indicates that a musical manifestation is a compilation of several other musical manifestations. Indicates that all (or most of) the tracks of a musical work or the expression of a musical work were mixed together from all (or most of) the tracks from another musical work or the expression of a musical work to form a so called DJ-Mix. The tracks might have been altered by pitching (so that the tempo of one track matches the tempo of the following track) and fading (so that one track blends in smoothly with the other). If the tracks have been more substantially altered, the "mo:remix" relationship type is more appropriate. This relates two musical work or the expression of a musical work, where one is a remaster of the other. A remaster is a new version made for release from source recordings that were earlier released separately. This is usually done to improve the audio quality or adjust for more modern playback equipment. The process generally doesn't involve changing the music in any artistically important way. It may, however, result in tracks that are a few seconds longer or shorter. Indicates that two musical manifestations are essentially the same. Indicates that musical works or the expressions of a musical work were mashed up on this album or track. This means that two musical works or the expressions of a musical work by different artists are mixed together, over each other, or otherwise combined into a single musical work (usually by a third artist, the remixer). Indicates that a work or the expression of a work has translated or transliterated into another expression of a work. Indicates a musical work or the expression of a musical work that is a tribute to an artist - normally consisting of music being composed by the artist but performed by other artists. Musical instrument used by a person, in a music work or in the expression of a musical work. A person, a group of person or an organization possessing an exemplar of a single manifestation. A person, a group of person or an organization wanting an exemplar of a single manifestation. A person, a group of person or an organization selling an exemplar of a single manifestation. A person, a group of person or an organization exchanging an exemplar of a single manifestation. Indicates that a musical work has movements Indicates the position of a movement in a musical work. Indicates that a musical manifestation has a track.