UtaiteDB - Songs

Allowed songs

UtaiteDB allows entries for any song that has an utaite as a vocalist. Since most of these songs will be covers, you’re encouraged to create an entry for the original song itself.

There are no specific restrictions (such as view count or MyList numbers) before a cover song entry can be added to the database, but entries for unfinished or partial recordings (commonly found on TmBox and SoundCloud) are highly discouraged. Staff members have the right to remove these types of entries at their own discretion.

Adding artists to songs

Most songs have should have at least one vocalist and a music producer and/or band/unit. Circles, labels and other groups are generally NOT credited for individual songs, unless it’s clear that the whole group worked on that song. Always prefer adding individual people to songs over adding circles or groups if possible.

In the case of a remix or cover (which will apply to a majority of the songs in the database), there should be at least one utaite and music producer (either the original producer and/or arranger) listed. If the cover uses material different from the original video, such as new art/video made especially for the cover, make sure to include artists for those, as well. Mixers and encoders, while not crucial information, should be added if possible.

If the original is a VOCALOID/UTAU song, add the original song to the database and link the derived version to that original. Remember to include other artists such illustrators, animators, mixers, encoders, and instrumentalists when creating the entry.

[more information to be added…]

Artist support status

For songs, the support status is usually used indicate that this artist had a minor role on the song compared to other artists of the same category.

Support status has a number of effects:

Artists with the support status never appear in the “artist string” of the song. This has been “abused” to make other artists not appear in the artist string, which isn’t completely wrong, but there might be more correct ways to work around that.
On the song entry page, support artists are shown in parenthesis, and after all the other artists.
Albums or songs where the artist has support status never appear on the first tab of artist’s entry page, under recent or popular albums.
These songs do not appear in the “Recent songs / PVs” section on the artist’s main page, but do appear in the “All songs” tab.

Support status with bands/units

While adding songs with bands/units, make sure to also add all participating artists within the group individually. Songs involving bands/units are usually credited to the group name, and not each member individually (ex: songwriting credits for songs are typically credited to a band as a whole). It makes sense to mark the individual artists as support status (with the correct artist roles assigned) for the songs.

When an artist participates as a band/unit with others under one name, the song in question should not be counted as a solo work, but rather, a collaboration.

Song types

UtaiteDB uses the same song type classification as VocaDB, with some modifications. Please see the wiki entry page for song types.

Song embeds and PVs

Songs may contain any number of embedded media files, such as Promotional Videos (PVs) on Nico Nico Douga (NND), YouTube, Bilibili or Vimeo, or audio streams on Piapro or SoundCloud. All embeds should have the same version of the song, meaning the audio should be the same. Shortened versions are sometimes accepted. Do not add karaoke versions as embeds to the original song: either add the karaoke version as a link or create a new entry. Remixes should always be separate entries.

Very often artists themselves upload their songs to NND, and sometimes to Youtube/SoundCloud as well, in which case these uploads are called “original”. Original uploads, if available, are highly preferred to any others.

If a PV made for a song is remarkable or well-known in some way, you’re encouraged to create a separate entry for that PV and link it to the original song.

Original - the first video with that song, usually uploaded by artist themselves. There may be multiple Original videos if all are uploaded by the artist.
Reprint - should be identical to “Original”; most often it’s a YouTube reprint of original NND video, uploaded by someone else than the artist.
Other - any following PV with animation, translated subtitles, etc. May be much better known than original one. Note that the audio should still be the same as the original.

Entry status

Completed song entries should meet the following criteria:

The song has at least one name whose language option isn’t “Unspecified.”
The song has at least one artist (usually there should be at least one vocalist and a music producer or band/unit).
Song type isn’t “Unspecified.”