Template:Did you know nominations/Historic Masters

Historic Masters

 * ... that Historic Masters is probably the only vinyl record label regularly issuing rare 78 rpm opera discs?
 * Comment: Article created a little over 5 days ago - sorry, I'm new to DYK nomination rules. Currently carries a stub tag which would need removing if selected for DYK. Disclaimer: I have no personal link, financial or otherwise, with Historic Masters Ltd.

Created/expanded by MistyMorn (talk). Self nom at 07:22, 27 September 2011 (UTC)


 * Symbol possible vote.svg I've placed an orphan tag, but as far as I know, this doesn't affect DYK. Needs a different hook, but is otherwise ok in my opinion.  Schwede 66  18:18, 27 September 2011 (UTC)

NOMINATOR'S REPLY: Hello Schwede - Thank you very much for taking the time to review so thoughtfully (a lesson to a newbie like me). I hope this is the right place to reply... First, I fully take the point about the reliance on the label's own claims. Unfortunately, I do not know of any independent source and am not in a position to go searching for one just now. Nonetheless, I believe the authenticity of Historic Masters's claim is supported by several factors: 1) the careful wording (including "to the best of our knowledge") to avoid overclaiming the uniqueness of their status; 2) the extremely unusual nature of the discographic project makes the claim highly plausible, conferring a rather low prior probability of falsehood; 3) the editorial project is clearly driven by cultural rather than profit considerations, thereby obviating any financial motive for overclaiming; 4) the absence, to my knowledge, of any counterclaim; and, maybe also, albeit anecdotally... 5) experts on historic opera singers (such as my good friend Roger Hewland) tend to recognise this claim as genuine. I suppose the obvious way to reword the hook would be to substitute "is probably" with "claim to be" or "believe they are": ie something like "... that Historic Masters claim to be the only vinyl record label regularly issuing rare 78 rpm opera discs?" I realise that doesn't sound so good, but I can't think of a viable alternative just now. I have now added 7 wikilinks to Historic Masters and have consequently removed the 'orphan' tag. I can see why you removed the closing sentence: I had tried to craft it in such a way as to provide useful information, but I was also aware of the risk that it could have been perceived as 'advertisement talk'. More generally, I started the article because I felt that this (presumably unique) initiative should be represented on Wikipedia. The DYK self-nomination was a belated afterthought. However, I feel that knowledge of the specific nature of the project could make spicy news to some. Cheers anyway!--MistyMorn (talk) 22:07, 27 September 2011 (UTC)


 * Thanks for your comprehensive response. I see the orphan tag is gone, which is great (for the article itself, not for the DYK process). When I suggested to have a hook based on an independent source I meant any old fact that can be referenced by some independent source, and not necessarily the fact that you had come up with. However, what you have written above sways me towards accepting the hook as is, and I do accept probably being the only company in the world doing this is worthy of a hook. It's a bit of a borderline case, though, and I'm thus asking for other reviewers to chip in and confirm that the hook fact based on the company's own website is ok.


 * And just for the record, this appears to be your first DYK nomination (well done!), so there's no need for you to review another nomination in turn. That need will arise once you have five DYKs under your belt, and I hope that we'll see much more of you on this page.  Schwede 66  07:50, 28 September 2011 (UTC)


 * Thank you for your kind words, Schwede. I really do believe Historic Masters is almost certainly the only discographic initiative of its type currently active. Even if it weren't, I still think it's interesting for some folks to learn that there's something like that out there. So one possibility for the hook might be ALT1: "... that Historic Masters is a vinyl record label which continues to issue rare 78 rpm opera discs on a regular basis?" Thanks again.--MistyMorn (talk) 09:54, 28 September 2011 (UTC)


 * Symbol confirmed.svg Tick for ALT1. As I say above, the original hook might also be a possibility, but I'd like to have that backed up by another reviewer.  Schwede 66  00:01, 30 September 2011 (UTC)


 * I've come to think that ALT1 is the more focused hook anyway.--MistyMorn (talk) 07:24, 30 September 2011 (UTC)