Wikipedia:Wikipedia Signpost/2018-12-01/Essay

Originally started in January 2007 by Sloverlord, over 130 editors have contributed to No one cares about your garage band as of this version; other top contributors include Iain99, OnBeyondZebrax, Orangemike, Richie333, and Fences and windows. Do you want to suggest an essay you would like republished in The Signpost? Perhaps you would like to write a story or even just an "in brief" item? Edit next month's edition in the Newsroom or leave a tip on the suggestions page.

There are a great number of subjects about which no one cares on Wikipedia. With new bands this is especially important to keep in mind, given that a relatively high proportion of new pages are about a "garage band" (so-called because of their tendency to only ever play in their parents' garage) or "Yet Another Myspace (or Facebook or YouTube) Band", "YAMB" for short.

Editors, especially new page patrollers, can learn to spot garage or Myspace/Facebook/YouTube band pages; and creators of said pages can learn why their page was speedily deleted (normally due to a lack of a credible indication of importance or being blatant advertising.) Usually, the band is unsigned, has released no albums (or only a self-produced CD), and the article about them was written by them.

Typical characteristics
Although Wikipedia articles about unknown bands are created by editors all over the world, a garage band article is often written by the band itself. Garage band articles generally share several characteristics:

Title
Many garage bands tend to name their articles with a precise title, such as My Rock Group (band) instead of just My Rock Group, even when there is no reason to disambiguate the article title. If a new article has "(band)"—especially the incorrect capitalization style "(Band)"—in the title, there's a good chance this is a garage band article. Bad grammar can be apparent in the body of the article, as well.

Formatting

 * Lack of capitalization: Those who write about a garage band generally forget that capitalization of proper nouns is an important skill when writing the English language. Contributors forget to capitalize the name of their band in the article's title (e.g., "Bringers of Darkness" will appear as "Bringers of darkness").
 * Too Much Capitalization: There Is No Need To Put A Capital Letter On Every Word, And It Is Certain Death To An Article In Addition To Being Hard To Read.
 * Lack of any formatting whatsoever: As 99.9% of garage-band-page-creators have no prior experience with Wikipedia and its formatting system, garage band pages are often devoid of the markup present in standard pages. Some common characteristics include:
 * no sectional division, sometimes putting everything in one paragraph. Even if they try to divide content into sections, they may type in the wrong number of equals signs in headers, resulting in things like ;
 * no internal links, infoboxes, categories, external links (except occasionally to the band's Myspace/Facebook/YouTube page), or anything besides text;
 * using absurd and haphazard numbers of carriage returns ( ↵ );
 * using leading spaces, causing accidental invocation of the preformatting mechanism;
 * excessive use of exclamation points; and
 * excessive bolding: Bringers of darkness rock the world!

Style and content

 * Use of the word "hardcore": All garage bands, even if they are not "hardcore", seem to love to describe themselves as such.
 * Use of nicknames: In hardcore or death metal bands, all or some of the band members may have nicknames (John "Bones" Smith, Tim "Crypsy" Carnoy, etc.); and, in some cases, only the nicknames will be given ("and on bass, the Deth-Hö lder").
 * Mention of music equipment: There may be detailed mentions of music equipment models and numbers, as an attempt to suggest that they are paid endorsers, or under the mistaken belief that you are dying to figure out how they created that screeching sound on the hidden track at the end of their unreleased CD.
 * No albums are released: The article does not indicate that the band has released any albums, nor that such albums are forthcoming; musical compilations appear to exist only as mixtapes.
 * No neutral point of view: The article is filled with weasel words, peacock terms, and POV praise.
 * Mention of fake company or label: The article might maintain a mandatory use of fake recording company, production company, or record label.
 * Trying (and failing) to dramatize and/or praise the band or its members: Many garage band pages will include a poorly formatted list of the band's members, along with a puffery-filled list of their "accomplishments". There will also be desperate attempts to puff up any dubious, non-incidental contact with celebrities, notable bands, or record industry luminaries. In an article about an actual, notable band, an encyclopedic tone will be used and it will be free of golden praise and drama.
 * Mention of upcoming local gigs: Because, you know, My-Wikipedia-Space is a free advertising service.
 * Certain phrases:
 * "... had a dream ..."
 * "... is an up-and-coming ..."
 * "... take ... by storm ..."
 * "... there was no turning back ..."

How do I know if anyone cares about my band?
A good rule of thumb is: they don't. The fact that the only "sources" about your band are your webpage, your Myspace page, your brother's blog, and your mom's work newsletter, should be one indication that your band's "notability" only extends to your immediate family and friends.

However, if you must know, here are some ways to tell if your article is worth mentioning on Wikipedia. If one or more of the following apply, then no one cares. (More formal definitions can be found at the Wikipedia guidelines on notability in music, but you don't want to hurt your brain slogging through that, do you?)


 * You only exist on Facebook, Myspace, YouTube, Twitter, iTunes, Bandcamp, and/or Soundcloud: Yeah, we just mentioned it at the top of this section, but it's worth repeating again. Since can create content on any of these sites, adding lots and lots and lots of references to them will not pull the wool over anyone's eyes. If you're not mentioned in reliable sources like national newspapers or magazines with wide circulation, you shouldn't have a Wikipedia article.
 * You've never put out a "real" album: Putting out a real album means having the album released by a record company, or at least put into wide distribution by an independent label. Burning CDs of your songs on your computer and trying to sell them, or releasing your music onto a podcast, via iTunes or on your Myspace page doesn't count.
 * Your band is not signed: Likewise, if your band is not signed by a record company or independent label, or—as mentioned above—the article mentions a fake recording company or a made-up independent label name ("Bringers of Darkness Records"), then no one cares.
 * Your band is looking for people: A sizeable percentage of the Wikipedia pages about garage bands announce that they are "still looking for a drummer", or something similar. If your band is still looking for a member, then no one cares about it, unless this search has been the subject of an article in Rolling Stone.
 * You've never gone on a "real" tour: Like real albums, going on a real tour does not mean playing at your high school dance, city park, etc. You must be invited to play at a musical venue of real significance to count.
 * You are not making any money: Whether it's because you're just jamming with your friends instead of actually being a professional band or simply because no one will pay money to hear your music, if your band is not making any money, we do not want to hear about it on Wikipedia.
 * You just formed the band yesterday: Stop, sit back, wait a while, and see if you are actually going to make a band, because chances are, you're not. Wikipedia is for bands that, not bands that are going to be (and it certainly isn't for bands that are, in all probability, never going to be).
 * Your only distinguishing characteristic is your placement in a Battle of the Bands competition: Battle of the Bands competitions are small local shows designed to showcase local talent, not land you a record deal. Even if you placed first, it doesn't mean anything: your band is still unknown, and there are thousands of better ones out there.
 * The cops come regularly during your practice sessions and ask you to shut up: While this may make it  that people care about your garage band, and indeed they do, they are not caring in the  way.
 * No one else has written a Wikipedia article about you: This is one of the most direct indications that no one cares. Suffice it to say that the Wikipedia article on Pixies wasn't started by Black Francis.
 * You don't know what the band's name is: Yes, that Special:Diff/294248703 at least once.

In userspace
Such articles often turn up or end up in userspace "while editors look for reliable independent sourcing". Frequently they are then left there indefinitely. However, they are often only written for promotional purposes, and are deleteable at WP:MFD, or per WP:CSD—db-promo—if blatant.

Complaints
This essay is sometimes criticized for being uncivil. However, it's important to remember that Wikipedia is not an indiscriminate collection of information and, if we relaxed standards, the encyclopedia's overall quality would deteriorate. You might think garage band is important, but we need a significant level of the world at-large—notably music critics and music journalists published in reliable sources—to agree. Otherwise, why aren't those 250 unknown garage bands over there important, too? You should also be aware that an article about yourself isn't necessarily a good thing; if Billboard someday writes "Bringers of Darkness are unquestionably the worst noise I have ever had the misfortune to inflict upon my ears", then it can go in the article, citing Billboard as its source. Although this kind of attention might contribute to a claim of notability, is that really what you want?