Template:Infobox musical artist

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This template is used on approximately 125,000 pages.
To avoid major disruption and server load, any changes should be tested in the template's /sandbox or /testcases subpages, or in your own user subpage. The tested changes can be added to this page in a single edit. Consider discussing changes on the talk page before implementing them.

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The design and content of biographical infoboxes must follow Wikipedia's verifiability policy, as well as infobox and biographical style guideline. All content displayed in this template must adhere to the biographies of living persons policy if applicable. Unsourced or poorly sourced contentious material must be removed immediately from the article and its infobox, especially if potentially libellous.

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The design and content of all music-related infoboxes should follow Wikipedia's verifiability policy, infobox style guideline and music style guideline. While this document may clarify details of their specific application to the infobox, it is primarily concerned with explaining usage and not with matters of Wikipedia policy and style.

Error creating thumbnail: This template adds an automatically generated short description unless |current_members= or |past_members= is populated. If the automatic short description is not optimal, replace it by adding {{Short description}} at the top of the article.

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This template uses Lua:

{{Infobox musical artist}} is the standard infobox for musician articles, and is within the purview of WikiProject Musicians.

This template may also be used as a module (or sub-template) of {{Infobox person}}; see WikiProject Infoboxes/embed for guidance on such usage.

See also WikiProject Musicians/Infobox for more information.

Usage

One of the following two alternatives (one for individuals, one for groups) should be placed in an article at the top of the page, before the introduction.

For articles about individuals

For dancers, use {{Infobox dancer}} instead.

{{Infobox musical artist
| honorific_prefix = 
| name             = 
| honorific_suffix = 
| image            = 
| image_upright    = 
| image_size       = 
| landscape        = <!-- yes, if wide image, otherwise leave blank -->
| alt              = 
| caption          = 
| native_name      = 
| native_name_lang = 
| birth_name       = <!-- leave empty if the same "name" -->
| alias            = 
| birth_date       = <!-- {{Birth date and age|YYYY|MM|DD}} for living people supply only the year unless the exact date is already WIDELY published, as per [[WP:DOB]] -->
| birth_place      = 
| origin           = 
| death_date       = <!-- {{Death date and age|YYYY|MM|DD|YYYY|MM|DD}} (death date first) -->
| death_place      = 
| genre            = 
| occupation       = 
| instrument       = 
| years_active     = <!-- YYYY–YYYY (or –present) -->
| label            = 
| associated_acts  = 
| website          = <!-- {{URL|example.com}} or {{Official URL}} -->
| module           = 
| module2          = 
| module3          = 
}}

For articles about musical groups

Some types of musical groups have their own dedicated infobox, which should be used instead: {{Infobox choir}}, {{Infobox orchestra}}, {{Infobox marching band}}

{{Infobox musical artist
| name            = 
| image           = 
| image_size      = 
| image_upright   = 
| landscape       = <!-- yes, if wide image, otherwise leave blank -->
| alt             = 
| caption         = 
| alias           = 
| origin          = 
| genre           = 
| years_active    = <!-- {{Start date|YYYY}}–{{End date|YYYY}} (or –present) -->
| label           = 
| associated_acts = 
| website         = <!-- {{URL|example.com}} or {{Official URL}} -->
| current_members = 
| past_members    = 
| module          = 
| module2         = 
| module3         = 
}}

Parameters

Most fields are optional and the row will simply be omitted if no data is supplied.
See WikiProject Musicians for more information about this template.

honorific_prefix

Titles or styles such as "The Right Honourable"

name

The name of the group or artist ("the act") in plain text only. Logos and other graphics are to be avoided in this field in accordance with WP:ACCESS, WP:FAIR, and in particular WP:LOGO. This field is mandatory.

honorific_suffix

Honours such as "CBE", "OBE" (e.g. Cilla Black OBE)

image

An image of the act, sufficiently clear for display at 220 pixels' width. Set to only the image name (e.g. Example.png) not File:Example.png or [[File:Example.png|200px|abc]].

image_size

The image size should only be specified if the image is smaller than 220 pixels width. Enter the width in pixels without "px", for example 150.

image_upright

Scales the image thumbnail from its default size by the given factor. Values less than 1 scale the image down (0.9 = 90%) and values greater than 1 scale the image up (1.15 = 115%).

landscape

Set to yes when using wide, short images. The image height (rather than width) will be limited to 200 pixels.

alt

Alt text for the image, for visually impaired and other readers who cannot see the image. See WP:ALT.

caption

Caption for the image to be displayed.

native_name

This field is only relevant for individuals. The artist's name in their own language. For Chinese-language individuals, use {{Infobox Chinese}} for |module= instead. For Korean-language individuals, use {{Infobox Korean name}} for |module= instead.

native_name_lang

This field is only relevant for individuals. ISO 639-2 code ("fre" or "fra" for French). If more than one, use {{lang}} for |native_name= instead

birth_name

This field is only relevant for individuals. The person's name at birth, if different

alias

For listing official stage names for the act or solo artist other than the name in the |name= parameter. Also for the solo artist's legal name(s), or other officially authorized names that differ from their birth name. This field is not for nicknames such as "The Godfather of Soul" (James Brown) or "Nippy" (Whitney Houston), which are not the artists' official names.

birth_date

This field is only relevant for individuals. The artist's date of birth; it is preferable to use {{Birth date and age}} (for example {{Birth date and age|1949|12|31}}) to display current age. If the artist's age is verified, but the date is not known, then use {{Birth based on age as of date}} (for example {{Birth based on age as of date|63|2012|08|30}}). For dead people, use {{Birth date}} (for example {{Birth date|1949|12|31}}). Also list the place of birth using the birth_place parameter (below).

{{Birth date and age|Year|Month|Day}}

birth_place

This field is only relevant for individuals. The artist's place of birth. For "United States" and "United Kingdom", it is preferred that they be abbreviated "U.S." and "UK", but political subdivisions should never be (never "MA" for "Massachusetts", "ON" for "Ontario", etc.). See Notes^[1] for details. Do not add a flag icon. (see field "origin" below).

[[City]], State/Province, Country

origin

The town, city etc., from which the group or musician originated (that is, the place where the group was founded, or where the individual performer started their career, should it not match the location of their birth). If the place is not known, specify at least the country. For "United States" and "United Kingdom", it is preferred that they be abbreviated "U.S." and "UK", but political subdivisions should never be (never "MA" for "Massachusetts", "ON" for "Ontario", etc.). See Notes^[1] for details. Do not add a flag icon. Omit the country if it does not differ from that specified at the field "birth_place".

[[City]], State/Province, Country

death_date

This field is only relevant for individuals. The artist's date of death (same format as birth_date; but use {{Death date and age}}).

death_place

This field is only relevant for individuals. The artist's place of death (same format as birth_place). For "United States" and "United Kingdom", it is preferred that they be abbreviated "U.S." and "UK", but political subdivisions should never be (never "MA" for "Massachusetts", "ON" for "Ontario", etc.). See Notes^[1] for details. Do not add a flag icon. Omit the country if it does not differ from that specified at the field "birth_place".

genre

The genre or genres of music performed by the act. Aim for generality (e.g. [[Hip hop music|Hip hop]] rather than [[East Coast hip hop]]) and preferably use two to four. Genres should be separated by using commas, {{Flatlist}} or {{Hlist}}.^[2] Genres should be wikilinked. Use piped links where needed, for example: [[Pop music|Pop]], [[Rock music|rock]]. Most genres are not proper nouns and should not be capitalized. However, the first word in a list of multiple genres should be capitalized. Genres that are sourced in the article itself do not require a source in the infobox, but sometimes it can be useful to have the source listed again anyway, to help prevent edit warring. A hidden comment such as  can also be used to this end.

occupation

This field is only relevant for individuals. Roles the artist has fulfilled (e.g. musician, songwriter, producer). For artists who have participated in forms of entertainment outside of music (such as acting), these occupations can be included if notable. Please observe sentence case and capitalise only the first letter of the first item (e.g. Musician, actor, singer-songwriter). Multiple occupations should be ordered according to importance and separated by commas, {{Flatlist}} or {{Hlist}}.^[2]

instrument

This field is only relevant for individuals. General class(es) of instrument(s) played by the artist (e.g. guitar or violin). Include singing, rapping, beatboxing or scat singing if relevant. Separate multiple entries by using commas, {{Flatlist}} or {{Hlist}}.^[2] Instruments listed in the infobox should be limited to only those that the artist is primarily known for using. The instruments infobox parameter is not intended as a WP:COATRACK for every instrument the subject has ever used.

years_active

Period(s) during which the act was or has been active. Only calendar year ranges or a single calendar year should be listed; for example, do not distinguish between the period Paul McCartney was in the Beatles and his solo career. Use commas, {{Flatlist}}, or {{Hlist}}}.^[2] to separate non-consecutive periods, and denote ranges with an unspaced en dash (e.g. 1993–2004, 2005–present). See WP:DATE#Longer periods and WP:MOS#En dashes.

label

The record label or labels to which the act has been signed. Omit parenthetical dates; save that information for the main article as this degree of detail is better discussed in prose. Pipe out "Records", "Entertainment", "Music" or similar words from the end of any label's name. For example, use [[Universal Records|Universal]] rather than [[Universal Records]]. Separate multiple entries by using commas, {{Flatlist}}, or {{Hlist}}.^[2] Start with the oldest first.

associated_acts

This field is for professional relationships with other notable musicians or bands that are significant to this artist's career.

This field can include, for example, any of the following:

For individuals: groups of which they have been a member
Acts with which this act has collaborated on multiple occasions, or on an album, or toured with as a single collaboration act playing together
Groups which have spun off from this group
A group from which this group has spun off

Separate multiple entries by using commas, {{Flatlist}}, or {{Hlist}}.^[2]

As per Wikipedia:Manual of Style/Lists and WP:Bandname, use sentence case for lists of band names. Example: The Rolling Stones, the Beatles, the Who

The following uses of this field should be avoided:

For groups: the solo careers of its members
Groups with only one member in common
Association of producers, managers, etc. (who are themselves acts) with other acts (unless the act essentially belongs to the producer, as in the case of a studio orchestra formed by and working exclusively with a producer)
One-time collaboration for a single song
Groups that have played or toured together as separate acts
Groups that are merely similar

website

The single web address for the act's primary official website. Use {{URL}} as {{URL|example.com}} . {{Official URL}} can be used to automatically fetch the web address from Wikidata.

current_members

This field is only relevant for active groups. Current members of the group, listed in order of joining with no other notation than names. For multiple members joining concurrently (such as the formation of the band), list them according to alphabetical order. Separate multiple entries using * list markup. For example,

| current_members =
* Member 1
* Member 2
* Member 3

past_members

This field is only relevant for groups. Past members of the group, listed in order of joining with no other notation than names. If a group is inactive, all members should be listed here, and none in the "current_members" field. If membership of the group has varied over time, it should not be noted here, but may be discussed in the article body. Can also be given as |former_members=. Separate multiple entries using * list markup. For example,

| past_members = 
* Member 1
* Member 2
* Member 3

embed

Set to 'yes' if embedded in another infobox template.

module, module2, module3

Used for embedding other infoboxes into this one.

Use as a child template

The embed parameter is used when embedding this infobox into another.

This infobox may be used to create a genre-specific section within {{Infobox person}} (or similar biographical infobox templates) for cases where a person may be notable in more than one field; a generic example is shown below. For guidance on usage, see Wikipedia:Infobox modules. Also see the Template:Infobox documentation which explains embedding and subboxes.

{{Infobox person
| name = 
| image = 
| caption = 
| birth_date = 
| birth_place = 
| <!-- etc. -->
| module = 
  {{Infobox musical artist | embed=yes
  | parameter-1 = 
  | parameter-2 = 
  | parameter-3 = 
  | parameter-4 = 
  | <!-- etc. -->
  }}
}}

Embedding other templates

The module parameters (module, module2, module3) are used for embedding other templates into this infobox.

{{Infobox musical artist
| name       =  
| <!-- etc. -->
| module     = {{Infobox ABC
| embed      = yes <!-- or child=yes / subbox=yes -->
| <!-- etc. -->
}}
}}

Examples

For individual musicians

{{Infobox musical artist
| name            = Mariah Carey
| image           = Mariah Carey13 Edwards Dec 1998.jpg
| image_upright   =
| alt             = Young woman singing into a hand mike with her eyes closed and a big smile
| caption         = Carey performing in 1998
| birth_name      =  <!-- leave empty if the same "name" -->
| birth_date      = {{Birth date and age|1970|3|27}}
| birth_place     = [[Huntington, New York]], U.S.
| origin          = New York City
| genre           = {{Flatlist|
* [[Pop music|Pop]]
* [[Contemporary R&B|R&B]]
* [[dance-pop]]
}}
| associated_acts = 
| occupation      = Singer-songwriter, record producer
| years_active    = 1990–present
| label           = {{Flatlist|
* [[Columbia Records|Columbia]]
* [[Virgin Records|Virgin]]
* [[MonarC]]/[[Island Records|Island]]
}}
| website         = {{URL|mariahcarey.com}}
}}

For groups or bands

style="text-align:center; font-size:125%; background:Template:Infobox Musical artist/color;" colspan="2" \| Infobox musical artist

{{Infobox musical artist
| name            = Audioslave
| image           = Audioslave 2005.jpg
| landscape       = yes
| alt             = Four-man rock group performing on stage, spotlit, with row of darkened fans in the foreground
| caption         = From left to right: [[Tim Commerford]], [[Chris Cornell]], [[Brad Wilk]] and [[Tom Morello]] in 2005
| origin          = [[Los Angeles]], California, U.S.
| genre           = {{Flatlist|
* [[Hard rock]]
* [[alternative rock]]
* [[post-grunge]]
}}
| years_active    = 2001–2007
| label           = {{Flatlist|
* [[Epic Records|Epic]]
* [[Interscope Records|Interscope]]
}}
| associated_acts = {{Flatlist|
* [[Soundgarden]]
* [[Rage Against the Machine]]
* [[Prophets of Rage]]
}}
| website         = {{URL|audioslave.com}}
| current_members = 
| past_members    = 
* [[Chris Cornell]]
* [[Tom Morello]]
* [[Tim Commerford]]
* [[Brad Wilk]]
}}

Examples of the template in use can be found at:

Tracking categories

Hidden maintenance/tracking categories which may be added to articles using this infobox:

Category:Articles with hCards (10) – all articles using this infobox
Category:Pages using Template:Infobox musical artist with unknown parameters (0) – any articles using this infobox with unknown parameter names

Notes

↑ ^1.0 ^1.1 ^1.2 As per RfC "Naming countries in infoboxes": When identifying a location, city or region in the United States or United Kingdom, the preferred approach is to use the country abbreviations allowed by MOS:ACRO, such as "Portsmouth, New Hampshire, U.S." and "Cardiff, Wales, UK", rather than spelling out the full country name. Avoid using abbreviations for states or provinces in all nations. New Hampshire rather than NH, New South Wales rather than NSW, or British Columbia rather than BC (see MOS:POSTABBR). Cities such as New York City and London may be rendered as "New York City, U.S." and "London, UK" or simply "New York City" and "London". Also, these should not be linked when the context makes it clear (see MOS:OVERLINK). If only the country name is included, it may be written out in full.
↑ ^2.0 ^2.1 ^2.2 ^2.3 ^2.4 ^2.5 For short horizontal lists of two or three items, comma separators are acceptable, but for longer lists the use of {{Flatlist}} or {{Hlist}} is preferred as they offer a benefit to users of screen readers. Vertical lists should always be implemented by {{Plainlist}} or {{Unbulleted list}} and never by <br /> tags for reasons of accessibility.

Microformat

The HTML markup produced by this template includes an hCard microformat, which makes the person's details parsable by computers, either acting automatically to catalogue articles across Wikipedia or via a browser tool operated by a reader, to (for example) add the subject to an address book or database. For more information about the use of microformats on Wikipedia, please see the microformat project.

Sub-templates

Date-of-birth ("bday") information will only be included in the microformat if {{birth date}}, or {{birth date and age}} are used in the infobox. (Do not use these if the date is before 1583). Be cautious about using these if the person is still living, per WP:DOB.

To include a URL, use {{URL}}.

Please do not remove instances of these sub-templates.

Classes

hCard uses HTML classes including:

adr
agent
bday
birthplace
category
country-name
deathdate
deathplace
extended-address
family-name
fn (required)
given-name
honorific-prefix
honorific-suffix
label
locality
n
nickname
note
org
role
url
vcard

Please do not rename or remove these classes nor collapse nested elements which use them.

The determination between class="fn" (for individuals) and class="fn org" (for groups) and is made by {{Infobox musical artist/hCard class}} using |background=.

TemplateData

TemplateData documentation used by VisualEditor and other tools

See a monthly parameter usage report for Template:Infobox musical artist in articles based on its TemplateData.

TemplateData for Infobox musical artist

An infobox for musical artists/groups.

[Edit template data]
Template parameters
This template has custom formatting.
Parameter		Description	Type	Status
Honorific prefix	`honorific_prefix`	Titles such as Sir.	String	optional
Name	`name` `Name`	Name of group/artist, plain text only. Default The page name	String	optional
Honorific suffix	`honorific_suffix`	Honours such as CBE, OBE.	String	optional
Image	`image` `Img`	Image to use in infobox Set to only the image name. Example ABBA - TopPop 1974 5.png	File	optional
Image size	`image_size` `Img_size`	Should only be specified if the image is smaller than 220 pixels width. Enter the width in pixels without 'px'. Example 150	String	optional
Image upright	`image_upright` `Img_upright`	Scales the image thumbnail from its default size by the given factor. Values less than 1 scale the image down (0.9 = 90%) and values greater than 1 scale the image up (1.15 = 115%).	String	optional
Landscape	`landscape` `Landscape`	Set to yes when using wide, short images.	String	optional
Image alt text	`alt` `Img_alt`	Alt text for the image, for visually impaired and other readers who cannot see the image.	String	optional
Image caption	`caption` `Img_capt`	Caption for the image.	String	optional
Native name	`native_name`	The artist's name in their own language.	String	optional
Native name (language)	`native_name_lang`	ISO 639-2 code e.g. 'fra' for French. If more than one, use {{lang}} for native_name instead Example fra	String	optional
Birth name	`birth_name` `Birth_name`	The person's name at birth.	String	optional
Alias	`alias` `Alias`	Official stage names, legal names, or other officially authorized names. Not for nicknames.	String	optional
Birth date	`birth_date`	The artist's date of birth; it is preferable to use {{Birth date and age}}. Example {{Birth date and age\|1949\|12\|31}}	String	optional
Birth place	`birth_place`	The artist's place of birth. e.g. '[[Lubbock, Texas]], U.S.'.	String	optional
Origin	`origin` `Origin`	The city from which the singer or group originated. Example [[Aston]], [[Birmingham]], England	String	optional
Death date	`death_date`	The artist's date of death use {{Death date and age}}	String	optional
Death place	`death_place`	Place of death.	String	optional
Genre	`genre` `Genre`	The genre or genres of music performed by the act. Genres should be wikilinked and separated by using commas, {{tl\|flatlist}} or {{tl\|hlist}} Example {{hlist\|[[Rock music\|Rock]]\|[[synth-pop]]\|[[house music\|house}}	String	optional
Occupation	`occupation` `Occupation`	Roles the artist has fulfilled (e.g. musician, songwriter, producer, etc). For artists who have participated in forms of entertainment outside of music (such as acting), these occupations can be included if notable.	String	optional
Instrument	`instrument` `Instrument`	General classes of instruments played by the artist, e.g. guitar or violin. Include singing, rapping, beatboxing and/or scat singing if relevant. Separate multiple entries by using commas, {{tl\|flatlist}} or {{tl\|hlist}}. Instruments listed in the infobox should be limited to only those that the artist is primarily known for using.	String	optional
Years active	`years_active` `Years_active` `yearsactive`	Years artist/group was active. Example 1993–2004, 2005–present	String	optional
Record label	`label` `Label`	The record label or labels to which the act has been signed, as a comma- or {{tl\|flatlist}}-separated list. Omit dates. Example [[Universal Records\|Universal]]	String	optional
Associated acts	`associated_acts` `Associated_acts`	Professional relationships with other musicians or bands that are significant and notable to this artist's career.	String	optional
Website	`website` `URL` `url`	The single web address for the act's primary official website. Example {{URL\|blacksabbath.com}}	String	optional
Current members	`current_members` `Current_members`	Name of current members of the group, listed in order of joining. Separate multiple entries using * list markup, one per line.	String	optional
Past members	`past_members` `Past_members`	Past members of the group, listed in order of joining. Separate multiple entries using * list markup, one per line. If a group is inactive, all members should be listed here, and none in the 'current_members' field.	String	optional
Notable instruments	`notable_instruments` `Notable_instruments`	No longer used.	String	deprecated
Embedded	`embed`	Set to 'yes' if embedded in another infobox template.	String	optional
Module	`module`	Used for embedding other infoboxes into this one.	String	optional
Module 2	`module2`	Used for embedding other infoboxes into this one.	String	optional
Module 3	`module3`	Used for embedding other infoboxes into this one.	String	optional

The above documentation is transcluded from Template:Infobox musical artist/doc.
Editors can experiment in this template's sandbox and testcases pages.
Add categories to the /doc subpage. Subpages of this template.

[location-1] 1.0 ^1.1 ^1.2 As per RfC "Naming countries in infoboxes": When identifying a location, city or region in the United States or United Kingdom, the preferred approach is to use the country abbreviations allowed by MOS:ACRO, such as "Portsmouth, New Hampshire, U.S." and "Cardiff, Wales, UK", rather than spelling out the full country name. Avoid using abbreviations for states or provinces in all nations. New Hampshire rather than NH, New South Wales rather than NSW, or British Columbia rather than BC (see MOS:POSTABBR). Cities such as New York City and London may be rendered as "New York City, U.S." and "London, UK" or simply "New York City" and "London". Also, these should not be linked when the context makes it clear (see MOS:OVERLINK). If only the country name is included, it may be written out in full.

[lists-2] 2.0 ^2.1 ^2.2 ^2.3 ^2.4 ^2.5 For short horizontal lists of two or three items, comma separators are acceptable, but for longer lists the use of {{Flatlist}} or {{Hlist}} is preferred as they offer a benefit to users of screen readers. Vertical lists should always be implemented by {{Plainlist}} or {{Unbulleted list}} and never by <br /> tags for reasons of accessibility.

[1]

[2]