Editing Encyclopedia:WikiProject Songs (section)

==Categories==
{{shortcut|WP:SONG#Categories}}
Per [[WP:CATEGORY]], a song may be categorized by a characteristic (such as producer, composer, record-label, etc.) only if it is a ''[[WP:DEFINING|defining]]'' characteristic of the song (i.e. reliable, secondary sources commonly and consistently ''define'' the song as having the characteristic—not just mention it in passing or for completeness).
*Year of publication or release is normally a defining characteristic for every song. For other characteristics, if a song is defined by a particular characteristic, then it is likely that the object of the characteristic (e.g. the conductor, producer, etc.) will be notable ''in that capacity'' and qualify (per [[WP:NOTABLE]] and [[WP:MUSIC]]) for its own Wikipedia article: if such an article does not exist, then the characteristic is probably ''not'' defining.
*Where a team of people is credited for a characteristic (excluding songwriter credits which should be split to the individuals), the official credit must not be split into multiple categories for individual team members.<ref>Otherwise, the categorization loses potency as it is no longer per the ''defining'' characteristic; also, the official (legal) credit could be misconstrued (category names may be seen in the article unordered, disjoint, or incomplete)</ref> So, for example, if Y is a member of a song's production team X, categorization may not be as 'songs produced by Y'; 'songs produced by X' might however, be included as a related category of 'songs produced by Y', or the song might be categorized directly as 'Y' (perhaps in addition to 'songs produced by X').
*For an example of where a characteristic might warrant split-categorization, consider a song that is defined as being "a world-wide commercial success"; in this case, as there is no worldwide sales certification body, several categorizations may be made per appropriate national or regional sales certification bodies.
*Characteristics that commonly define one class of song might not define another class of song. E.g. 'conducted-by' commonly defines classical-music works but rarely, if ever, defines rock-music songs. 'Produced-by' sometimes defines pop- and rock-music songs, but rarely defines classical-music works. Large record-label companies don't often qualify as a defining characteristic of a song; small, specialized record-labels however, may do.
*If the above seems to disallow grouping articles as you think they should be, consider using an alternative mechanism such as a list-article (see [[WP:CLN]]).

Song articles should be placed into the following categories whenever applicable:
# a subcategory of [[:Category:Songs by artist]] ("Category:<Artist name> songs"), and
# a subcategory of [[:Category:Songs by year]], using only the earliest year identified by a reliable source as being written, performed, published, recorded, or released, and
# a subcategory of [[:Category:Singles by year]] for singles.
# The songwriters should be placed in either [[:Category:Songs by songwriter]] ("Category:Songs written by <songwriter>"), [[:Category:Songs by lyricist]] ("Category:Songs with lyrics by <lyricist>") or [[:Category:Songs by composer]] ("Category:Songs with music by <composer>"). Only one category should be created for each songwriter, so if a songwriter contributes words and/or music then the category should be in songs by songwriter only.
#Other than [[:Category:Songs by artist]], "Category:<Artist name> songs" should be placed into at least two other subcategories, a subcategory of [[:Category:Songs by country]] and one or more subcategories of [[:Category:Songs by genre]], but only if the genre describes a majority of their songs.

For example, "[[Just My Imagination (Running Away with Me)]]" by [[the Temptations]] was written in 1969 and released in 1971 as a single, so it is in [[:Category:The Temptations songs]], [[:Category:1969 songs]] and [[:Category:1971 singles]], [[:Category:Gordy Records singles]], [[:Category:Songs written by Barrett Strong]], [[:Category:Songs written by Norman Whitfield]] while [[:Category:The Temptations songs]] is in [[:Category:Songs by artist]], [[:Category:American soul songs]], [[:Category:American funk songs]] and [[:Category:American rhythm and blues songs]]. "Just My Imagination (Running Away with Me)" is also in the category [[:Category:The Rolling Stones songs]] because the [[the Rolling Stones]] recorded a notable version which is referred to in the article.

Notes:
#For consistency, the artist name in "Category:<Artist name> songs" should usually be the same as the name in the title of the article.
#Please do not place song articles directly in [[:Category:Songs]] or [[:Category:Singles (music)]].
#A song should only be categorised once in [[:Category:Songs by year]] either by the year it was written or recorded, or by first publication or release (whichever is earliest). Obviously if it is released as a single more than once it should be listed accordingly.
# If the song is in a genre in which the artist has very few songs, the song article may be added to a specific Category:Songs by genre when the artist's overall "Category:<Artist name> songs" has not been added to this genre category.