If your band has only played on a street corner, and its only fan is a fire hydrant, it doesn't need a Wikipedia article.

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

Style and content

This band goes down well at folk festivals in Poland, but even they described themselves as "hardcore" when their lead clarinettist tried to write their Wikipedia article.

Example

Bringers of darkness (Band)
Bringers of Darkness
Shayne (Lead vocals)
Shayne (Lead vocals)
Background information
Originidaho
Genreshard core
Discographythree albums[a]
Years activenow
LabelsBOD RECORDS
MembersKinnie Kingsworth, Shayne Tracy, Barret Lee, Wade Wilson, Whizz Perez
Websitehtttp:/facebook.com/page435983454

BRINGERS OF DARKNESS are revitalizing audiences with there legenday raw energy live show and undeniable chemistry of brotherhood. They transcend a world that is locked in genre and commercialism; though they know they can't do it alone, they are the seeds of a revolution. The band has pitched their newest release to Sony executives,[b] played in front of the likes of Henry Rallins,[c] and the lead singer has sang onstage with Freddie Quicksilver[d] - they have the goods and they WILL deliver.

Members: Tim "Kinnie" kingsworth - guitarist born to rock, tim has written many of bringers of darkness's best songs including "my love for you is swimming through the rapids like a broken arow" (Tim only plays Bingleworth guitars. Onstage, he plays a Bingleworth J-9000 7-string with a neo-chromium Foo humbuckers. For recording he uses a K-9001 with two single-coli pickups. he also exclusively uses Krankle amplifiers and Czech-Tec guitar tubes)

Shayne tracy - vocals Stunning gutteral screams, as raw and wild and hardcore as the songs

barett "binnet" lee - bass player the best, all-star bass player in idaho is barett lee, his awsome riffs bring bringers of darkness's songs together --award-winning, has played with the pro's (barett exclusively uses Klaxor titanium picks, the greatest brand in the world)

wade Wilson - drummer played everyware (even opened for Metallica!!,[e] now the pumping heart of bringers of darkness beats

antonio 'whizz' perez - keyboards (antonio uses a Hammunk J-100, Farfasi Q-7a with extended keyboard, Cazia CTK-997 workstation, small Howard k-1600 keyboard, with a Peazey 100 watt amp with 15" speaker, Audio-pro Caroidid mic, Radio Shak mic stand)

Bringers of darkness record on B.O.D. Records (c/0 Shayne's parent's house 234 Anytown St. IDaho, US) - - ---- ... Exclusive representation is through DarkNess International Media Production Industries LLC (idaho branch office)


==UPCOMING SHOWS! Catch the "Bringers" live at one of the following venues:=

  • Tuesday, Oct 9: opening for Raymond & the Wannabes at the Cracker Barrel Beer and Lobster House (in the basement room), 8 PM
  • Mon. Dec. 12: Motzey's House of Pickles...we[f] are the headlingers at this show...come on time (9 PM for B.O.D.),w/ guest openers KAǾS-SOAK
  • Sunday, Jan 15: Idaho Regional Real Estate Association picnic[g]
  • Friday night, Feb 24: Cannister Causeway Go-Kart Racetrack - (stage area is near the big windmill hole at the mini-putt)(unconfirmed)


REFERENCES:

  • htp://myspace.con/bringersofdarknessidahoband[h]
  • htttp:/facebook.com/page435983454 PLEASE 'LIKE' OUR PAGE[i]

Notes

  1. ^ None of them have been glass mastered; they were all burnt onto CDs, and two of them are actually extended plays. In fact, this infobox would have probably been copied and pasted, then badly adapted from these examples, attempting to make their page look cooler.
  2. ^ This is likely delusional puffery. Translation: they waited in the lobby without an appointment, and then tried to harass Sony executives by playing their music loudly on a cheap smartphone with a tiny speaker, at least until four burly security guards escorted them out.
  3. ^ Yet more delusional puffery: Mr. Rallins was having dinner at a music festival in his own security-gated compound and, while the band was being escorted to a "local stage" to do an unpaid warm-up gig, they tried to shout an impromptu acappella song through the gate, at least until six members of Mr. Rallins' security detail "moved them along" (Note: Mr. Rallins is a fictional performer).
  4. ^ Still more delusional puffery: Once, 24 years ago, Mr. Quicksilver did a charity telethon benefit show at a TV station, and the entire 7th grade class from Woodridge Junior High sang a simple backup part... including a young Shayne Tracy (Note: Mr. Quicksilver is a fictional performer).
  5. ^ What this unsubstantiated claim fails to tell you is that in high school 23 years ago, his school stage band played the national anthem at a hockey arena at 6 pm, before a major local band played a warm-up set at 7 pm for the two bands touring with Metallica as special guests, who themselves played at 8 pm and 9 pm (and then Metallica played at 10 pm).
  6. ^ Bands referring to themselves in the first-person is a tell-tale sign of autobiographical writing and a distinctly unencyclopedic tone. Even in well-written articles, slip-ups like this can give it all away.
  7. ^ Shayne's dad is head of accounting and probably doesn't know the band's new hardcore sound as of late.
  8. ^ A big indication that this band is not notable here is that they couldn't have the name "bringersofdarkness", which was already taken by a Bulgarian metal band; and "bringersofdarknessband", a thrash band from Norway; although neither of those bands are notable either.
  9. ^ This is because a band page on Facebook cannot have a distinctive name until it receives a certain threshold of 'Likes' on it, so this band is reduced to a pseudo-anonymous and hard-to-remember one.

How do I know if anyone cares about my band?

Shortcut

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?)

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#G11—((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 your 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?

See also

Categories