Artists aliases / aka

Feedback Feature Suggestions
1

I link the following post, which has been abandoned:
Continuing the discussion from "a.k.a." - how is it supposed to work?:

The AKA line we see in some artists seems to be a very ad-hoc feature, which users cannot edit and control in any way.

but managing AKAs I think is a necessity. I think that:

  • Different artists aliases should have an identical artist page, so different artists link point at the end to the same artist page
  • In this page, beneath the actual artist name, there should be a.k.a. followed by the various aliases (as links?)
  • In practice, different aliases are treated exactly as different artists, the only difference is that they share exactly the same artist page (same bio, same picture, same data), but added specification to akas.
  • The main albums list should show all the main albums, whatever is the name they have been issued with.
  • It would be great if, besides the normal “artists merging”, there could be an “artists aliasing”: i select two artists/performers, and declare that they are aliases. so what’s the difference with merging? actually, there’s no difference except that we keep the various names, and they are shown correspondingly in the albums.

i think that this approach is quite sensible, also for classical music: i’m thinking at orchestras with different names (varying in time).

4 Likes
3

Actually, I’ve just found a case of alias:

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and
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here, the bio is the same, the picture is the same because i’ve put it, but:

  • internet links are different
  • genres are different
  • data beneath bio are different
    clearly, these inconsistencies should be solved.

Here, most important, they link to different albums in my library. and this is not very good.
here, I see 2 (3) solutions:

  1. As said in previous post, the 2 artist pages become identical and they link to the same set of albums
  2. Another option is that they remain distinct and they link (as main albums) to albums credited to that alias, with a following subsection similar to the “appearances” and “with xxxxx” sections, for example “credited as …alias…”. this solution could be better because different aliases could have different styles (for example) or data (for example, an orchestra that during time changes name and/or theater, its artist page could reflect these changes). the important thing, in any case, is that in the artist-alias page one can find also albums credited to the other aliases…
  3. A third solution, easier but not optimal, is simply to have, like here, the two pages for 2 artists, but having the “aka” beneath the name as a link. in this way, one could easily jump to different sections of the artist discography.
    it could be a temporary solution…
4

I looked on my system. I think I have merged the two, and there is probably a memory of the original aka setting, because it shows this odd naming:

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And there is another hidden memory of the old aka setting, when I do a search and enter Dollar Brand it suggests Abdullah Ibrahim, without explanation:

9F010EC1-C392-4072-AD1F-C4F1D9A1D909
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So the aka setting is mysterious, and it is not explicit or editable.

I support the proposal.

5

Would like this as well.

A recent example is A.A.L. (Against All Logic) release “2012-2017”. It’s just an alias used by Nicolas Jaar, and should be connected somehow. Either by A.A.L. linking directly to Nicolas Jaar, or the A.A.L. artist page should state that this is an alias for Nicolas Jaar, and vice versa. Discogs handles this really well:


and

(Variations should also be a thing in Roon)

6

Just to let you guys know that we are well aware of aliases and links to “alter egos”, but be careful what you wish for… :slight_smile:

Ljubljana Radio Symphony Orchestra

Also Known As: RTV Slovenia Symphony Orchestra, Ljubljana Radio Symphony Orchestra, Simfonični orkester RTV Ljubljana, Ljubliana Symphony Orchestra, Ljubljana Radio Orchestra, Ljubljana Symphony Orchestra, Lubjana Radio Symphony Orchestra, Orchester Radio-Television Ljubljana, Orchester des Slowenischen Rundfunks, Orchestre de la Radio Ljubljana, Orquestra Sinfónica da Rádio de Ljubljana, Orquestra sinfônica da rádio de Ljubljana, RSO Ljubljana, RSO Lubljana, Radio Symphonie Orchester Ljubljana, Radio Symphonieorchester Ljubljana, Radio Symphony Orchestra, Radio Symphony Orchestra Ljubjana, Radio Symphony Orchestra Ljubjlana, Radio Symphony Orchestra Ljubliana, Radio Symphony Orchestra Ljubljana, Radio Television Ljubljana, Radio-Symphonieorchester Ljubliana, Radio-symphonieorchester Ljubljana, Radiosymphonieorchester Ljubljana, Royal Symphony Orchestra Ljublijana, Rundfunk Sinfonie Orchester Ljubljana, Rundfunk Sinfonie Orchestra Ljubljana, Rundfunk Sinphonie Orchester Ljubljana, Rundfunk Symphony Orchestra Ljubljana, Rundfunk-Sinfonie-Orchester Ljubljana, Simfoniki RTV Slovenija, Slovenian Radio Symphony Orchestra, Slovenian Symphony Orchestra, Symphonic Orchestra of the Ljubljana Radio, Symphonie Orchester Ljubljana, Symphonieorchester Radio Ljubljana, Symphoniorchester des Slowenischen Rundfunks, Symphony Orchestra Ljubljana, Symphony Orchestra of Radio Ljubljana, The Ljubljana Symphony Orchestra, The Ljubljana Symphony Orchestra of Yugoslavia, Orchester RSO Ljubljana, Symphony Orchestra of the Ljubljana Radio, Slovenija RTV Symphony Orchestra

1 Like
7

+1 for this feature !

For inspiration, here’s how RYM/Sonemic handles this for Louis Armstrong :
(bonus : The Album Artist name is also specified when it differs from the Artist name : see that 1950 album New Orlean Days where the Album Artist is Louis Armstrong and the All Stars)

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8

Yes, but like everything else in Roon, this should adapt to my library.
So, if I have 2 albums of “RTV Slovenia Symphony Orchestra”… only that one should appear.
If i have 1000 albums with all possible combinations of the name (and I want to keep them … :))… it seems to me inevitable that all the aliases have to appear. what’s missing, is a link between them. and, especially in a (extreme) case like this, having 100 disconnected artists names is bad. i think that the good of having all these artists connected in same way encompasses the bad of having an artist page full of akas.
i actually find it useful a Discogs page like that, … it’s awful… but can be useful in exploring.

Now, the link exists: in Roon’s metadata, all these so called aliases are merged and only one name is used/shown (editable).

What’s missing is:

  • Some kind of management at roon metadata level of possible aliases
  • The possibility for the users to edit alternative aliases… like now with merging, but in a suitable way to keep both names when necessary.

In my library, I have to say, aliases are… very few. I mean, let’s say 25 over 2000 primary artists with link (clearly, meany more performers and composers). so, I think i can live without this improvement…

At the same time, as I’ve posted somewhere else, I think that merging artists in Roon needs a better philosophy, and I thing that solving problems in merging should take in a “softer” merging/linking… that could work also for aliases…

1 Like
9

I think that the name variants of artists are now not very well treated. there are some posts on the subject.
I would like to see, in the artist page, maybe in a collapsible section like “Concerts” or “Top Tracks” (the last one, not very useful):

  • The real name of the artist
  • his/her alternative names (aka).
    I’d l’d like to see all of them (in roon database), while the ones that are present in the library should be active links.

Thanks

10

We think alike, though there are some product, data model, and metadata issues that we would need to resolve first. Not saying that it will or won’t happen, just that your suggestion has some merit.

11

Forgive me for a necro bump, but please add the “Alias” part below on the artist page where the “Similar To” and “Associated With” are, providing only links to music in your library (just as Similar To, etc are)
This would be a huge help and for my understanding of metadata not a huge change.

Best,
Robbert

1 Like
12

This is exactly what I’m after too. Especially for artists who release under constantly changing monikers, which seems to be a more frquent thing these days.

1 Like
13

Hi everybody, I think I’m talking about the same issue but please let me know if I’m on the wrong thread.

Is there a way to make Roon see Vincent Fournier and Alice Cooper (the artist) as the same person?
The singer for Rhapsody (the italian Metal band) is Fabio Lione, but in the credits he appears as Fabio Tordiglione (his real name) If I search for Fabio Lione i don’t get the Tordiglione results despite being the same person.-
I tried on King Diamond and Kim Bendix Petersen and it worked but I think it’s because the real name was on the bio (by the way, no bio on Alice Cooper as artist…really?)

14

heya, I’d really like to bring this suggestion to the forefront again, would make browsing the discoveries of artists with a lot of aliases much easier (MF DOOM comes to mind)

15

I would very much like the addition of a manual aka-possibility in the artist page.
There’s a number of cases where orchestras already have aka’s (under the hood) in the Roon database.
But in a case such as the Berliner Sinfonie-Orchester (predecessor of the Konzerthausorchester Berlin) I would like to be able to add the name "Berliner Sinfonie-Orchester " as an aka tot the Konzerthausorchester Berlin myself.

1 Like
16

Is the “additional name” feature still not added to Roon yet?

This is really crucial!