Relationship Type "Member Of"
Link Phrases
artist has/had member(s) artist
artist is/was a member of artist
Description
This indicates that the first artist is or was a regular member of the second artist, which should be a group (ArtistType). The first artist will usually be a person, although that isn't necessarily a rule (I'm thinking of "Prince and the New Power Generation" here).
Some members leave a band and then rejoin later. You can represent this by having more than one relationship between the two artists. In this case you should definitely include begin dates and end dates (see below) to distinguish which is which.
Potentially, this relationship could be used to store the information in RockFamilyTrees, or even to generate new trees.
This AdvancedRelationshipType for ArtistArtistRelationships is part of the MusicalAssociationRelationshipClass.
Style
The MemberOfBandRelationshipStyle describes how this relationship should be used.
Relationship Attributes
"additional"
There is no guideline how "additional" (AdditionalRelationshipAttribute) can be used for the MemberOfBandRelationship. I suppose this should designate members who did not play a major role in the band.
"begin date" and "end date"
Where known, you should add dates for when the member joined and left the band (DateRelationshipAttribute). If the member is still part of the band, leave the end date blank. There is a whole extra question around what to do when the member was there when the band was founded, or there when the band broke up: see FoundingMemberDatesQuestion for more information.
Examples
![[WWW]](http://wiki.musicbrainz.org/-/musicbrainz/img/moin-www.png){kind=small}
Paul Di'Anno was a member of Iron Maiden from 1977 until 1981. His replacement, Bruce Dickinson, lasted from then until 1993. However, he then rejoined, and is still there. So he gets two member relationships, one for each period.
Discussion
It would be nice to specify what instrument someone played in a band, not just their membership. This raises questions concerning ArtistRoleInheritance. This might also be an issue for CollaborationRelationshipType. This is now an AdvancedRelationshipTypeProposal.
What's the best use of the DateRelationshipAttribute to specify that someone was a founding member of a band, or was in the band when it broke up? I think this question is worth having a separate wiki page for, FoundingMemberDatesQuestion. --MatthewExon
Can anyone think of an example where one band is a member of another band? That is, a band, not just a collaboration.
Just came across this: Tosca String Quartet joined with Glover Gill to form Tosca Tango Orchestra. They've released six albums. See description at
http://www.toscastrings.com/tosca_tango.htm. -- jdc0730
Hi, I was reading the comment about specifying the instruments someone in a band plays. I have added this subcatagory to my proposed SupportingMusicianRelationshipType. This proposal aimed at artists who play on albums (or tour with) solo artist, as people are currently listed as members of other 'people', which is quite messy and inappropriate. Please check it out.
--EdKaye
I (and shep) have implemented this on test:
artist is/was a{additional:n additional} {instrument} performing member of artist, artist has/had {instrument} performing member artist
artist is/was a{additional:n additional} {vocal} vocal performing member of artist, artist has/had {additional} {vocal} vocal performing member artist
check it out. ~mo