Coming up this Saturday ... Jim Gleason's Little People - Part 2

From WWR

Has this tag may have outlived its usefulness? There are so many songs in this category (18,000+) that making a show based on it really doesn't end up with anything specific. Is the tag is "watered down"? Can it be replaced with more specific tags like "Guy with guitar" or "Girl with guitar" or "Folk" or "Solo vocalist"? Would doing so force taggers to be more specific and listen more closely to tag the song with the elements that make it up?

Thoughts

I wouldn't mind seeing this one disappear. I think it might force us to be more specific in tagging. It's such a non-specific tag anyway that it can be confusing. But I dunno really. Just thought I'd bring it up and test the waters. Jim (talk/contribs) 21:40, June 9, 2008 (AKDT)

I can go either way. Beth came up with a definition for the tag and some of us try to remove it when we come across songs where it's not used appropriately. Since it will take forever to clean it up and there will always be confusion on the meaning of the tag, I'm leaning towards getting rid of it. I don't think Solo Vocalist is much more useful in its current state. Kelli (talk/contribs) 05:05, June 10, 2008 (AKDT)

I really wore that one with pride but I agree, its actual usefulness as a tag for song selection here is pretty negligible. Cater (talk/contribs) 06:46, June 10, 2008 (AKDT)

I've been replacing it with Solo vocalist when I do tagging. Scobey (talk/contribs) 11:04, June 10, 2008 (AKDT)

Now, you see, "solo vocalist" really doesn't mean the same thing to me as "singer-songwriter" - certainly not as interchangable terms - I'm thinking Peter Mulvey singing "The Fly" which is a cover of a U2 song. Now, he is definitely a singer-songwriter, but not of that song, and he is definitely a solo vocalist - on that particular recording So I guess I'm agreeing with Sparks here, Singer-songwriter is a descriptor of the artist, not the song Cater (talk/contribs) 11:13, June 10, 2008 (AKDT)

I agree they aren't interchangeable. I used to always associate singer-songwriter with the artist (except for cover songs), but found out that the original intent was for it to describe a genre/sound. Kelli (talk/contribs) 12:12, June 10, 2008 (AKDT)

After reading wikipedia's citation/footnote missing interpretation of singer-songwriter, Singer-songwriter is a term that refers to performers who write, compose and sing their own material including lyrics and melodies, often providing the sole accompaniment to an entire composition or song., I would agree with sparx, Cater, Kimchifox, and wikipedia, about the tag singer-songwriter being a description of an artist rather than of a song. And reading this description from wikipedia, ...often providing the sole accompaniment to an entire composition or song...seems as if this could have the same meaning as that of a solo vocalist! Atuuschaaw (talk/contribs) 20:11, June 10, 2008 (AKDT)

Vote

Vote here if you want:

• Let's put this useless tag to bed and get rid of it.
  • To me Singer-songwriter describes an artist, rather than a song. sparx (talk/contribs) 05:16, June 10, 2008 (AKDT)
  • Kelli (talk/contribs)
  • Scobey (talk/contribs) 11:04, June 10, 2008 (AKDT)
  • I agree with Sparkles. Kimchifox (talk/contribs) 19:33, June 10, 2008 (AKDT)
  • Atuuschaaw (talk/contribs) 20:17, June 10, 2008 (AKDT) I think the tag of singer-songwriter should appear on the artist's pages only...perhaps under Listener Tags and Comments.

• Leave it alone.
  • I think it's useful when used correctly to describe an artist who actually wrote the song they're singing. Noneyet/talk
  • Drat; that's what happens when I go away for a week . . . I would've argued strenuously for it to stay -- the fact that it hasn't been used correctly doesn't mean it couldn't be. But, apparently. I'm too late! E.D. Egg (talk/contribs) 03:57, June 19, 2008 (AKDT)

• I could go either way.
  • Jim (talk/contribs) 21:40, June 9, 2008 (AKDT)
  • Cater (talk/contribs) 06:47, June 10, 2008 (AKDT)