Database Guidelines

Guidelines for Adding & Editing Concerts

Table of Contents  
  1. "Bands" Fields
  2. "Date" Selector
  3. "This is a multi-day concert" Checkbox
  4. "End Date" Selector
  5. "Concert Title or Tour Title" Field
  6. "Venue" Field
  7. "Location" Field
  8. "Notes" Field
  9. "Advanced Options" Section

"Bands" Fields  

Band Names:

Band names should be entered exactly as the official band name at the time of the concert, including the correct capitalization, punctuation, or "The". For example:

  • "The Flaming Lips" is correct, "Flaming Lips" is incorrect.
  • "blink-182" is correct, "Blink 182", "Blink-182", or "blink182" are all incorrect.

The official name is determined by how they list their name on their official channels. Their channels are prioritized by:

  1. Their official website
  2. Their official social media accounts

If the band has changed it's name, use the official name at the time the concert took place. For example:

  • The band Together Pangea was originally named Pangea. So if the concert took place in the year 2010, you would enter "Pangea" to reflect the band's official name at that time. If the concert took place in 2018, you would enter "Together Pangea". (We have plans to be able to group name variations in the future so that concerts and stats won't be split among different name listings.)

Line-up Order:

The order of the bands entered on a concert should reflect the reverse order that the bands performed. In other words, the band that performed last (the headlining band) should be listed first. The band that performed first (the opening band) should be listed last.

Bands Included:

All of the bands that performed should be listed on a concert, regardless of whether you saw them or not. If you didn't see a band, you can mark them as 'not seen' on the concert's page after the concert has been created (Learn More).

All Guest Performers should be listed as well, even if they weren’t on the initial schedule. The Guest Performer should be listed on their own as a separate ‘Band’ and a note should be included in the “Notes” field that they were a Guest Performer. For example:

  • Ice Spice was not listed on the original lineup but performed as a guest during Taylor Swift’s May 28, 2023 concert. Ice Spice should be included in the list of bands and a note should be included in the “Notes” field: “Ice Spice performed as a guest with Taylor Swift”.

"Date" Selector  

The Date is the date that the concert started.

"This is a multi-day concert" Checkbox  

Check this box if the concert ran for multiple days or nights (such as a concert that runs for an entire weekend). Do not check this box if a concert happens to run past midnight into the next day. This is not considered a Multi-Day Concert.

"End Date" Selector  

The "End Date" field will only appear for Multi-Day Concerts. The End Date is the date that the concert ended. If a concert was scheduled to run on Saturday and Sunday, but ends after midnight on Sunday, the End Date should still be entered as Sunday.

"Concert Title or Tour Title" Field  

The "Concert Title or Tour Title" field should contain only the official concert or tour title except when the concert is an annual award ceremony, festival, or lacks a concert or tour title. Adding information that is not a part of the official concert or tour title is INCORRECT.

Do not include the year, band name, location, or leg information unless it is explicitly included in the title. Examples where this information is included in the official concert or tour title include:

  • “Knotfest Australia”, the country is included because this was the official name on the event’s website and promotional material.
  • “Louis Tomlinson World Tour,” the band name is included because this was the official name of Louis Tomlinson’s 2020-2022 tour.
  • Wacken Open Air 2023”, the year is included because this was the official name of the event’s website and promotion material.

Tour Title vs. Concert Title:

When a concert occurs as part of a tour, use the Tour Title unless the concert is a festival, an awards ceremony, another event with concerts, or is not part of a named tour. For example:

  • The concerts Iron Maiden plays during their “The Future Past Tour,” should all have the Title “The Future Past Tour” except for festivals such as Wacken Open Air 2023 that they play during their tour.

Annual Award Ceremonies

For annual award ceremonies and related events with concerts, place the yearly number of the event (such as 1st, 2nd, 3rd, etc.) in front of the name. Include “Annual” after the number only if it is included in the official name. For example:

Multi-Day Festivals or Festivals With Multiple Occurrences

For multi-day festivals or festivals with multiple occurrences, add the day or weekend of the festival and total number of days or weekends in parenthesis at the end of the Title in the following format “([Day/Weekend #] of [Total #])”. For example:

No Tour Title or Concert Title?

If there is no official concert title or tour title, leave this field blank and a default title will automatically be created from the band list.

"Venue" Field  

The venue name should be entered exactly as the official venue name at the time of the concert, including the correct capitalization, punctuation, or "The". For example:

  • "Crystal Ballroom" is correct because that's the official name. "The Crystal Ballroom" or "The Crystal" are incorrect.

The official name is determined by how they list their name on their official channels. Their channels are prioritized by:

  1. Their official website
  2. Their official social media accounts

If the venue has changed it's name, use the official name at the time the concert took place. For example:

  • The Spectrum in Philadelphia changed it's name several times. If the concert took place in the year 2000, you would enter "First Union Spectrum" to reflect it's official name at that time. If the concert took place in the year 2005, you would enter "Wachovia Spectrum". (We have plans to be able to group name variations in the future so that concerts and stats won't be split among different name listings.)

Venues Located within, at, or on Larger Campuses, Casinos, Complexes, or Other Venues

For venues located within, at, or on a larger campus, casino, complex, or other venue, include the full name of the smaller venue followed by a comma and the name of the larger institution. For example:

There may be times when a venue is located within a larger building which is also located within a larger institution. In these cases, include the smallest venue first, followed by the larger building, followed by the largest institution. For example:

"Location" Field  

This is the city, state, and country where the concert took place. It is not a specific address. Locations should be formated as "City, State, Country". For example:

  • "Portland, Oregon, United States"
  • "Melbourne, Victoria, Australia"
  • "Washington, D.C., United States"
  • "London, England, United Kingdom"

Location data is standardized using the location database Geonames.org. During the concert creation process, you may be asked to verify the location data you entered. Select the "Verified" location that matches your location when possible (even if it isn't formatted exactly as above). If none of the "Verified" locations are a match, select a location without the "Verified" badge.

Special Cases:

Livestream concerts should have a location of "ONLINE".

Cruise ship concerts should have a location of "OCEAN".

"Notes" Field  

The 'Notes' field should only contain facts about the concert. Examples include (but are not limited to):

  • Notable moments (such as "The power went out so they played accoustic.")
  • Ticket price
  • Time
  • Setlists

Personal notes (like who you went with, reviews, etc), should not be included in this field. Those can be posted as a Comment on the concert page.

"Advanced Options" Section  

  • "This concert was cancelled" Checkbox: if the concert was officially cancelled and didn't happen, check this box. Once the box is check, another option will appear: "URL of rescheduled concert (optional)". If the concert was rescheduled, enter the Concert Archives URL to that concert in this field.
  • "Show the concert title & bands in concert listings" Checkbox: Where there are listings of multiple concerts on a page, selecting this option will include the Concert Title and the Band List in the listing. If this box is not selected, only the Concert Title will be shown. This option is useful when a Concert Title or Tour Title has been entered.
  • "Don't show setlists from Setlist.fm" Checkbox: Concert Archives attempts to pull setlists for the concert from Setlist.fm. Sometimes Setlist.fm includes the wrong setlist though, so selecting this option will disable the setlist(s) from Setlist.fm from appearing on the concert page.
  • "Refresh the setlists from Setlist.fm" Checkbox: This option will check Setlist.fm for new/updated setlists for the concert. This option only appears when editing a concert.

If you have questions or feedback about these guidelines, please email [email protected].

Updated on July 20, 2023

As Seen On:

  • Reuters
  • The Guardian
  • The New York Times
  • Newsweek
  • Buzzfeed
  • Pitchfork