All rules for Songs

Include sources for non-obvious additions or changes. Edits by verified artists are considered authoritative information and do not need to be further sourced.

(Applies to all entries)

Do not add incorrect information.

(Applies to all entries)

Do not remove information in a way that’s not in line with the content removal guidelines.

Clearly incorrect information and out-of-scope entries can usually be removed, however it is typically best to make an entry report first.

(Applies to all entries)

Do not create duplicate entries.

”Duplicate” artist entries are allowed for separate artist personas.

(Applies to all entries)

Do not duplicate information between fields or different entries.

Some data duplication is allowed if there are significant upsides in usability.

(Applies to all entries)

Use the correct entry fields when adding information. For example, do not put lyrics in the entry description.

(Applies to all entries)

All entries require a name.

If all the primary names are whitespace, add the Untitled tag.

(Applies to all entries)

Missing names should not to be copied from the other two fields.

(Applies to all entries)

Demo and work in progress (WIP) songs/albums should not be added, unless:

• The song is part of a valid album entry
• The song is a voicebank demo

Teasers that are different from the actual songs that they promote are allowed (example).

(Applies to all song & album entries)

Song entries for AI generated songs (AI generated music or AI generated uncontrolled vocal synthesis) are not allowed. Songs made with Suno for example.

(Applies to all song entries)

Songs without voice-synth vocals (vocaloid/utau/cevio/etc.) should not be added, unless:

• The song is part of an album entry.
• The song has at least 5 voice-synth covers (these can be added as cover unifier entries).

(Applies to all song entries)

Song entries where the main producer is listed under forbidden artists should not be added.

(Applies to all song & artist entries)

Song entries should include a PVs, external link, description or be part of an album entry.

(Applies to all song entries)

Some websites have a separate URL for pages meant to be viewed on mobile:

• https://m.youtube.com
• https://sp.nicovideo.jp/

Always prefer adding the desktop version of the link.

(Applies to all entries)

Direct download links (on any field) to media files (such as .mp3 or .flac) and links to file-hosting services (such as Google Drive or Dropbox) are not allowed, even if they’re legal. If the content is officially distributed, link the artist’s page (e.g., on Piapro or a blog) instead.

File sharing website links are only allowed if the website supports user profile pages, and the user (uploader) page is directly navigable from the download link page (https://piapro.jp/ links for example). In other cases the download link location should be mentioned in the entry description instead.

(Applies to all entries)

Do not add email links.

(Applies to all entries)

When adding external links, remove extraneous URL elements (usually after ? or &). More on #1765.

(Applies to all entries)

Use the correct link category.

Link categories are available for the main entry types (songs, albums and artists).

• Official = Links to content that the artist can directly control.
• Commercial = Official links that include commercial features (such as album/song purchase).
• Reference = Unofficial reference, such as wiki article.
• Other = Other unofficial and useful links that do not directly reference the entry.

(Applies to all song & album & artist entries)

Adding tag votes to objective tags is redundant, unless there is a need to highlight the tag.

(Applies to all entries)

Do not add machine translated/romanized titles or lyrics.

Official translations are accepted in any case.

(Applies to all entries)

Translations should be correct. Do not attempt to translate if you do not know the language well enough.

Official translations are accepted in any case.

(Applies to all entries)

Separate all words and particles with spaces when romanizing.

(Applies to all entries)

For Pinyin, separate each character with a space when romanizing.

Special names and proper nouns are kept together.

(Applies to all entries)

Capitalize all words that are NOT single kana particles (は、が、を、etc).

• E.g. 歌に形はないけれど would be romanized as ‘Uta ni Katachi wa Nai Keredo’.

(Applies to all entries)

Do not use macrons for long vowels.

• こおり is romanized as ‘koori’, not ‘kōri’.

(Applies to all entries)

If ん is followed by a vowel (including や・ゆ・よ), romanize it as n’.

• E.g. してやんよ would be romanized as “Shiteyan’yo’“.

(Applies to all entries)

は (ha) is romanized as ‘wa’ if it is used after a noun as a topic marker.

• E.g. 恋は戦争 would be romanized as ‘Koi wa Sensou’, the は is not part of a word and functions as a particle.

(Applies to all entries)

づ is romanized as ‘dzu’.

(Applies to all entries)

を (wo) is romanized as ‘o’ if it is used after a noun as a direct object particle.

• E.g. 地球最後の告白を would be romanized as ‘Chikyuu Saigo no Kokuhaku o’.

(Applies to all entries)

へ (he) is romanized as ‘e’ if it is used after the name of a place to indicate direction as a particle.

• E.g. 駆ける、星空の彼方へ would be romanized as ‘Kakeru, Hoshizora no Kanata e’, the へ is not part of a word and functions as a particle.

(Applies to all entries)

Use the same order as the original Japanese name for romanizations.

Usually this is “Lastname Firstname”.

(Applies to all entries)

Loanwords are romanized into their original language.

• コーヒー would be romanized as ‘coffee’.

(Applies to all entries)

Use a dash with honorific suffixes on names when romanizing.

• お姉さん would be romanized as ‘Onee-san’.

(Applies to all entries)

If the entire name is composed of loanwords, leave the romanized name field empty. Use the translated name field instead.

(Applies to all entries)

Ai-assisted tools are not allowed for audio transcription, as they are extremely inaccurate with languages like Japanese and Chinese and even more so with Vocaloid.

(Applies to all entries)

All album and song entries require at least one artist credit (custom or a proper entry).

• Use the entry Unknown producer(s) if necessary.

(Applies to all song & album & artist entries)

Do not add artist entries for forbidden artists.

Additionally, do not add song or album entries for forbidden artists if they are the main producer.

(Applies to all artist & song & album entries)

Artist entries for voicebanks created through any of the following methods are not allowed:

1. The use of unlicensed, leaked, or otherwise illicitly obtained development kits
2. Generated from existing voices without explicit consent from the author or appropriate terms of use.

Song credits should be added with the “custom artist” feature along with the unofficial voicebank/Jinriki tag. It is possible to further specify the methods used by tagging the song with the relevant child of the imported voicebank tag or with the VOCALOID V3 Developer Kit tag.

For example, a voicebank made with the VOCALOID V3 Developer Kit would fall under the first case, and most RVC models (besides those that have consent) would fall under the second. Note that some voicebanks, for example, Adachi Rei, have permissive licenses that freely allow for derivative creation, so consent is already granted.

(Applies to all song & artist entries)

Tag the artist with the secondary artist types when appropriate.

For example, if an Animation producer (artist type) is responsible for the lyrics (as a role), the artist entry should be tagged with the lyricist tag.

(Applies to all song & artist entries)

If the main artist or song is tagged with do not reupload, do not add any reprint links to their songs.

(Applies to all song & artist entries)

Duplicating the album event(s) on its song entries is redundant, unless the song has a separate PV release.

(Applies to all song & album & event entries)

If the original is replaced by the remaster, it’s unnecessary to create a separate entry for the original if the original audio is unavailable and the remaster is uploaded within a month. The remaster can use the “original song” type.

(Applies to all song entries)

The Other song type is for album tracks that do not belong to any other song type.

• For example, Commentary.

(Applies to all song & album entries)

If multiple original versions apply, choose the most relevant entry and mention the rest in the entry description.

Entry tree structure should be immutable and sorted by publish dates.

(Applies to all song entries)

If the out-of-scope original version has 5 or more derived song entries (such as remixes or covers) on VocaDB, it can be created as a cover unifier song entry.

Cover unifier artists (out-of-scope) should be credited as “custom artists” (no entry). The Temporary artist entry can be used to bypass the creation form.

(Applies to all song entries)

• Original = Authorized content uploaded by a party with rights to both audio and video.
• Reprint = A PV copied from another service and uploaded by a party unrelated to the original artist. Identical to the original upload.
• Other = Subtitled PVs or Music PVs that can be considered low-effort. The audio lenght should match in any case.

(Applies to all song entries)

Song entries should not be created based on unpublished YouTube premieres.

• Adding links that have not yet premiered to existing song entries is fine, as long as the song entry has some other playable link.

(Applies to all song entries)

Do not mark region-blocked PVs as “Unavailable”, unless the PV is region blocked everywhere.

(Applies to all song entries)

Always leave a source for the lyrics. If transcribed/translated by yourself, mention that instead.

If the lyric source is missing, locate it before modifying the lyrics. See a list of websites where to look for lyrics. If the source can’t be found, create an entry report for the missing source and use a credit like “Unknown (fixed by user2)“.

(Applies to all song entries)

When crediting a derived voicebank based on hearing, Hatsune Miku Append (Soft) for example, tag the entry with “unconfirmed vocalists” or document the source in the edit notes.

(Applies to all song entries)

Original PV is authorized content uploaded by a party with rights to both audio and video.

Usually, this is the artist themselves or someone uploading on their behalf. If this is the case, and it’s not obvious how the upload was authorized, please clarify this in the edit notes.

Usually there is one original PV per service (Niconico, Youtube, …).

(Applies to all song entries)

When an original PV is deleted (or hidden by the author, or unavailable worldwide), mark it as “unavailable” instead of removing the link.

You can check the availability using the YouTube region restriction checker.

(Applies to all song entries)

Reprint is a PV copied from another service and uploaded by a party unrelated to the original artist.

It should be identical to the original (music, vocals, length, and video). If any of these are changed, use the “Other” type, or create another (music PV) entry if appropriate.

(Applies to all song entries)

Other PV is for subtitled PVs or PVs modified from the original that don’t justify a new entry.

• Audio should still be the same as the original.

For some songs, only “Other” type PVs may exist, where an authorized/official PV is not available. This is common for album-only songs.

(Applies to all song entries)

Sensitive personal information should not be shared in entries or user profiles.

(Applies to all entries)

Official romanizations do not need to follow VocaDB’s romanization guidelines.

In this case the official romanization tag is required.

(Applies to all entries)

For original songs with faint vocals that are almost fully instrumental, use the faint vocals tag.

(Applies to all song entries)

Unofficial music PVs with only out-of-scope characters are allowed if the video has at least 100k views.

(Applies to all song entries)

If the main artist or song is tagged with no lyrics allowed, do not add any lyrics to their songs.

(Applies to all song & artist entries)

The description should be objective and neutral.

(Applies to all finished entries)

Original language field should not be “unspecified”.

(Applies to all finished entries)

Original name (= default name language) should match with the given primary name, unless tagged with untitled.

(Applies to all finished entries)

The official romanization and/or translation should be prioritized even if it’s against VocaDB’s romanization guidelines.

(Applies to all finished entries)

Entry subtype must be specified for album, artist & song entries.

(Applies to all finished song & album & artist entries)

Merge from lower entry status to higher entry status, or from newer to older entry.

(Applies to all finished entries)

New non-English title translations should not be added without a good reason.

For example, the song entry ECHO should not receive new name/title translations.

Acceptable exceptions:

• Translation is used somewhere elsewhere (add for improved searchability).
• Translation is related to the original name (additional context/value). For example, マトリョシカ is from the Russian word “Матрёшка”, but is also known by its Romanized form “Matryoshka”.

(Applies to all finished entries)

The “custom track” feature (no song entry) should only be used for out-of-scope tracks made by out-of-scope artists. Secret Sky 2020 (DJ Mix) for example.

(Applies to all finished song & album & artist entries)

Content-based artist/album tags should only be used if a sizable portion of the album/artist’s songs are tagged.

A parent tag can also be used if the song entries are tagged with more specific child tags.

(Applies to all finished song & album & artist entries)

Support status is for crediting artists who play a minor role compared to the main artists in the same role. It should only be used when there’s a clear separation of main and support artists. If there is only one artist in a certain role, the support status should never be used.

Valid examples:

• Backing vocals, e.g., a background chorus when the main vocals are sung by another vocalist.
• Background illustrators (to distinguish them from the main illustrator).

Support status can’t currently be specified to a specific artist role. For example, if a song composer is also responsible for the background image, the support status should not be used.

Effects of support status:

1. Support status removes the artist(s) from the artist string and affects the search through the “Only main songs” filter.

2. Artists with support status never appear in the “artist string” of the song/album.

3. Support artists are shown in parentheses and after all other artists.

(Applies to all finished song & album & artist entries)

Artist credits in the “producer” category must be made with artist entries.

• If the name of the producer is unknown, use the entry Unknown producer(s).

(Applies to all finished song & album entries)

Artist type specifies the most common role that the artist participates in, with some overrides.

• Music producer overrides cover artist if they have at least one composed/arranged song entry.
• Verified artists can request changing the chosen artist type.

The available artist roles are limited and serve as approximations.

• For example, the person responsible for the song image should be credited with the “illustrator” role, even if it’s technically something else (e.g., photographer).

(Applies to all finished song & artist entries)

Song entries should include the earliest public publish date:

• Video streaming services such as NicoNicoDouga and YouTube.
• Distributing the song on a physical album at a record store or event.
• Digital album on a marketplace such as iTunes, Spotify, Apple Music, etc..

Private distribution does not count. Work in progress versions also do not count.

If the song is deleted and then reuploaded, the publish date does not change. It’s still the date when the song was first made public.

If the field is empty, the publish date is automatically suggested based on the album and PV links.

(Applies to all finished song entries)

The title section should only contain the name of the song, except for Remix and Remaster entries: https://wiki.vocadb.net/rules/keep-remix-titles

• Vocalists, song type, producers, etc. should all be removed.

(Applies to all finished song entries)

Remix entries should keep the long title.

For example: Plug Out (HSP 2012 Remix)

• Remove clear non-title parts (e.g., original artist credit).
• Remove the vocalist’s name if it is separate from the rest of the title.
• Remove the song type if it is separate from the rest of the title.

The same applies for Remaster songs.

(Applies to all finished song entries)

The specified BPM should be within the valid range (20-1050).

(Applies to all finished song entries)

Video descriptions should not be added in the description field.

(Applies to all finished song entries)

Derived songs should either:

• Specify the Original version field.
• Refer (as an external link) to the original entry on UtaiteDB, if available. This will display it as the “Original version” along with automatic metadata.
• Include the original out of scope tag.
• Include the original version unknown tag.

(Applies to all finished song entries)

If original out of scope tag is included, the original version should be:

• specified in the song description AND/OR
• included as an external link (required for UtaiteDB originals).

(Applies to all finished song entries)

Song language should match the language of the original lyrics.

(Applies to all finished song entries)

If multiple song types apply, add them as tags.

(Applies to all finished song entries)

Original songs (“オリジナル曲” in Japanese) are songs that have completely original content and aren’t based on other songs.

The original song is the version of the song that was published first. Later versions are considered derivatives regardless of who made them.

For original instrumental (album) songs, use the original song type with the instrumental tag. The instrumental song type is for instrumental versions of original songs.

(Applies to all finished song entries)

Original songs without vocals require the instrumental tag.

(Applies to all finished song entries)

Exclude vocalist credits for off-vocal/karaoke songs that have background/harmony vocals, as these are already credited in the original entry.

(Applies to all finished song entries)

A remix is a variant of an original recording, often in a different genre.

Remixes may or may not involve recording new music, often using samples from the original.

(Applies to all finished song & artist entries)

Entries tagged with live recording should use the remix song type.

(Applies to all finished song entries)

Entries tagged with extended version should use the remix song type.

(Applies to all finished song entries)

A Cover (カバー曲) is a re-recorded version of a song, usually by a different artist.

In the voice synth world, covers often use a different voicebank while keeping the instrumentals intact.

Self-cover tag is for songs where the original artist covered their own song.

Songs with (only) changed lyrics or added lyrics should be marked as covers.

Note that cover entries tagged with out of scope arrangement sound instrumentally different from the base entry.

(Applies to all finished song & artist entries)

A remaster or remake (“修正版” or “リマスター版” in Japanese) is an improved version of a song.

A remaster should differ from the original only in terms of mastering, though this term is interpreted loosely in the Vocaloid world. If the new version is significantly different, the remaster song type should not be used.

(Applies to all finished song entries)

The Music PV type is used for remarkable PVs of (usually original) songs, whether created by the original producer (any PV style) or someone else (with in-scope characters.).

(Applies to all finished song entries)

If the remarkable official music PV has the same length as the original entry AND if the original entry has no official upload (album track for example), reuse the original entry.

(Applies to all finished song & album entries)

New Music PV -entries should not be created for unofficial low-effort PVs. These can be added as Other PVs to the original entry instead, if the song length matches.

(Applies to all finished song entries)

Mashups are songs made by blending two or more songs together.

Songs that mix multiple covers of the same song together (joining multiple vocal tracks) should be labeled as covers.

(Applies to all finished song entries)

Specify all the original versions in the song description.

(Applies to all finished song entries)

A medley is a special case of mashup where songs are played one after another, possibly with overlap.

Unless the medley is an original song, use the Mashup song type.

(Applies to all finished song entries)

• Mashup/Remix/Remaster > Cover > Music PV

(Applies to all finished song entries)

VocaDB song type classifications should be prioritized over official labels.

(Applies to all finished song entries)

Voice synth songs that include both an official voice synth version and an official human-sung version (out-of-scope) should be tagged with simultaneous upload if the publish dates are less than a week apart.

• In this case the entry should be marked as Original song.

• Specify the human-sung version in the song description or external links with its publish date.

• If the human-sung version is published more than a week before the voice synth version, mark the song as “cover” with the self-cover tag instead.

• These rules do not apply if both songs have entries on VocaDB.

(Applies to all finished song entries)

Original version should be the entry with the earliest publish date.

If multiple versions of a song are uploaded simultaneously, it doesn’t generally matter which is picked as the original version.

(Applies to all finished song entries)

All PVs in the song entry should have the same audio and roughly the same song length.

Unrelated intros and outros are an exception to this.

(Applies to all finished song entries)

If the original artist is not directly involved with the derived version, the artist credit should not be duplicated from the original entry.

(Applies to all finished song & artist entries)

If the song has multiple producers, specify the roles if available: Composer, Arranger & Voice Manipulator.

(Applies to all finished song entries)

The general minimum criteria for marking additional languages is to count whether there are two or more full lines in the additional language.

(Applies to all finished song entries)

Lyrics can be modified without creating new lyrics, as long as the modification is mentioned in the source:

• External source: “From MikuWiki” -> “From MikuWiki (edited by user2)”

(Applies to all finished song entries)

Large lyric edits require creating new lyrics.

(Applies to all finished song entries)

Circle can be credited if credited directly OR if all the active members participate in the song.

Note that the songs by the circle/group can be searched with the “Include group members” filter.

(Applies to all finished song entries)

If the album/song includes in-scope vocals, and if the vocalist is uncredited, the artist entry Unknown vocalist(s) can be used.

• The entry Unknown vocal synth(s) or any of its derived artist entries can also be used to further narrow down the vocalist.

(Applies to all finished song & album & artist entries)

If the specific voicebank is only partially credited, there are two options depending which piece of information is omitted:

• “Kamui Gakupo V4” = “V4 Kamui Gakupo (Unknown)"

• "Kamui Gakupo (Power)” = “V3 Kamui Gakupo (Power)“

Always credit the earliest “Gakupo Power” bank (V3 instead of V4) along with the “unspecified voicebank version” -tag.

(Applies to all finished song & artist entries)

Song language should match one of the voicebank languages, unless the song is tagged with unsupported language.

(Applies to all finished artist & song entries)

When the vocalist sounds different from the base-version but no further guess exists, the unspecified voicebank tag can be used.

The base voicebank should be credited.

(Applies to all finished song entries)

For derived songs, credit out-of-scope original artists in the song description (example), unless an original version has been specified as a song entry (cover unifier for example).

(Applies to all finished song entries)

If a song-3 is derived from out-of-scope song-2, which in turn is derived from in-scope song-1, you can specify the song-1 as the original version for song-3.

• The skipped version (song-2) should be mentioned in song-3’s entry description.
• The relevant tag out-of-scope arrangement should also be added.

(Applies to all finished song entries)

The Instrumental song type is used for instrumental versions of songs, where a non-instrumental version with vocals is the original. AKA off-vocal or karaoke.

Instrumental versions of songs are accepted only as part of album entries. They should be the same as the original version, excluding vocals. If otherwise different, use the remix or cover types with the instrumental tag.

(Applies to all finished song entries)

Drama PVs focus on story instead of music, often made with MMD software. They should feature a voice synth character to be accepted on VocaDB.

• Drama PVs should be self-made/self-directed stories.
• Copying memes, TV shows or movie scenes are usually not considered drama PVs.

(Applies to all finished song entries)

If the voice is only credited by the character name and not further specified, the default choice in most cases should be the base voicebank. In some cases they are labeled with the text “unknown”.

• Hatsune Miku = Hatsune Miku
• Otomachi Una = Otomachi Una (Unknown)

There are some exceptions where the base voicebank should be avoided. For example, Japanese “Xin Hua” songs should be credited with the V4 Japanese voicebank, since the base voicebank is Chinese.

• ”Xin Hua” = “Xin Hua V4 Japanese (Unknown)”

(Applies to all finished artist & album & song entries)

Self-remix tag is for songs where the original artist remixed their own song.

(Applies to all finished song entries)

Entries tagged with short version should use the remix song type.

(Applies to all finished song entries)

Approved album and song entries should include the romanized title (if applicable).

(Applies to all approved song & album entries)

Approved album and song entries should include the translated title (if applicable).

(Applies to all approved song & album entries)

Approved album and song entries should include all the credited artists in accordance with other crediting rules.

(Applies to all approved song & album & artist entries)

Approved song entries should include lyrics if available.

no lyrics tag can be included instead.

(Applies to all approved song entries)