[Data-modeling] Usage of Pseudonym type

[Jeff Prucher]

The soundtrack issue is an interesting one. It's fairly common for
soundtracks of musicals and operas to only list the character(s) doing the
singing, sometimes with a cast list elsewhere in the liner notes, sometimes
not. But I wouldn't go so far as to say that, for example, on the soundtrack
for the London production of The Sound of Music, the song "So Long,
Farewell" is performed by a band called "Children" ( which presumably
consists of the seven actors playing those roles) even though that is how
it's credited. So I think there has to be a limit to how strict we are about
this sort of thing.  (As a complete aside, it's also fairly common for
MusicBrainz to credit the composer with the track performances, so on their
entry for the 1957 B'way cast recording of West Side Story, it appears that
Bernstein actually performed all the roles -- quite a feat! I wonder how he
did the harmonies on "Somewhere"?)

That said, I don't think that fictional characters should never also be
pseudonyms. Take the case of Father Guido Sarducci, a character played by
Don Novello on SNL (and elsewhere). Novello has released at least two comedy
albums as by Sarducci, and I think that treating the character as a
pseudonym in these cases is the only thing that makes sense. I suspect that
the Borat case is similar.

Jeff

> -----Original Message-----
> From: data-modeling-bounces at freebase.com 
> [mailto:data-modeling-bounces at freebase.com] On Behalf Of 
> Christopher R. Maden
> Sent: Tuesday, January 15, 2008 6:14 PM
> To: Freebase data modeling mailing list
> Subject: Re: [Data-modeling] Usage of Pseudonym type
> 
> Faye Li wrote:
> > Is the Pseudonym Type used here purely to indicate a recorded 
> > performance in character, such as a movie soundtrack?
> 
> That's one use.
> 
> The main goal here is to satisfy different user needs.  So 
> enchanted with Sacha Cohen's mellifluous voice, I may want to 
> find every song he has recorded.  But music nerds and big 
> fans want to know how the track was actually credited, so we 
> need to have Borat or Ali G in there somewhere too.
> 
> It's not just for fictional entities; people want to know 
> about all of John Mellencamp's work, including the stuff he 
> recorded as Johnny Cougar.  In writing, people want to know 
> about Isaac Asimov writing as Paul French; but when a 
> fictional character writes a book (like Laura Palmer), we 
> want to know who really wrote as well as how it was credited.
> 
> ~Chris
> --
> Christopher R. Maden
> Data Architect
> Metaweb Technologies, Inc.
> <URL: http://www.metaweb.com/ >
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