Flag for EPs - Suggestions - Forums : Best Ever Albums

wizardalien

Gender: Male
Age: 30
Location: United Kingdom

Wondering if it would be useful to have a flag for EPs, in the same way there is a flag for compilations and live albums? as some people (like me) would want to differentiate between EPs and full length LPs (as I also would for comps and live albums). is this something that has been considered before?

MadhattanJack
I mean, metal is okay, but...

Gender: Male

wizardalien wrote:

Wondering if it would be useful to have a flag for EPs, in the same way there is a flag for compilations and live albums? as some people (like me) would want to differentiate between EPs and full length LPs (as I also would for comps and live albums). is this something that has been considered before?

Unfortunately, there doesn't seem to be a simple "yes or no" answer to that question... Think

There are lots of threads here that mention the "EP issue," but the definitive thread is probably this one from 2012. Generally speaking, BEA wants to discourage people from adding EPs (or maxi-singles, or box sets) in the first place, and my guess is everyone assumed that having a special flag for them might have been taken as an invitation to add them without limit or restraint. Some of the members at the time suggested a compromise, namely to try and get people to always add the letters "EP" at the end of the EP's title (even if that wasn't part of the "formal" title). But it doesn't look like anybody went for that idea.

In practical terms, the problem is that some bands (i.e., Radiohead) have really rabid fans who want to be able to include absolutely everything in their discographies in charts. So those bands have their EPs listed while most other bands don't, but I guess most people don't mind so much because it's extremely rare for any band's EPs to have higher ranks than their albums, even if they sold more copies or whatever.

albummaster
Janitor

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Location: Spain
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MadhattanJack wrote:

Unfortunately, there doesn't seem to be a simple "yes or no" answer to that question... Think

There are lots of threads here that mention the "EP issue," but the definitive thread is probably this one from 2012. Generally speaking, BEA wants to discourage people from adding EPs (or maxi-singles, or box sets) in the first place, and my guess is everyone assumed that having a special flag for them might have been taken as an invitation to add them without limit or restraint. Some of the members at the time suggested a compromise, namely to try and get people to always add the letters "EP" at the end of the EP's title (even if that wasn't part of the "formal" title). But it doesn't look like anybody went for that idea.

In practical terms, the problem is that some bands (i.e., Radiohead) have really rabid fans who want to be able to include absolutely everything in their discographies in charts. So those bands have their EPs listed while most other bands don't, but I guess most people don't mind so much because it's extremely rare for any band's EPs to have higher ranks than their albums, even if they sold more copies or whatever.

Madhattenjack covers it, and the thread he linked is more than likely the best one in relation to this debate. BEA is an album site so all releases here are treated as 'albums', even if some are shorter than others. BEA normally copies the title as stated on the artwork, so if 'EP' is included in the title (and the release length qualifies it for BEA) then that's how some 'EPs' are included on the site.

Having a flag to indicate EPs has been discussed before, but is problematic mainly because the designation of 'EP' is subjective (sometimes assigned by the artist themselves but not clear enough in all cases to be easy to moderate/referee) and there are other release types to consider/ignore apart from EPs which makes adding this a bit of a Pandora's box with no big pay-off in terms of functionality.

wizardalien

Gender: Male
Age: 30
Location: United Kingdom

thankyou for the replies, i agree it is a difficult one. there are already lots of EPs on the site. but i think the rule you have where any new album added has to be over 20 minutes or over 5 tracks (can't quite remember the parameters) is very sensible. naturally some Eps will fall within those limits, others won't