If it isn't on Discogs yet, is it better to wait?

[MadhattanJack]

This is probably a dumb question, but it seems like there's been an increase in the number of just-released new albums appearing on Bandcamp lately without corresponding Discogs entries — or rather, the Discogs entry doesn't appear until several days, or even weeks, after the release date. (I assume this is because everyone is getting tired of the Internet in general these days, or maybe they're just offended by Discogs' new "beta" interface.)

I know BEA prefers that there be a Discogs entry, so is the preferred procedure to wait until it's on Discogs? Or should I just add new albums and hope for the best? (And also, is an AllMusic entry as good as a Discogs entry, in terms of verification?)

[albummaster]

Not a dumb question at all. An album doesn't need to be on Discogs prior to being added here. BEA often uses Discogs as a reference because their data is backed up by physical copies etc, which makes verification easier (Discogs is normally 99% correct, but occasionally there is the odd error). Other sites are also reliable, AllMusic being one of those.

Ideally, a release should exist on one or more reliable external sites before it's added here (for verification), but if a new release has been freshly announced that's not always possible. Bandcamp is normally fairly reliable, so as long as the track list is announced (and fits BEA minimum length requirements) and there's a release date within 90 days, it should be OK to be listed here.