---------------------------------
----==== Official.FLAC.Standard.Rules v2.0 ====----
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| INTRODUCTION |
| After half a year and with ruleset wording misinterpretations, it is time to |
| revise and add some rules. |
| |
| NOTE: The definitions of these keywords are to be interpreted as follows: |
| MUST=obligatory (release not allowed if rule not followed) |
| SHOULD=suggested (release allowed if not followed) |
| CAN+MAY=optional (release allowed if not followed) |
| |
| Unless clearly stated in a specific rule or note, capitalization in this|
| ruleset is considered as informative. |
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| GENERAL |
| 1.1 A release MUST contain an SFV, NFO, and JPG proof. |
| .1 A release MAY contain other relevant JPG files. |
| .2 A release MAY contain CUE and LOG files if it is from a CD source. |
| .3 Valid filetypes are: .cue, .flac, .jpg, .log, .m3u, .nfo and .sfv. |
| 1.2 Valid media sources are: BLURAY, CD, DVD, HDDVD and VINYL. |
| .1 A release MUST not mix sources. |
| 1.3 Trackfixes are not allowed, bad quality rips require a complete repack |
| and MUST include ADDITIONAL type tag: -REPACK- or -RERIP- (rule 4.6). |
| 1.4 The following are reasons for a bad quality rip: |
| .1 One or more tracks from the release are incomplete or contain skips. |
| .2 The tracks are distorted and constantly clipping (eg. vinyl rips). |
| .3 The tracks contain a constant hiss which was avoidable (eg. vinyl |
| rips). |
| .4 Low sound, mono rips (from stereo sources) and other factors easily |
| heard by the human ear. |
| 1.5 The maximum directory and filename length is 128 characters. Directories |
| and filenames must only contain valid characters: a-z A-Z 0-9 _ . - () |
| 1.6 All CD releases (including mixed CD's / e.g. DJ-Mixes) MUST be ripped |
| as separated tracks according to the TOC (Table Of Contents) on the CD. |
| The only occasion where a CD is released as one single track is when |
| there is only one track on the CD. |
| NOTE: Lossless data compression excludes the possibility of the introduction |
| of padding, all lossless audio file formats are inherently gapless. |
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| DUPES |
| 2.1 A release MUST include all audio tracks. Releasing just the bonus tracks |
| or some other subset of tracks is not allowed. Similarly, a BONUS DISC |
| cannot be released by itself, but must be released as a complete release.|
| 2.2 A release MUST not be identical to a previous release, except |
| ADVANCE/PROMO releases (Rule 7.2). |
| 2.3 A release is not identical to a previous release if: |
| .1 The previous version has a different mastering. |
| .2 The previous version has a different tracklist. |
| .3 The previous version has a different version of a track. |
| 2.4 A release MUST not be a collection of discs that have already all been |
| individually released. For example, releasing a 2CD that combines a |
| CD and EP after they have both been indivually released is not allowed. |
| Likewise, a boxset of albums cannot be released if each album has |
| already been indivually released. |
| 2.5 A release MUST not have all its tracks included in one previous release. |
| Examples: a CDS cannot be released after a CDM that includes all the |
| tracks on the CDS. An album cannot be released after a boxset that |
| includes all the tracks from that same album. A CDM or EP cannot be |
| released after a release has been reissued with all tracks. |
| 2.6 All sources MUST follow the above dupe rules as well as the following |
| source specific rules: |
| .1 BLURAY can dupe any other source, except HDDVD. |
| .2 HDDVD can dupe any other source, except BLURAY. |
| .3 CD can dupe any other source, except BLURAY and HDDVD. |
| .4 DVD cannot dupe any other source. |
| .5 VINYL cannot dupe any other source. |
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| ENCODING |
| 3.1 A release MUST be encoded using FLAC 1.2.1 (no alphas and betas allowed) |
| .1 A release MUST be encoded using --compression-level-8 option. |
| .2 A release SHOULD be encoded using --verify option. |
| .3 A release MUST NOT be encoded using --replay-gain or any kind of |
| option that changes the audio source quality. |
| 3.2 Encoding quality must be: |
| 44.100 Hz / 16 bit LPCM (2.0) for CD. |
| 96.000 Hz / 24 bit LPCM (2.0) for VINYL sources. |
| 3.3 DVD encoding quality: |
| .1 Only LPCM uncompressed audio source is allowed. |
| .2 Channels, Bits per Sample and Sample Frequency, must be kept. |
| .3 A DVD release must contain all music tracks. Additional tracks (clips,|
| interviews etc.) are optional. If those extra tracks are not included |
| then a proper (with ALL tracks) or an additional release (extra tracks|
| only) is not allowed. |
| .4 The nfo file MUST contain the following source information: |
| - Codec (LPCM) |
| - Bitrate (640kbps, 768kbps, 1536kbps...) |
| - Number of channels (Stereo, 5.1, ...) |
| 3.4 HDDVD/BLURAY encoding: |
| .1 Highest audio source must be used. |
| .2 Channels, Bits per Sample and Sample Frequency, must be kept. |
| .3 Audio source choice priority from highest bitrate is: |
| - DTS-HD Master Audio |
| - Dolby TrueHD |
| - LPCM |
| .4 HDDVD/BLURAY video clip releases should be ripped as multiple tracks, |
| (eg: like any regular Compilation CD release). |
| .5 HDDVD/BLURAY releases with multiple files, but all belonging to the |
| same playlist index, must be encoded together in the same order the |
| playlist index file indicates. |
| .6 HDDVD/BLURAY releases must contain all music tracks. Additional tracks|
| (clips, interviews etc.) are optional. If those extra tracks are not |
| included then a proper (with ALL tracks) or an additional release |
| (extra tracks only) is not allowed. |
| .7 The nfo file MUST contain the following source information: |
| - Codec (DTS-HD Master Audio, Dolby TrueHD, LPCM) |
| - Bitrate (640kbps, 768kbps, 1536kbps...) |
| - Number of channels (Stereo, 5.1, 7.1) |
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| RELEASE NAME |
| 4.1 The tag -FLAC- MUST be in uppercase in the release name and always |
| before -YEAR- and -GROUP tags. |
| 4.2 Release name MUST contain at least: Artist, Title, Source, Year, Group. |
| .1 ARTIST tag means performer, band, musician. Must be a unique name. |
| (ie. no OST in place of artist). |
| If not possible to identify, the word "Unknown" can be used. |
| Compilations (eg: Soundtracks, Samplers) with various artists must use|
| the word "VA" at ARTIST field. Various Artists is considered 4 or more|
| different artists with single songs. |
| .2 TITLE tag means the title of album. Must be a unique name. |
| (ie. no Self-titled). If not possible to identify, the word "Unknown" |
| can be used. (Self name artist title MUST not be considered an unknown|
| title). |
| 4.3 Using CATALOGUE number in a release name is optional but recommended. |
| 4.4 Valid SOURCE tags: (Uppercase letters MUST be used) |
| .1 BLURAY (eg. 2BLURAY, 3BLURAY, etc.) |
| .2 HDDVD (eg. 2HDDVD, 3HDDVD, etc.) |
| .3 CD, CDS, CDM, CDEP, MCD, CDR, CDRS, CDREP |
| (eg. 2CD, 3CDS, 4CDREP, 84x3INCH_CDS etc.) |
| .4 DVD (eg. 2DVD, 3DVD, etc.) |
| .5 VINYL, VLS, LP, MLP, EP, INCH_VINYL |
| (eg. 2VINYL, 3LP, 4INCH_VINYL, 3X5INCH_VINYL, 10x12INCH_VINYL etc.) |
| 4.5 TYPE describes the difference in tracks, tracklist or year of this |
| release compared to another version. Difference in tracks usually is: |
| length, mixing, mastering, recording, number of channels. Difference in |
| tracklist usually occurs with specific presses, at different countries, |
| with different artists or different/more tracks for the same release |
| title. Different year reports to reissue releases (refer to rule 4.10). |
| Some releases need to be identified from the normal ones due to their |
| source nature. (eg: soundtrack compilation, magazine bonus CD, etc). |
| Therefore valid allowed TYPE tags are: |
| - Advance, Promo, Retail, Bonus |
| - Mag, Magazine, Split, OST, Flexi, Audiobook |
| - Bootleg, Demo, Sampler, Whitelabel |
| - Reissue, Remastered, Unmastered |
| - <country> (eg: JP_Retail, US_Reissue) |
| - Ltd, Limited, Limited_Edition, Ltd_Edition |
| - Deluxe_Edition, Special_Edition, Digipak, Digipak_Edition |
| - Clean, Explicit |
| .1 TYPE can be a combination of the keywords featured in rule 4.5 using |
| the _ (underscore) space replacement. (eg. -Reissue_Limited_Edition-). |
| 4.6 Valid ADDITIONAL tags: (Uppercase MUST be used) |
| - DIRFIX, NFOFIX, PROPER, READNFO, REPACK, RERIP, REAL and CUEFIX. |
| .1 If an ADDITIONAL tag is used, the nfo MUST mention the release name |
| that it is replacing or updating. |
| .2 DIRFIX and NFOFIX are exempt from Rule 1.1. |
| 4.7 LANGUAGE (LANG) must follow the ccTLD identifiers (2-chars): |
| (Capitalized letters MUST be used) |
| http://www.iana.org/domains/root/db/ |
| 4.8 Mandatory release name formats: |
| - Artist-Title-SOURCE-FLAC-YEAR-GROUP |
| - Artist-Title-LANG-SOURCE-FLAC-YEAR-GROUP |
| - Artist-Title-LANG-TYPE-SOURCE-FLAC-YEAR-GROUP |
| - Artist-Title-(CATALOGUE)-LANG-ADDITIONAL-SOURCE-FLAC-YEAR-GROUP |
| - Artist-Title-(CATALOGUE)-LANG-TYPE-SOURCE-FLAC-YEAR-GROUP |
| - Artist-Title-(CATALOGUE)-LANG-ADDITIONAL-TYPE-SOURCE-FLAC-YEAR-GROUP |
| 4.8.1 Any spaces in ARTIST and TITLE should be replaced with _ (underscore). |
| If ARTIST or TITLE has . (dots) or - (dash), it is encouraged to be |
| kept as close as they appear on the cover/booklet/physical medium, |
| but they do not have to be nuked if not. |
| 4.9 .1 Internal releases must be tagged GRP_iNT or GRP_INT. |
| .2 Internal releases must follow FLAC ruleset. |
| .3 Internal releases must not dupe an existing one that is 732 days old |
| or newer. |
| 4.10 YEAR tag must be the year when the record company/artist published it. |
| For non original presses, the additional TYPE tagging MUST be applied. |
| (example: release originally released in 1990, but rip is from 2000 |
| reissue, correct year would be 2000, with additional TYPE tagging). |
| 4.11 LANGUAGE tag is MANDATORY for non english releases. |
| If the vocals are non-english and the majority of them are best described|
| using one TLD country code abbreviation, then the most appropriate |
| TLD SHOULD be chosen and MUST be used as a tag in the release name. |
| 4.12 Typos in releases where the TITLE and/or ARTIST name are in English ARE |
| NOT TOLERATED. The ADDITIONAL tag, DIRFIX must be used to fix a release |
| name typo (ref to rule 4.6). |
| .1 ARTIST and/or TITLE must not be translated to English from their |
| native language. English alphabet characters must be used to reflect |
| artist and/or title names (ref to rule 1.5). |
| |
| NOTE: |
| - CATALOGUE and TYPE are optional tags (except for Rule 4.10). When they are |
| used, they must be placed in the correct order. |
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| FILENAME |
| 5.1 Filename must at least contain: Track number, Track artist, Track title. |
| 5.2 All filenames (including SFV, NFO, JPG) MUST be lowercase. |
| 5.3 Track titles must be exactly the same as written on the backcover |
| tracklist containing all additional infos like featured artists or |
| remixers, if they are present, as long it does not exceed the maximum |
| filename length (see rule 1.5). |
| If additional information is shown at lyrics titles, inlay or cd |
| listing, it is encouraged to write them aswell. |
| NOTE: Typos are tolerated as long as they do not compromise the |
| readability of file names. If tracklist has changes, due to press |
| errors for example, it is encouraged to explain them in the .nfo |
| 5.4 Recommended filename formats: |
| - nr-artist-title.flac |
| - nr-artist-title_(remixer_or_featured_artist).flac |
| - a1-artist-title.flac |
| - b2-artist-title.flac |
| 5.5 Including -groupname in the filenames is allowed but not recommended. |
| 5.6 Repacked or reripped releases MUST include a -repack or -rerip suffix on |
| each .flac file. |
| 5.7 In VA releases actual artist name MUST be before song title. VA (Various |
| Artists) is not a valid artist (01-va-song_title is unacceptable). |
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| VORBIS TAGS |
| 6.1 FLAC files MUST only contain Vorbis comments and Vorbis comment field |
| names must be unique. For example, a FLAC file MUST not have two ARTIST |
| field names even though the specification supports this. |
| 6.2 All FLAC files MUST have the following Vorbis comment field names and |
| corresponding field contents: TRACKNUMBER, ARTIST, TITLE, ALBUM, GENRE, |
| and DATE (format: YYYY). |
| .1 All FLAC files SHOULD also have the following Vorbis comment field |
| names and corresponding field contents: TOTALTRACKS, DISCNUMBER and |
| TOTALDISCS. |
| .2 The "vendor_string" field of the VORBIS_COMMENT metadata block MUST |
| be present indicating the correct lib FLAC version. Be aware that some|
| software removes this field by default. |
| .3 For VA releases the ARTIST field contents MUST have the corresponding |
| artist name not "VA". |
| 6.3 The FLAC picture block (METADATA_BLOCK_PICTURE) must be empty. Any cover |
| or booklet scans MUST follow Rule 9.5 |
| 6.4 Vorbis comment field contents use UTF-8 character encoding to allow easy |
| representation of any language. It is recommended to use UTF-8 in field |
| contents to ensure accurate tagging. Filenames MUST follow Rule 1.5. |
| 6.5 The GENRE field content MUST be the same for all the files in a release |
| and it MUST be one of the genres listed in the id3 specification list: |
| http://www.id3.org/id3v2.3.0#line-1089 and the additional nullsoft |
| genres index number 125 onwards. namely: |
| Goa, Drum & Bass, Club House, Hardcore, Terror, Indie, BritPop, |
| Negerpunk, Polsk Punk, Beat, Christian Gangsta Rap, Heavy Metal, |
| Black Metal, Crossover, Contemporary Christian, Christian Rock, |
| Merengue, Salsa, Thrash Metal, Anime, JPop, Synthpop, Unknown. |
| NOTE: The genre "Psychadelic" was originally misspelled in the list and |
| therefore using the correct spelling of "Psychedelic" is not a |
| valid nuke reason. This typo was later fixed in the Nullsoft list. |
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| ADVANCE/PROMO |
| 7.1 An ADVANCE or PROMO is not available at retail and is usually labeled |
| with some variation of the words Advance and/or Promotional. Having a |
| release before its retail date does not automatically make it an ADVANCE.|
| 7.2 ADVANCE and PROMO releases can always be duped by any retail release even|
| if the tracks on both releases are identical. |
| 7.3 ADVANCE and PROMO releases with voice overs, silence, or cuts on tracks |
| are not allowed. |
+-------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| BOOTLEG |
| 8.1 A bootleg is a release or recording that was not officially released by |
| the artist or record company (unofficial / unlicensed recordings). |
| 8.2 Conditions for bootleg releases are: |
| - There are no signs that the record company really released it. |
| - The artist or record company did not confirm the release as valid. |
| - The record company has no connection to the artist on the release. |
| - The record company does not exist and the release not self-released. |
| - The release is not available at at least three retail stores. |
| 8.3 Currently valid retail stores (alphabetic order): |
| - www.amazon.com |
| - www.boomkat.com |
| - www.bestbuy.com |
| - www.cduniverse.com |
| - www.decks.de |
| - www.deejay.de |
| - www.hmv.com |
| - www.juno.co.uk |
| - www.sonymusicstore.com |
| - www.virgin.com |
| - www.ukdancerecords.com |
| - www.walmart.com |
| NOTE: The shop itself must sell the record, no private sellers. |
| 8.4 Due to their unofficial nature, bootlegs might carry audio defects |
| (ei. skips, glitches, etc). If these audio defects are identified at nfo |
| then a release cannot be considered invalid until there is a valid one |
| (ei. proper release clean of audio defects). |
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| PROOF |
| 9.1 Releases must always contain a proof CAMERA picture in JPG format. |
| 9.2 Proof camera pictures must contain both, medium and cover together. |
| If cover isnt possible, a booklet or promo sheet or anything valid |
| proving ripper has release. If the medium/cover/booklet contain anything |
| that may expose your identity, then that part of image can be blurred or |
| blackened. |
| 9.3 The proof picture MUST include small piece of paper over medium and/or |
| cover with GRP name. |
| Artist, title and any other relevant info that proves release, must not |
| be hidden behind the piece of paper. |
| 9.4 GROUP tag must be photographed in the proof picture, software-edited |
| tags are considered invalid proof. Camera picture proof must not be |
| changed except to hide anything that might expose ripper (read Rule 9.2).|
| 9.5 Additional scans may be added but DO NOT count for proof. |
| 9.6 Proof camera pictures resolution must be at least 640 width and 480 |
| height in JPEG format. |
| Artist and/or album/single title must be clearly readable. |
| 9.7 Proof fixes are not allowed, missing proof picture or bad resolution |
| requires a complete repack. |
| NOTE: EXIF metadata should be removed from JPEG files! Uniquely identifying |
| information such as the camera serial number and GPS coordinates can |
| pose a security threat if not removed, so this is very ESSENTIAL! |
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| |
| CHANGELOG: |
| |
| 2011-10-03 first version (v1.0) |
| 2011-10-10 rule 1.10 with NOTE added to forbid single file+cue unless |
| source is single track with index. |
| 2011-10-10 rule 3.5.1 added (explanation for TYPE tag). |
| 2011-10-10 rule 3.8.1 added (explanation for ARTIST and TITLE tags). |
| 2011-10-10 rule 5.1 adjusted |
| 2011-10-10 rule 5.5 adjusted |
| 2011-10-10 rule 5.5.1 added |
| 2012-05-15 GENERAL section 1.0 splited. |
| 2012-05-15 rule 1.3 adjusted |
| 2012-05-15 rule 1.4 adjusted and NOTES removed. |
| 2012-05-15 DUPES section created 2.0 |
| 2012-05-15 rule 3.1 adjusted |
| 2012-05-15 rule 3.2 encoding setting changed. |
| 2012-05-15 rule 3.3 DVD encoding audio settings. |
| 2012-05-15 rule 3.4 HDDVD/BLURAY encoding audio settings. |
| 2012-05-15 rule 4.1 adjusted |
| 2012-05-15 rule 4.2 adjusted |
| 2012-05-15 rule 4.4 adjusted |
| 2012-05-15 rule 4.5 adjusted |
| 2012-05-15 rule 4.6 adjusted |
| 2012-05-15 rule 4.7 adjusted |
| 2012-05-15 rule 4.10 adjusted |
| 2012-05-15 rule 4.12 adjusted |
| 2012-05-15 rule 5.3 adjusted |
| 2012-05-15 rule 5.4 adjusted |
| 2012-05-15 rule 5.6 created |
| 2012-05-15 rule 5.7 created |
| 2012-05-15 rule 6.1 adjusted |
| 2012-05-15 rule 6.2 adjusted |
| 2012-05-15 rule 6.4 adjusted |
| 2012-05-15 rule 6.5 adjusted |
| 2012-05-15 PROMO/BOOTLEG section splited. |
| 2012-05-15 rule 8.4 created |
| 2012-05-15 ADVANCE/PROMO created. |
| |
+-------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| |
| Rules signed by: |
| |
| 2Eleven BCC BriBerY CHS DECRyPTED DeVOiD dL EMG EMP FrB FiH FWYH GRAVEWISH |
| LITF LoKET k4 JLM MANDY PERFECT PsyCZ SCORN SPL TiLLMYDEATH WRE UQ |
| |
| Rules not signed by: |
| |
| flachedelic WeTBaCk |
| |
| |
| FLAC rules V2.0 apply from 2012-05-15 00:00:00 CET (Central European Time). |
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