+-------------------------------------------------------------------------------+ | 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) | +-------------------------------------------------------------------------------+ | GENERAL | | | | 1.1 Releases pred before this ruleset are deemed legitimate and are exempt | | from most nukes except for the following violations: | | | | .1 Rules 1.5, 1.6, 1.8, 2.1-2.6, 6.1, 6.6 | | | | 1.2 A release MUST contain an SFV and NFO. | | | | .1 A release MAY contain relevant JPG files. | | | | .2 A release MAY contain relevant PDF files. | | | | .3 Valid filetypes are: .flac, .jpg, .m3u, .nfo, .pdf, .sfv. | | | | 1.3 A release MUST not mix files from retail sources and or shops/services. | | | | 1.4 Trackfixes are not allowed. Bad quality releases require a complete | | repack and MUST include the ADDITIONAL type tag: -REPACK-. | | | | 1.5 The following are reasons for a bad quality release: | | | | .1 One or more tracks from the release are incomplete, contain skips or | | other technical flaws. | | | | 1.6 The maximum directory and filename length is 255 characters. Directories | | and filenames MUST only contain valid characters: a-z A-Z 0-9 _ . - () | | | | 1.7 Shops/services will often separate a split release, so for this reason a | | split MUST be merged and released in full. Source URLs for all sides of | | the split MUST be provided in the nfo. | | | | 1.8 MQA releases are not true lossless and are not allowed. | | | | 1.9 Releases with mixed bit depths and sampling rates are allowed if provided | | that way by the shop/service at the time of pre. | | | |1.10 Name your price releases from all shops/services are allowed. | | | |1.11 Playlists from all shops/services are not allowed. | | | |1.12 If a release isn't complete on any scanned site & majority of dupe bots | | within 72 hours of pre, it MUST be nuked as incomplete and CAN be | | propered. | +-------------------------------------------------------------------------------+ | DUPES | | | | 2.1 A release MUST include all audio tracks. Releasing just the bonus tracks | | or some other subset of tracks is not allowed. | | | | 2.2 A release MUST not be identical to a previous release. | | | | 2.3 A release MUST not have all its tracks included in one previous release. | | | | 2.4 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. | | | | NOTE: 2.3.2 does not mean a difference in the order of tracks. | | | | 2.5 A release MUST not be a collection of discs that have already been | | individually released. | | | | For example, releasing a Deluxe Edition that combines an Album and EP | | after they have both been individually released is not allowed. | | | | NOTE: Boxsets and REMASTERED releases are excluded from this rule. | | | | 2.6 All releases MUST follow the above dupe rules as well as the following | | source specific rules: | | | | .1 SD WEB is not allowed after CD/CDR. | | | | .2 SD WEB is not allowed after SD WEB. | | | | .3 SD WEB is allowed after HD WEB. | | | | .4 SD/HD WEB is allowed after VINYL. | | | | .5 HD WEB of lower quality is not allowed after HD WEB of higher quality. | | | | SD WEB: 16bit/44.1khz and 16bit/48khz | | HD WEB: >= 24bit and >= 48khz+ | +-------------------------------------------------------------------------------+ | ENCODING | | | | 3.1 A lossless release other than FLAC (e.g. WAV) MUST be encoded using | | FLAC 1.3.1 (no alphas and betas allowed) | | | | .1 A release MUST be encoded using the --compression-level-8 option. | | | | .2 A release SHOULD be encoded using the --verify option. | | | | .3 A release MUST not be encoded using --replay-gain or any kind of | | option that changes the audio source quality. | +-------------------------------------------------------------------------------+ | 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: | | | | - Artist, Title, Bit Depth, 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. | | | | .2 TITLE tag means the title of album. It 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 a CATALOGUE number in a release name is optional. | | | | .1 A CATALOGUE number is and MUST be a release catalogue reference | | provided by the label. ISRC/digital distributor codes/custom messages | | are not allowed. | | | | .2 Spaces, hyphens and punctuation in CATALOGUE MAY be removed in favor | | of normalization. .nfo representation and any vorbis tag that | | references it SHOULD state the untouched catalog. | | | | .3 If a CATALOGUE number is used, the name of the record label MUST be | | provided in the .nfo | | | | 4.4 Valid SOURCE tag: (Uppercase letters MUST be used) | | | | .1 WEB | | | | 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, in different countries, | | with different artists or different/more tracks for the same release | | title. Different year reports to reissue releases. | | | | Some releases need to be identified from the normal ones due to their | | source nature. (eg: soundtrack compilation, remastering, etc). | | | | Therefore valid allowed TYPE tags are: | | | | - ##th Anniversary Edition | | - Audiobook | | - Bonus Edition | | - Boxset | | - Clean | | - Collectors Edition | | - <country> (e.g.: JP_Reissue) (Uppercase MUST be used for country) | | - Deluxe Edition | | - Demo | | - Digital 45 | | - Digital Edition | | - EP (Uppercase MUST be used) | | - Expanded Edition | | - Explicit | | - Limited Edition | | - Ltd Edition | | - Millennium Edition | | - OST (Uppercase MUST be used) | | - Reissue | | - Remastered | | - Single | | - Special Edition | | - Split | | - Super Deluxe Edition | | - Tour Edition | | | | .1 Most TYPE tags are optional unless stated below. When used, they MUST | | be placed in the correct order. | | | | .2 TYPE tags other than OST and Single are allowed in the album title if | | presented that way by the shop/service. | | | | .3 Unless stated above, the first letter of each word in the TYPE tag | | MUST be capitalized or the entire TYPE tag MAY be capitalized. | | | | .4 TYPE can be a combination of the keywords featured in rule 4.5 using | | the _ (underscore) space replacement. (e.g. -Reissue_Limited_Edition-) | | | | 4.6 Clean and Explicit TYPE tags MUST be used only after one or the other has | | pred. | | | | 4.7 A single track release MUST use the -Single- TYPE tag. | | | | .1 Single track Albums and EPs are exempt from rule 4.7 | | | | .2 A multi track single (digital equivalent to a CDS/CDM) MAY use the | | -Single- TYPE tag. | | | | 4.8 A soundtrack MUST use the -OST- TYPE tag. (Uppercase MUST be used) | | | | .1 A soundtrack is a selection of recorded songs that accompany a | | game/film/series. Also known as an original soundtrack (OST), this | | musical selection can include original songs or pre-existing songs | | that played during the game/film/series or were specifically recorded | | for the game/film/series. | | | | .2 Best Of compilations by composers do not require the -OST- tag and can | | not be nuked if present. | | | | .3 Singles do not require the -OST- tag and can not be nuked if present. | | | | 4.9 Valid ADDITIONAL tags: (Uppercase MUST be used) | | | | - DIRFIX, NFOFIX, PROPER, READNFO, REAL_PROPER, REPACK, REAL_REPACK. | | | | .1 When an ADDITIONAL tag is used, the nfo MUST mention the release name | | that it is replacing or updating and the reason. | | | | .2 A DIRFIX MUST only be used to fix parts of the release name that do | | not affect Vorbis tag contents. | | | |4.10 Valid EXTRA tags: (Uppercase MUST be used) | | | | - ##BIT, ##KHZ | | | | .1 The ##BIT EXTRA tag MUST be in release name | | | | .2 The ##KHZ EXTRA tag MAY be in release name | | | |4.11 LANGUAGE (LANG) MUST follow ccTLD or ISO 639-1 identifiers (2-chars) if | | used: (Capitalized letters MUST be used) | | | | http://www.lingoes.net/en/translator/langcode.htm | | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_ISO_639-1_codes | | | | .1 LANGUAGE tag is recommended for non-English releases. | | If the vocals are non-English and the majority of them are best | | described using one LANG code, then the most | | appropriate LANG code SHOULD be chosen and MAY be used as a tag | | in the release name. | | | |4.12 Mandatory release name formats: | | | | - Artist-Title-EXTRA-SOURCE-FLAC-YEAR-GRP | | - Artist-Title-LANG-EXTRA-SOURCE-FLAC-YEAR-GRP | | - Artist-Title-LANG-TYPE-EXTRA-SOURCE-FLAC-YEAR-GRP | | - Artist-Title-CATALOGUE-LANG-TYPE-EXTRA-SOURCE-FLAC-YEAR-GRP | | - Artist-Title-CATALOGUE-LANG-ADDITIONAL-TYPE-EXTRA-SOURCE-FLAC-YEAR-GRP | | | | - Artist-Title-16BIT-WEB-FLAC-2023-GRP | | - Artist-Title-JP-16BIT-WEB-FLAC-2023-GRP | | - Artist-Title-JP-EP-16BIT-WEB-FLAC-2023-GRP | | - Artist-Title-JP-EP-16BIT-44KHZ-WEB-FLAC-2023-GRP | | - Artist-Title-CATALOGUE-JP-EP-16BIT-WEB-FLAC-2023-GRP | | - Artist-Title-CATALOGUE-JP-REPACK-EP-16BIT-WEB-FLAC-2023-GRP | | | | .1 WEBFLAC and WEB_FLAC are not allowed. | | | | .2 _-_ is not allowed in the release name. | | | | .3 -- MAY be used to separate artist and title. | | | | .4 - __ . () MAY be used in the artist and title. | | | | .5 -(CATALOGUE)- and -CATALOGUE- are allowed. | | | | .6 Any spaces in ARTIST and TITLE SHOULD be replaced with _ | | (underscore(s)) | | | | If ARTIST or TITLE has . (dots) or - (dash), it SHOULD | | be kept as close as they appear on the cover/booklet/physical medium. | | | |4.13 YEAR tag MUST be the year when the record company/artist published it. | | For non-original presses, the additional TYPE tag SHOULD be applied. | | | | (example: release originally released in 1990, but rip is from 2000 | | reissue, correct year would be 2000, with additional TYPE tagging). | | | | NOTE: IF a YEAR can not be found it's allowed to use 198x 199x 200x but it | | MUST be mentioned in the .nfo | | | |4.14 Typos in release name (ARTIST and TITLE) are tolerated if either artist or| | title is 100% correct. | | | | .1 If ARTIST and TITLE are both incorrect then the release MUST be | | repacked and MAY be propered. | | | |4.15 ARTIST and 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 1.6). | | | | .1 Incorrectly converted foreign characters are tolerated. | | | |4.16 Internal releases MUST be tagged GRP_iNT or GRP_INT. | | | | .1 Internal releases MUST follow this ruleset. They are not exempt from | | nukes. | | | | .2 Internal releases MUST not dupe an existing release that is 365 days | | old or newer. | +-------------------------------------------------------------------------------+ | FILENAME | | | | 5.1 Filename MUST contain: Track Number, Track Artist, Track Title. | | | | 5.2 All filenames (.flac, .jpg, .m3u, .nfo, .pdf, .sfv) MUST be lowercase. | | | | 5.3 Tracklist containing all additional infos like featured artists or | | remixers, if they are present on source, SHOULD be provided as long it | | does not exceed the maximum filename length (see rule 1.6). | | | | If additional information can be found, it is encouraged to write them | | as well. | | | | .1 Releases with differences in tracklist because of metadata provided by | | the shop/service are not subject to nukes or propers. | | | | .2 If the tracklist has changes, due to incorrect metadata provided by the| | shop/service for example, it is encouraged to correct and explain them | | in the .nfo | | | | .3 If the tracklist is written in more than two languages, the ripper is | | free to write them both or just a single language. If one of the | | languages is English then the English tracklist MUST be used. | | | | 5.4 Typos in filenames (ARTIST and TITLE) are tolerated if either artist or | | title is 100% correct. | | | | .1 If ARTIST and TITLE are both incorrect then the release MUST be | | repacked and MAY be propered. | | | | 5.5 ARTIST and 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 1.6). | | | | .1 Incorrectly converted foreign characters are tolerated. | | | | 5.6 Recommended filename formats: | | | | - nr-artist-title.flac | | - nr-artist_featured_artist-title.flac | | - nr-artist-title_remixer_or_featured_artist.flac | | | | .1 _-_ MUST not be used in the filename. | | | | .2 - -- __ . () MAY be used in the filename. | | | | .3 Featured artists are allowed to be included in the artist or title. | | | | 5.7 Including a -crcvalue suffix on each .flac file is allowed. | | | | 5.8 Including a -grpname suffix on each .flac file is allowed. | | | | 5.9 Filenames MUST be unique for REPACK and PROPER releases. | | | |5.10 In VA releases the actual artist name MUST be before song title. VA | | (Various Artists) is not a valid artist (01-va-song_title is | | unacceptable). | | | | .1 Excludes single audio track releases if it's a compilation of several | | tunes produced/mixed/remixed by a single artist/producer. | +-------------------------------------------------------------------------------+ | VORBIS TAGS | | | | 6.1 FLAC files MUST contain Vorbis comments. Vorbis comment field names | | MUST be unique. Multiple comment fields are NOT allowed 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 For VA releases the ARTIST field contents MUST have the corresponding | | artist name not "VA". | | | | 6.3 Typos in Vorbis comments (ARTIST and TITLE) are tolerated if either artist| | or title is 100% correct. | | | | .1 If ARTIST and TITLE are both incorrect then the release MUST be | | repacked and MAY be propered. | | | | 6.4 ARTIST and 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 1.6). | | | | .1 Incorrectly converted foreign characters are tolerated. | | | | 6.5 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 1.6. | | | | 6.6 The GENRE field content MUST be the same for all the files in a release | | and it MUST be one of the genres listed: | | | | A Cappella, Acid, Acid Jazz, Acid Punk, Acoustic, AlternRock, | | Alternative, Ambient, Anime, Avantgarde, Ballad, Bass, Beat, Bebop, | | Big Band, Black Metal, Bluegrass, Blues, Booty Bass, BritPop, Cabaret, | | Celtic, Chamber Music, Chanson, Chorus, Christian Gangsta Rap, | | Christian Rap, Christian Rock, Classic Rock, Classical, Club, Club-House, | | Comedy, Contemporary Christian, Country, Crossover, Cult, Dance, Dance | | Hall, Darkwave, Death Metal, Disco, Dream, Drum & Bass, Drum Solo, Duet, | | Easy Listening, Electronic, Ethnic, Euro-House, Euro-Techno, Eurodance, | | Fast Fusion, Folk, Folk-Rock, Folklore, Freestyle, Funk, Fusion, Game, | | Gangsta Rap, Goa, Gospel, Gothic, Gothic Rock, Grunge, Hard Rock, | | Hardcore, Heavy Metal, Hip-Hop, House, Humour, Indie, Industrial, | | Instrumental, Instrumental Pop, Instrumental Rock, Jazz, Jazz+Funk, | | JPop, Jungle, Latin, Lo-Fi, Meditative, Merengue, Metal, Musical, | | National Folk, Native American, Negerpunk, New Age, New Wave, Noise, | | Oldies, Opera, Other, Polka, Polsk Punk, Pop, Pop-Folk, Pop/Funk, | | Porn Groove, Power Ballad, Pranks, Primus, Progressive Rock, Psychedelic, | | Psychedelic Rock, Punk, Punk Rock, R&B, Rap, Rave, Reggae, Retro, | | Revival, Rhythmic Soul, Rock, Rock & Roll, Salsa, Samba, Satire, | | Showtunes, Ska, Slow Jam, Slow Rock, Sonata, Soul, Sound Clip, | | Soundtrack, Southern Rock, Space, Speech, Swing, Symphonic Rock, | | Symphony, Synthpop, Tango, Techno, Techno-Industrial, Terror, | | Thrash Metal, Top 40, Trailer, Trance, Tribal, Trip-Hop, Vocal, Unknown. | | | | NOTE: Both Psychedelic and Psychadelic are correct and MAY not be nuked | | if used. | +-------------------------------------------------------------------------------+ | NFO CONTENT | | | | 7.1 The following NFO content SHOULD be present: | | | | - Codec of source (when the source is FLAC) | | - Bit depth of source (e.g. 16BIT, 24BIT) | | - Sampling rate of source (e.g. 44.1kHz) | | | | 7.2 The following NFO content MUST be present: | | | | - Codec of source (when the source is not FLAC) | | - FULL URL to the release on the shop or service where the files were | | acquired | +-------------------------------------------------------------------------------+ | Signed (in alphabetical order) | | | | AOVF BABAS dh ENRiCH ENTiTLED KALEVALA KLV MOONBLOOD OBZEN OSKOREIA PTC | | RUIDOS VEXED WAVED | +-------------------------------------------------------------------------------+ | WEB FLAC rules 1.0 apply from 2023-08-01 00:00:00 CET (Central European Time) | +-------------------------------------------------------------------------------+