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--------------------------------- ----==== Official.FLAC.Standard.Rules v1.1 ====---- ---------------------------------
+-------------------------------------------------------------------------------+ | INTRODUCTION | | To satisfy the long lasting audiophile's demand for a music scene of higher | | quality than LAME mpeg compression encoding, and since nowdays space and | | bandwidth are able to accomodate more, this set of rules were made to | | initiate the LOSSLESS music scene space. | | To avoid mistakes made in the music scene in the past, a group of old farts | | gathered to decide upon these rules. A common understanding amongst all is | | that material from non-physical media can easily be doubtful of its | | origin of source and hence of questionable quality. To keep things simple | | and to avoid mess as experienced in existing music scene, these rules | | decided to strictly consider only physical media as a valid source. | | | | NOTE: The definitions of these keywords are to be interpreted as follows: | | MUST=obligatory (not allowed if not comply). | | SHOULD=suggested. | | CAN+MAY=optional (allowed if not comply). | | | +-------------------------------------------------------------------------------+ | GENERAL | | 1.1 Releases must contain an SFV, NFO, JPG (proof). | | 1.2 Currently valid media sources are: CD, VINYL for the time being. | | 1.3 Bonus tracks from previously released albums must be released separately.| | Mandatory " BONUS_TRACKS " dir tagging (ref to rule 3.6). | | 1.4 Releasing a previously released album again is only allowed if: | | .1 The previous release was ripped from a lower quality source. | | Higher to Lower: CD > Vinyl | | .2 The new release has 30% or 5 tracks more. | | .3 The new release has bonus tracks and the previous release is older | | than 91 days. | | 1.5 Trackfixes are not allowed, bad quality rips require a complete repack. | | Obligatory -REPACK- dir tagging (ref to rule 3.6). | | 1.6 The following reasons can be a reason 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)| | NOTE: A -PROPER- rip with no hiss should exist. (also -PROPER- must | | mention which release its propering in nfo). | | 1.7 If tracks from release were already pred as bonus or inside any other | | reissue/limited/special/deluxe editions they will be considered as dupes.| | 1.8 The maximum directory and filename length is 128 characters. Directories | | and filenames must only contain valid characters: a-z A-Z 0-9 _ . - () | | 1.9 Releasing a retail is not allowed if its 100% identical to advance | | release. | | 1.10 All CD releases (including mixed CD's / e.g. DJ-Mixes) MUST be ripped | | as separated tracks according 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 1 track on the CD. | | NOTE: Lossless data compression excludes the possibility of the introduction | | of padding, all lossless audio file formats are inherently gapless. | +-------------------------------------------------------------------------------+ | ENCODING CD/VINYL | | 2.1 Releases must be encoded using FLAC 1.2.1 with compression level 8 (best)| | 2.2 Encoding quality must be: 44.100 Hz / 16 bit PCM (2.0) for CD sources | | and 48.000 Hz / 24 bit PCM (2.0) for VINYL sources. | +-------------------------------------------------------------------------------+ | RELEASE NAME | | 3.1 The FLAC tag must be included in the release name before YEAR-GROUP. | | 3.2 Release name MUST contain: Artist, Title, Source, Year, Group. | | 3.3 Using CATALOGUE number in a release name is optional but recommended. | | 3.4 Currently valid SOURCE tags: | | .1 CD, CDS, CDM, CDR, MCD, CDEP (2CD, 3CD etc.) | | .2 VINYL, VLS, LP, MLP, EP (2VINYL, 3VINYL etc.) | | 3.5 Currently valid TYPE tags: | | - Advance, Bonus, Bootleg, Deluxe, Digipak, Ltd, Limited, Mag, Magazine, | | - Promo, Reissue, Remastered, Retail, Sampler, 7-Inch, 10-Inch, 12-Inch, | | - Special, Collectors, Ed, Edition, Extra, Flexi, Split, Demo, Tracks. | | 3.5.1 TYPE can be a combination of the keywords featured in 3.5 rule using | | the _ (underscore) space replacement. (eg. -Deluxe_Special_Edition-) | | 3.6 Currently recommended ADDITIONAL tags: | | - DIRFIX, NFOFIX, PROPER, READNFO, REPACK, BONUS, RERIP. | | 3.7 LANGUAGE (LANG) must follow the ccTLD identifiers (2-chars): | | http://www.iana.org/domains/root/db/ | | 3.8 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 | | 3.8.1 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. | | 3.9 .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. | | 3.10 YEAR tag must be the year when the record company/artist published it. | | (example: release originally released in 1990, but rip is from 2000 | | reissue correct year would be 2000, with additional TYPE tagging. | | 3.11 LANGUAGE tag is MANDATORY for non english releases. | | If the vocals are non-english and the majority of them must be 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. | | 3.12 Typos in a release name ARE NOT TOLERATED. A proper ADDITIONAL tag must | be used to fix it -DIRFIX- (ref to rule 3.6). | | | | NOTES: | | - CATALOGUE + TYPE are optional tags. Altho when using, must be placed in | | correct order. | +-------------------------------------------------------------------------------+ | FILENAME | | 4.1 Filename must at least contain: Track number, Track artist, Track title. | | 4.2 All filenames (including SFV, NFO, JPG) should always be lowercase. | | 4.3 Track titles must be exactly the same as written on the covers/cd/inlay | | and contain all additional infos like featured artists or remixers as | | long it does not exceed the maximum filename length (see rule 1.8). | | 4.4 Recommended filename formats: | | - nr-artist-title.flac | | - nr-artist-title_(remixer_or_featured_artist).flac | | - nr-artist-title__remixer.flac | | - a1-artist-title.flac | | - b2-artist-title.flac | | 4.5 Including -groupname in the filenames is allowed but not recommended. | +-------------------------------------------------------------------------------+ | TAGS | | 5.1 Filenames must only contain vorbis comment tags. | | Mandatory ogg comment tags must be unique | | 5.2 Tags must at least have: TRACKNUMBER, ARTIST, TITLE, ALBUM, GENRE, | | DATE (format: YYYY). | | 5.3 FLAC PICTURE block must be empty. Any cover, booklet scans go with | | additional covers, apply to rule 7.5 | | 5.4 Tag field contents allow UTF-8 character encoding but it is recommended | | to use ASCII characters as much as possible. The field contents should | | not be internationalized; this is only a concession to simplicity not an | | attempt to exclude the majority of the world that doesn't speak English. | | 5.5 For the time being GENRE tag MUST be the same for all the files of the | | 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. | | 5.5.1 These additional genres are considered valid for the previous ruleset | | as well and any nuked releases for that reason should be unnuked. | +-------------------------------------------------------------------------------+ | PROMO/BOOTLEG | | 6.1 Promo releases can always be duped by any retail release even if the | | tracks on both releases are identical. | | 6.2 Promo releases with voice over, silence, cuts on tracks are not allowed. | | 6.3 A bootleg is a release or recording that was not officially released by | | the artist or record company (unofficial / unlicensed recordings). | | 6.4 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. | | 6.5 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. | +-------------------------------------------------------------------------------+ | PROOF | | 7.1 Releases must always contain a proof CAMERA picture in JPG format. | | 7.2 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. | | 7.3 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. | | 7.4 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 7.2).| | 7.5 Additional scans may be added but DO NOT count for proof. | | 7.6 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. | | 7.7 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! | +-------------------------------------------------------------------------------+ | | | 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 | | | +-------------------------------------------------------------------------------+ | | | Rules signed by (in alphabetic order): | | | | 2Eleven AUDIO BriBerY dL FWYH GRAVEWISH LITF MANDY PsyCZ SATURN SCORN SPL | | | | FLAC rules V1.1 apply from 2011-10-03 00:00:00 GMT. | +-------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
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