1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
59
60
61
62
63
64
65
66
67
68
69
70
71
72
73
74
75
76
77
78
79
80
81
82
83
84
85
86
87
88
89
90
91
92
93
94
95
96
97
98
99
100
101
102
103
104
105
106
107
108
109
110
111
112
113
114
115
116
117
118
119
120
121
122
123
124
125
126
127
128
129
130
131
132
133
134
135
136
137
138
139
140
141
142
143
144
145
146
147
148
149
150
151
152
153
154
155
156
157
158
159
160
161
162
163
164
165
166
167
168
169
170
171
172
173
174
175
176
177
178
179
180
181
182
183
184
185
186
187
188
189
190
191
192
193
194
195
196
197
198
199
200
201
202
203
204
205
206
207
208
209
210
211
212
213
214
215
216
217
218
219
220
221
222
223
224
225
226
227
228
229
230
231
232
233
234
235
236
237
238
239
240
241
242
243
244
245
246
247
248
249
250
251
252
253
254
255
256
257
258
259
260
261
262
263
264
265
266
267
268
269
270
271
272
273
274
275
276
277
278
279
280
281
282
283
284
285
286
287
288
289
290
291
292
293
294
295
296
297
298
299
300
301
302
303
304
305
306
307
308
309
310
311
312
313
314
315
316
317
318
319
320
321
322
323
324
325
326
327
328
329
330
331
332
333
334
335
336
337
338
339
340
341
342
343
344
345
346
347
348
349
350
351
352
353
354
|
-----------------------------------
----==== Unofficial.FLAC.Standard.Rules v2.1 ====----
-----------------------------------
+-------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| INTRODUCTION |
| Due to the ambiguous nature of the current rules, it's time to revise and |
| add some additional rules. For further clarification check changelog. |
| |
| 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 Valid filetypes are: .cue, .flac, .jpg, .log, .m3u, .nfo and .sfv. |
| .1 A release MUST contain an SFV, NFO, and JPG. |
| .2 A release MAY contain CUE and LOG files from a CD source. |
| 1.2 Valid media sources are: BLURAY, CD, DVD, HDDVD and VINYL. |
| .1 A release is not allowed to combine multiple sources. |
| 1.3 Trackfix is NOT allowed. Bad quality rip requires a repack and MUST |
| include the ADDITIONAL tag -REPACK- or -RERIP- (rule 4.6). |
| 1.4 Bad quality rip means: |
| .1 One or more tracks are incomplete or contain an audio defect such as |
| skipping, popping, or crackling. Defects that occur during the |
| production or mastering process of the disc are unavoidable and |
| cannot be nuked (eg. digital clipping). In such cases, the ripper MAY |
| include a LOG from EAC proving the defect is due to the disc itself. |
| .2 The tracks are distorted and constantly clipping (eg. vinyl rips). |
| .3 The tracks contain constant hissing (eg. vinyl rips). |
| .4 The tracks are low volume sounding or mono from a stereo source. |
| 1.5 Directories and filenames have a limit of 128 characters and MUST |
| contain only valid characters: a-z A-Z 0-9 _ . - () |
| .1 You MUST replace directories that contain regional characters with |
| their respective corresponding English alphabet characters when |
| applicable. |
| .2 You SHOULD replace tracks that contain regional characters with their |
| respective corresponding English alphabet characters when applicable. |
| CD-Tag contains a bug which prevents these regional characters from |
| displaying properly. |
| NOTE: Regional characters and their required English character translation |
| can be found at http://www.immi.gov.au/helptexts/elodgement/elp-h0015. |
| 1.6 CD releases (including mixed CD) MUST be ripped as separated tracks, |
| according to the CD's Table of Contents, unless the CD contains only |
| one track. |
+-------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| DUPES |
| 2.1 The following dupe rules exist for all sources without exception: |
| .1 BLURAY does not dupe any other source except HDDVD. |
| .2 HDDVD does not dupe any other source except BLURAY. |
| .3 CD does not dupe any other source except BLURAY and HDDVD. |
| .4 DVD does dupe every other source. |
| .5 VINYL does dupe every other source. |
| 2.2 A release MUST have all its audio tracks included in one single release. |
| Bonus material, such as bonus tracks or bonus discs, or any other subset |
| of tracks cannot be released by itself. Tracks that contain all silence |
| MAY be excluded from the release, but note should be made in the NFO. |
| 2.3 A release MUST not have all its tracks included in ONE previous release. |
| 2.4 A release MUST not be identical to ANY previous release(s). |
| 2.5 A multi-disc release MUST not be identical to ANY previous release(s). |
| 2.6 A release is not a dupe under these conditions: |
| .1 Previous release has different mastering, even if different quality. |
| Example: 2014 Remaster vs. 2004 Remaster, Remaster vs. Non-Remaster. |
| .2 Previous release has different tracklist. |
| Note: Silence before or after a track resulting in differences of |
| tracklength is not allowed. |
| .3 Previous release has a different version of one or more tracks. |
| Example: Edited, Explicit, Remixed, Live, etc. |
+-------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| ENCODING |
| 3.1 Encoding settings: |
| .1 MUST encode using FLAC 1.2.1 or 1.2.1b. |
| .1 MUST encode using --compression-level-8 option. |
| .2 SHOULD encode using --verify option. |
| .4 MUST NOT encode using --replay-gain or any other setting which |
| alters audio quality. |
| 3.2 Encoding quality: |
| .1 MUST encode using 44.100 Hz / 16 bit LPCM (2.0) for CD. |
| .2 MUST encode using 96.000 Hz / 24 bit LPCM (2.0) for VINYL. |
| 3.3 DVD settings: |
| .1 Audio source MUST be LPCM. |
| .2 Channels, Bits per Sample, and Sample Frequency MUST be kept. |
| .3 MUST contain all its music tracks. Additional tracks such as |
| interviews or clips are not required but MAY be included. |
| .4 NFO MUST contain Source Codec, Source Bitrate, and Source Channels. |
| 3.4 HDDVD/BLURAY settings: |
| .1 Highest quality audio source MUST be used. Audio source priority is: |
| 1. DTS-HD Master Audio |
| 2. Dolby TrueHD |
| 3. LPCM |
| .2 Channels, Bits per Sample, and Sample Frequency MUST be kept. |
| .3 Releases with multiple files of the same playlist index MUST be |
| encoded together in the same order as the playlist index. |
| .4 MUST contain all its music tracks. Additional tracks such as |
| interviews or clips are not required. |
| .5 NFO MUST contain Source Codec, Source Bitrate, and Source Channels. |
+-------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| RELEASE NAME |
| 4.1 Mandatory directory structure: |
| - 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 |
| 4.2 Directory MUST contain Artist, Title, Source, Year, and Group. |
| .1 ARTIST means performer, composer, band, or musician. It MUST be a |
| unique name, OST isn't a valid artist. If artist can't be identified, |
| "Unknown" or "Unknown Artist" MAY be used. Compilations with Various |
| Artists MUST use "VA" as ARTIST. Various Artists is considered 4 or |
| more separate artists in one release. |
| .2 TITLE means the actual title of the album. It MUST be a unique name, |
| Self-titled is not a valid title. If title can't be identified, |
| "Unknown" MAY be used. |
| 4.3 Catalogue number MAY be used but is not required. |
| 4.4 Valid SOURCE tags (MUST be Uppercase): |
| .1 BLURAY (eg. 2BLURAY, 3BLURAY) |
| .2 HDDVD (eg. 2HDDVD, 3HDDVD) |
| .3 CD, CDS, CDM, CDEP, MCD, CDR, CDRS, CDREP (eg. 2CD, 3CDS) |
| .4 DVD (eg. 2DVD, 3DVD) |
| .5 VINYL, VLS, LP, MLP, EP, INCH_VINYL (eg. 2VINYL, 3LP, 4INCH_VINYL) |
| 4.5 Valid TYPE tags: |
| - Advance, Bonus, Bootleg, Clean, Collectors_Edition |
| - <country> (eg. JP_Retail, US_Reissue) |
| - Deluxe_Edition, Demo, Digipak, Explicit |
| - Limited_Edition, Limted_Deluxe_Edition, Ltd_Edition |
| - MAG, OST, Promo, Reissue, Remastered, Retail |
| - Sampler, Special_Edition, Split, Unmastered |
| .1 TYPE tags are not case sensitive, but MAG and OST MUST be uppercase. |
| .2 Import editions MUST use the country where the release originated |
| (eg. UK_Retail). Using the continent is not allowed (eg. EU_Retail). |
| .3 Multiple TYPE tags MUST be separated by using an underscore. |
| 4.6 Mandatory TYPE tags (when applicable): |
| - Bootleg, Clean, Demo, MAG, OST |
| - Reissue, Remastered, Split, Unmastered |
| .1 You MUST use Explicit TYPE if Clean edition is already released. |
| .2 If previous release exists, you MUST use TYPE tag to differentiate |
| your release (eg. Deluxe_Edition or US_Retail). |
| 4.7 Valid ADDITIONAL tags (MUST be Uppercase): |
| - DIRFIX, NFOFIX, PROPER, READNFO, REPACK, RERIP, REAL and CUEFIX. |
| .1 When ADDITIONAL tag is used, NFO MUST mention the release name being |
| updated or replaced. |
| .2 When PROPER tag is used, NFO MUST mention the reason for the proper. |
| 4.8 LANGUAGE MUST be an Uppercase 2-letter country code based on the |
| official ccTLD database at http://www.iana.org/domains/root/db/. |
| .1 LANGUAGE tag MUST be used for releases in which 50% or more tracks |
| feature vocals not in English. |
| .2 For tracks which have vocals featuring two or more different |
| non-English languages, you MUST use the language that is heard on the |
| majority of the tracks. |
| 4.9 Spaces in artists or titles SHOULD be replaced with underscores. |
| Punctuation in artist or title such as commas, periods, dashes, or |
| slashes SHOULD be kept as close as they appear on the cover, booklet, or |
| medium. Brackets MUST be clearly seen in the proof image in order to be |
| used in artist or title tags. |
| 4.10 Internal releases MUST be tagged as GROUP_iNT or GROUP_INT and MUST |
| follow FLAC rules. Internal releases MUST not dupe any existing release |
| less than or equal to 732 days old. |
| 4.11 YEAR tag MUST be when the label or artist officially published the |
| release. For non-original presses, you MUST use the year in which the |
| album was re-released. |
| 4.12 Typos where the artist or title is in English are NOT allowed. DIRFIX |
| MUST be used to correct the release name. |
| .1 Artists and titles that are not in English MUST not be translated. |
| English alphabet characters MUST be used to replace regional |
| characters when applicable (rule 1.5). |
+-------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| FILENAME |
| 5.1 Filename MUST contain Track number, Track artist, and Track title. |
| 5.2 All filenames (including SFV, NFO, and JPG) MUST be lowercase. |
| 5.3 Track artists and track titles MUST be kept as close as they appear |
| on the back cover, booklet, or medium. Additional information such as |
| featured artist, remix, live, demo, or bonus track MUST be kept in the |
| track title if present on the back cover, booklet, or medium. Additional |
| information that appears ONLY online SHOULD be used when available, but |
| can't be nuked when not used. |
| .1 Multiple typos are not tolerated. If a release contains 3 or more |
| typos in its filenames, then the release must be repacked and is subject |
| to a proper from another group. |
| 5.4 Filename structure MUST be: |
| - number-artist-title.flac |
| - number-artist-title-repack.flac |
| - number-artist-title-rerip.flac |
| OR: |
| - number-artist-title-group.flac |
| - number-artist-title_(live).flac |
| - number-artist-title_(remix).flac |
| - number-artist-title_(featured_artists).flac |
| - a1-artist-title.flac |
| - b2-artist-title.flac |
| 5.5 Group name suffix (-group) MAY be used but is not recommended. |
| 5.6 REPACK and RERIP releases MUST contain the -repack or -rerip suffix for |
| all .flac files. |
| 5.7 Various Artists releases MUST contain actual artists in its filenames. |
| "VA" or "Various Artists" is not a valid artist. |
+-------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| VORBIS TAGS |
| 6.1 FLAC files MUST contain only unique Vorbis comments. |
| 6.2 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. |
| 6.3 Mandatory Vorbis comment fields to fill in: |
| - TRACKNUMBER, ARTIST, TITLE, ALBUM, GENRE, and DATE (YYYY). |
| .1 "Vendor_String" field MUST display the correct lib FLAC version. |
| .2 Various Artists releases MUST have a valid ARTIST field for each |
| track, using "VA" or "Various Artists" is not valid ARTIST field. |
| .3 FLAC files MUST not have two separate ARTIST field names. |
| 6.4 FLAC picture block (METADATA_BLOCK_PICTURE) MUST be empty. |
| 6.5 GENRE field MUST be the same for every track in a release. |
| You MUST use one of the genres listed in the id3 specification list at |
| http://www.id3.org/id3v2.3.0#Appendix_A_-_Genre_List_from_ID3v1. |
| .1 You MAY also use additional genres 125-147: |
| - 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 |
| .2 You MUST NOT use the following genres: |
| - Alt. Rock, Folk/Rock, Pop/Funk, Unknown |
| .3 'Psychadelic' MUST be used in place of 'Psychedelic' except with |
| 'Psychedelic Rock'. |
+-------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| ADVANCE/PROMO |
| 7.1 ADVANCE and PROMO releases are not available at retail stores and are |
| labeled with 'Advance' and/or 'Promotional'. Possessing a release before |
| its retail date does not automatically mean that it's an advance. |
| 7.2 ADVANCE and PROMO releases that contain voiceovers, silence, or cuts are |
| not allowed to be released. |
+-------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| BOOTLEG |
| 8.1 A bootleg is a release or recording not officially released by the |
| artist or label. |
| 8.2 Conditions for bootleg releases: |
| - NOT officially released by the artist or label. |
| - NO confirmation that the release is valid by the artist or label. |
| - NO direct connection to the artist's label. |
| - NO legitimate label distributing the release. |
| - NOT available for purchase at three valid retail stores. |
| 8.3 Valid retail stores (Private sellers are NOT allowed: |
| - 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 |
+-------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| PROOF |
| 9.1 Release MUST contain a proof camera picture in JPG format. |
| 9.2 Proof picture MUST contain all medium(s) and cover(s) together. |
| Booklet, insert, or promo sheet MAY be substituted if cover is not |
| available. Artist, title, and/or tracklist MUST be clearly readable. |
| 9.3 Material that could expose your identity MAY be blurred or blackended. |
| No other types of picture editing are allowed except cropping. |
| 9.4 Proof picture MUST contain small piece of GRPTAG paper photographed |
| physically over the medium(s) and/or cover(s). Actual group name of the |
| release MUST be inscribed on the paper. Size of the grptag paper MUST |
| be smaller than the medium(s). |
| 9.5 Medium and grouptag alone MAY be used for advance, promo, or demo |
| releases in which no cover, booklet, or insert exists. |
| 9.6 Proof picture resolution MUST be at least 800x600. |
| 9.7 Prooffix is not allowed. Missing proof, wrong resolution, or any other |
| violation of the proof rules requires a repack. |
| NOTE: You SHOULD remove all EXIF data. Information such as the camera serial |
| number or GPS coordinates is a potential security risk if not removed. |
+-------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| |
| 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. |
| 2014-04-15 rule 1.4.1 adjusted |
| 2014-04-15 rule 1.5.1 added |
| 2014-04-15 rule 1.5.2 added |
| 2014-04-15 rule 2.1 adjusted |
| 2014-04-15 rule 2.2 adjusted |
| 2014-04-15 rule 2.3 adjusted |
| 2014-04-15 rule 2.4 adjusted |
| 2014-04-15 rule 2.5 adjusted |
| 2014-04-15 rule 2.6 adjusted |
| 2014-04-15 rule 4.1 adjusted |
| 2014-04-15 rule 4.5 adjusted |
| 2014-04-15 rule 4.5.1 added |
| 2014-04-15 rule 4.5.2 added |
| 2014-04-15 rule 4.5.3 added |
| 2014-04-15 rule 4.6 adjusted |
| 2014-04-15 rule 4.6.1 added |
| 2014-04-15 rule 4.6.2 added |
| 2014-04-15 rule 4.7 adjusted |
| 2014-04-15 rule 4.7.2 added |
| 2014-04-15 rule 4.8 adjusted |
| 2014-04-15 rule 4.8.1 added |
| 2014-04-15 rule 4.8.2 added |
| 2014-04-15 rule 4.9 adjusted |
| 2014-04-15 rule 4.10 adjusted |
| 2014-04-15 rule 4.11 adjusted |
| 2014-04-15 rule 5.3 adjusted |
| 2014-04-15 rule 5.3.1 added |
| 2014-04-15 rule 5.4 adjusted |
| 2014-04-15 rule 6.2 adjusted |
| 2014-04-15 rule 6.3 adjusted |
| 2014-04-15 rule 6.4 adjusted |
| 2014-04-15 rule 6.5.1 added |
| 2014-04-15 rule 6.5.2 added |
| 2014-04-15 rule 6.5.3 added |
| 2014-04-15 rule 7.2 removed |
| 2014-04-15 rule 8.2 adjusted |
| 2014-04-15 rule 8.4 removed |
| 2014-04-15 rule 9.1 adjusted |
| 2014-04-15 rule 9.2 adjusted |
| 2014-04-15 rule 9.3 adjusted |
| 2014-04-15 rule 9.4 adjusted |
| 2014-04-15 rule 9.5 added |
| 2014-04-15 rule 9.6 adjusted |
+-------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
|