This template is used on many pages and changes may be widely noticed. Test changes in the template's /sandbox or /testcases subpages, or in your own user subpage. Consider discussing changes on the talk page before implementing them.
The design and content of all music-related infoboxes should follow Wikipedia's verifiability policy, infobox style guideline and music style guideline. While this document may clarify details of their specific application to the infobox, it is primarily concerned with explaining usage and not with matters of Wikipedia policy and style.
This template adds an automatically generated short descriptionunless |current_members= or |past_members= is populated. If the automatic short description is not optimal, replace it by adding {{Short description}} at the top of article.
One of the following two alternatives (one for individuals, one for groups) should be placed in an article at the top of the page, before the introduction.
The name of the group or artist ("the act") in plain text only. Logos and other graphics are to be avoided in this field in accordance with WP:ACCESS, WP:FAIR, and in particular WP:LOGO. This field is mandatory.
An image of the act, sufficiently clear for display at 220 pixels' width. Set to only the image name (e.g. Example.png) not File:Example.png or [[File:Example.png|200px|abc]].
image_size
The image size should only be specified if the image is smaller than 220 pixels width. Enter the width in pixels without "px", for example 150.
image_upright
Scales the image thumbnail from its default size by the given factor. Values less than 1 scale the image down (0.9 = 90%) and values greater than 1 scale the image up (1.15 = 115%).
landscape
Set to yes when using wide, short images. The image height (rather than width) will be limited to 200 pixels.
alt
Alt text for the image, for visually impaired and other readers who cannot see the image. See WP:ALT.
caption
Caption for the image to be displayed.
native_name
This field is only relevant for individuals. The artist's name in their own language. For Chinese-language individuals, use {{Infobox Chinese}} for |module= instead. For Korean-language individuals, use {{Infobox Korean name}} for |module= instead.
native_name_lang
This field is only relevant for individuals.ISO 639-2 code ("fre" or "fra" for French). If more than one, use {{lang}} for |native_name= instead
birth_name
This field is only relevant for individuals. The person's name at birth, if different
alias
For listing officialstage names for the act or solo artist other than the name in the |name= parameter. Also for the solo artist's legal name(s), or other officially authorized names that differ from their birth name. This field is not for nicknames such as "The Godfather of Soul" (James Brown) or "Nippy" (Whitney Houston), which are not the artists' official names.
birth_date
This field is only relevant for individuals. The artist's date of birth; it is preferable to use {{Birth date and age}} (for example {{Birth date and age|1949|12|31}}) to display current age. If the artist's age is verified, but the date is not known, then use {{Birth based on age as of date}} (for example {{Birth based on age as of date|63|2012|08|30}}). For dead people, use {{Birth date}} (for example {{Birth date|1949|12|31}}). Also list the place of birth using the birth_place parameter (below).
{{Birth date and age|Year|Month|Day}}
birth_place
This field is only relevant for individuals. The artist's place of birth. For "United States" and "United Kingdom", it is preferred that they be abbreviated "U.S." and "UK", but political subdivisions should never be (never "MA" for "Massachusetts", "ON" for "Ontario", etc.). See Notes[១] for details. Do not add a flag icon. (see field "origin" below).
[[City]], State/Province, Country
origin
The town, city etc., from which the group or musician originated (that is, the place where the group was founded, or where the individual performer started their career, should it not match the location of their birth). If the place is not known, specify at least the country. For "United States" and "United Kingdom", it is preferred that they be abbreviated "U.S." and "UK", but political subdivisions should never be (never "MA" for "Massachusetts", "ON" for "Ontario", etc.). See Notes[១] for details. Do not add a flag icon. Omit the country if it does not differ from that specified at the field "birth_place".
[[City]], State/Province, Country
death_date
This field is only relevant for individuals. The artist's date of death (same format as birth_date; but use {{Death date and age}}).
death_place
This field is only relevant for individuals.
The artist's place of death (same format as birth_place). For "United States" and "United Kingdom", it is preferred that they be abbreviated "U.S." and "UK", but political subdivisions should never be (never "MA" for "Massachusetts", "ON" for "Ontario", etc.). See Notes[១] for details. Do not add a flag icon. Omit the country if it does not differ from that specified at the field "birth_place".
genre
The genre or genres of music performed by the act. Aim for generality (e.g. [[Hip hop music|Hip hop]] rather than [[East Coast hip hop]]) and preferably use two to four. Genres should be separated by using commas, {{Flatlist}} or {{Hlist}}.[២] Genres should be wikilinked. Use piped links where needed, for example: [[Pop music|Pop]], [[Rock music|rock]]. Most genres are not proper nouns and should not be capitalized. However, the first word in a list of multiple genres should be capitalized. Genres that are sourced in the article itself do not require a source in the infobox, but sometimes it can be useful to have the source listed again anyway, to help prevent edit warring. A hidden comment such as <!-- genres listed here are sourced in the article text --> can also be used to this end.
occupation
This field is only relevant for individuals. Roles the artist has fulfilled (e.g. musician, songwriter, producer). For artists who have participated in forms of entertainment outside of music (such as acting), these occupations can be included if notable. Please observe sentence case and capitalise only the first letter of the first item (e.g. Musician, actor, singer-songwriter). Multiple occupations should be ordered according to importance and separated by commas, {{Flatlist}} or {{Hlist}}.[២]
instrument
This field is only relevant for individuals. General class(es) of instrument(s) played by the artist (e.g. guitar or violin). Include singing, rapping, beatboxing or scat singing if relevant. Separate multiple entries by using commas, {{Flatlist}} or {{Hlist}}.[២] Instruments listed in the infobox should be limited to only those that the artist is primarily known for using. The instruments infobox parameter is not intended as a WP:COATRACK for every instrument the subject has ever used.
years_active
Period(s) during which the act was or has been active. Only calendar year ranges or a single calendar year should be listed; for example, do not distinguish between the period Paul McCartney was in the Beatles and his solo career. Use commas, {{Flatlist}}, or {{Hlist}}}.[២] to separate non-consecutive periods, and denote ranges with an unspaced en dash (e.g. 1993–2004, 2005–present). See WP:DATE#Longer periods and WP:MOS#En dashes.
label
The record label or labels to which the act has been signed. Omit parenthetical dates; save that information for the main article as this degree of detail is better discussed in prose. "Records", "Entertainment", "Music" or similar words from the end of any label's name. For example, use [[Universal Records|Universal]] rather than [[Universal Records]]. Separate multiple entries by using commas, {{Flatlist}}, or {{Hlist}}.[២] Start with the oldest first.
associated_acts
This field is for professional relationships with other notable musicians or bands that are significant to this artist's career.
This field can include, for example, any of the following:
For individuals: groups of which they have been a member
Acts with which this act has collaborated on multiple occasions, or on an album, or toured with as a single collaboration act playing together
Groups which have spun off from this group
A group from which this group has spun off
Separate multiple entries by using commas, {{Flatlist}}, or {{Hlist}}.[២]
The following uses of this field should be avoided:
For groups: the solo careers of its members
Groups with only one member in common
Association of producers, managers, etc. (who are themselves acts) with other acts (unless the act essentially belongs to the producer, as in the case of a studio orchestra formed by and working exclusively with a producer)
One-time collaboration for a single song
Groups that have played or toured together as separate acts
Groups that are merely similar
website
The single web address for the act's primary official website. Use {{URL}} as {{URL|example.com}} . {{Official URL}} can be used to automatically fetch the web address from Wikidata.
current_members
This field is only relevant for active groups. Current members of the group, listed in order of joining with no other notation than names. For multiple members joining concurrently (such as the formation of the band), list them according to alphabetical order. Separate multiple entries using * list markup. For example,
| current_members =
* Member 1
* Member 2
* Member 3
past_members
This field is only relevant for groups. Past members of the group, listed in order of joining with no other notation than names. If a group is inactive, all members should be listed here, and none in the "current_members" field. If membership of the group has varied over time, it should not be noted here, but may be discussed in the article body. Can also be given as |former_members=. Separate multiple entries using * list markup. For example,
| past_members =
* Member 1
* Member 2
* Member 3
embed
Set to 'yes' if embedded in another infobox template.
module, module2, module3
Used for embedding other infoboxes into this one.
Use as a child template
The embed parameter is used when embedding this infobox into another.
{{Infobox musical artist
| name = Mariah Carey
| image = Mariah Carey13 Edwards Dec 1998.jpg
| image_upright =
| alt = Young woman singing into a hand mike with her eyes closed and a big smile
| caption = Carey performing in 1998
| birth_name = <!-- leave empty if the same "name" -->
| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1970|3|27}}
| birth_place = [[Huntington, New York]], U.S.
| origin = New York City
| genre = {{Flatlist|
* [[Pop music|Pop]]
* [[Contemporary R&B|R&B]]
* [[dance-pop]]
}}
| associated_acts =
| occupation = Singer-songwriter, record producer
| years_active = 1990–present
| label = {{Flatlist|
* [[Columbia Records|Columbia]]
* [[Virgin Records|Virgin]]
* [[MonarC]]/[[Island Records|Island]]
}}
| website = {{URL|mariahcarey.com}}
}}
↑ ១,០១,១១,២As per RfC "Naming countries in infoboxes": When identifying a location, city or region in the United States or United Kingdom, the preferred approach is to use the country abbreviations allowed by , such as "Portsmouth, New Hampshire, U.S." and "Cardiff, Wales, UK", rather than spelling out the full country name. Avoid using abbreviations for states or provinces in all nations. New Hampshire rather than ទំព័រគំរូ:!xt, New South Wales rather than ទំព័រគំរូ:!xt, or British Columbia rather than ទំព័រគំរូ:!xt (see ). Cities such as New York City and London may be rendered as "New York City, U.S." and "London, UK" or simply "New York City" and "London". Also, these should not be linked when the context makes it clear (see ). If only the country name is included, it may be written out in full.
↑ ២,០២,១២,២២,៣២,៤២,៥For short horizontal lists of two or three items, comma separators are acceptable, but for longer lists the use of {{Flatlist}} or {{Hlist}} is preferred as they offer a benefit to users of screen readers. Vertical lists should always be implemented by {{Plainlist}} or {{Unbulleted list}} and never by <br /> tags for reasons of accessibility.
Microformat
The HTML markup produced by this template includes an hCard microformat, which makes the person's details parsable by computers, either acting automatically to catalogue articles across Wikipedia or via a browser tool operated by a reader, to (for example) add the subject to an address book or database. For more information about the use of microformats on Wikipedia, please see the microformat project.
Please do not rename or remove these classes; nor collapse nested elements which use them.
The determination between class="fn" (for individuals) and class="fn org" (for groups) and is made by {{Infobox musical artist/hCard class}} using |background=.
Image to use in infobox Set to only the image name.
Example
ABBA - TopPop 1974 5.png
File
optional
Image size
image_sizeImg_size
Should only be specified if the image is smaller than 220 pixels width. Enter the width in pixels without 'px'.
Example
150
String
optional
Image upright
image_uprightImg_upright
Scales the image thumbnail from its default size by the given factor. Values less than 1 scale the image down (0.9 = 90%) and values greater than 1 scale the image up (1.15 = 115%).
String
optional
Landscape
landscapeLandscape
Set to yes when using wide, short images.
String
optional
Image alt text
altImg_alt
Alt text for the image, for visually impaired and other readers who cannot see the image.
String
optional
Image caption
captionImg_capt
Caption for the image.
String
optional
Native name
native_name
The artist's name in their own language.
String
optional
Native name (language)
native_name_lang
ISO 639-2 code e.g. 'fra' for French. If more than one, use {{lang}} for native_name instead
Example
fra
String
optional
Birth name
birth_nameBirth_name
The person's name at birth.
String
optional
Alias
aliasAlias
Official stage names, legal names, or other officially authorized names. Not for nicknames.
String
optional
Birth date
birth_date
The artist's date of birth; it is preferable to use {{Birth date and age}}.
Example
{{Birth date and age|1949|12|31}}
String
optional
Birth place
birth_place
The artist's place of birth. e.g. '[[Lubbock, Texas]], U.S.'.
String
optional
Origin
originOrigin
The city from which the singer or group originated.
Example
[[Aston]], [[Birmingham]], England
String
optional
Death date
death_date
The artist's date of death use {{Death date and age}}
String
optional
Death place
death_place
Place of death.
String
optional
Genre
genreGenre
The genre or genres of music performed by the act. Genres should be wikilinked and separated by using commas, {{tl|flatlist}} or {{tl|hlist}}
Roles the artist has fulfilled (e.g. musician, songwriter, producer, etc). For artists who have participated in forms of entertainment outside of music (such as acting), these occupations can be included if notable.
String
optional
Occupations
Occupations
no description
String
optional
Instrument
instrumentInstrumentinstruments
General classes of instruments played by the artist, e.g. guitar or violin. Include singing, rapping, beatboxing and/or scat singing if relevant. Separate multiple entries by using commas, {{tl|flatlist}} or {{tl|hlist}}. Instruments listed in the infobox should be limited to only those that the artist is primarily known for using.
String
optional
Years active
years_activeYears_activeyearsactive
Years artist/group was active.
Example
1993–2004, 2005–present
String
optional
Record label
labelLabel
The record label or labels to which the act has been signed, as a comma- or {{tl|flatlist}}-separated list. Omit dates.
Example
[[Universal Records|Universal]]
String
optional
Associated acts
associated_actsAssociated_acts
Professional relationships with other musicians or bands that are significant and notable to this artist's career.
String
optional
Website
websiteURLurl
The single web address for the act's primary official website.
Example
{{URL|blacksabbath.com}}
String
optional
Current members
current_membersCurrent_members
Name of current members of the group, listed in order of joining. Separate multiple entries using * list markup, one per line.
String
optional
Past members
past_membersPast_membersFormer_members
Past members of the group, listed in order of joining. Separate multiple entries using * list markup, one per line. If a group is inactive, all members should be listed here, and none in the 'current_members' field.
String
optional
Notable instruments
notable_instrumentsNotable_instruments
No longer used.
String
deprecated
Embedded
embed
Set to 'yes' if embedded in another infobox template.