Quoting songs in Zotero

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  • Wow! The Format field is already there. That was fast.

    Please add my vote to add an "Album" field for audio recordings in a future version of Zotero.

    It might also make sense to add the following Creator fields (although I imagine that there may be many, many fields that could be added here).
    Original Performer [to distinguish cover songs from originals]
    Featuring [which is similar to Contributor but is the term currently used in pop music]
    Conductor

    For hip-hop, I would want to include something about the songs that were sampled, but do not know how to do that in Zotero other than linking to the original songs, which seems cumbersome.

    Thanks for all you do.

    - Ian
  • @bwiernik @adamsmith

    Hello! This has been an insightful thread on quoting songs however I'm finding that some things don't quite work for me and I'm not sure why.

    My intent: Cite Aqua's 1997 "Barbie Girl" in APA
    My issue: I'm using "Audio Recording" and
    1. I cannot add more than three people whether it's composers, performers, etc.; this is problematic because I need four spaces.
    2. I added in the "Extra" section "Container title: Aquarium" and not only does it not show up in the bibliography, my song title is in italics when the album should be in italics (according to Purdue OWL) and song title in normal text.

    I refreshed my Zotero app and my Word document but no success.

    I appreciate your help in advance!
  • edited May 17, 2019
    1. What exactly do you mean? You can’t add more than three authors in the Zotero app?

    2. Can you export the item to Zotero RDF, post the code to hastebin.com, and post a link to it in this thread? Also, check that you are using the official APA CSL style (not a modified version) and that it is up to date by reinstalling the APA style from the Cite pane of Zotero preferences.
  • edited May 18, 2019
    @bwiernik thanks for your help!

    1. At the time I composed this comment, I was not able to add more than three people. However, I am able to add more now and some aspects are no longer a problem.

    2. https://hastebin.com/rohurubomu.xml
    I am using the APA 6th edition and do not believe that it is modified.

    Below is what shows up in my bibliography.

    Norreen, C., & Rasted, S. (1997). Barbie Girl. In Aquarium*. Universal Music Group, Music Corporation of America.
    *Aquarium shows in italics, but there shouldn't be "In" in the reference. "Extra" section has "Container title: Aquarium"
  • That's the correct formatting. "In" is expected. APA style calls for:
    Norreen, C., & Rasted, S. (1997). Barbie Girl. On Aquarium. Universal Music Group, Music Corporation of America.

    But Zotero/CSL cannot currently differentiate between "In" for paper media and "On" for audio media, so "In" is used throughout.
  • This is a helpful thread as a begining, however when I follow the instructions above and insert a citation (CMoS, 2017), both the song title and the Extra: Container title appear in italics, rather than song title in quotation marks and album title in Italics. Any insight into why?
  • I am confronted with an issue concerning containers: (citing in MLA)

    When I cite a song from a single/7", I do not indicate a container, therefore it appears in italics. Fine.
    When the song is on an album, I indicate a container in the extra field, which appears in italics, with the song between quotation marks. Fine.

    ... BUT what about EPs (Extended Play), which usually have about 4 titles?

    Are they supposed to be containers? (mini albums?) If so, the problem is they have no title. Should I indicate the title of the first song on the EP as a container title?

    Are they supposed to be treated as just a big single/7", with no container?

    I cannot find any answer anywhere, so if anyone has any idea...
  • edited September 23, 2023
    Hi, I notice this thread has been open for 5 years. Song-on-album is a pervasive media format distinct from "Audio Recording" which has existed for a century plus. If that's not sufficient precedent for a unique record type, what is?

    (I observe a similar, relatively more forgivable gap for "Video Game" as distinct from "Software".)

    It's quite possible there's a philosophical objection or technical/resource constraint on creating a distinct type for 'Song' versus 'Audio Recording' that I've failed to understand, but such rationale hasn't been articulated in the thread.

  • There are no principled philosophical objections, but every new item type has signficiant costs in terms of properly developing its metadata, in terms of creating an ever-growing list of item types that at some point will become unmanageable for a GUI application, and in terms of working with in on import and in citation styles.

    That's why there's a general bias against adding new types and an attempt to capture item types that are mainly primary sources for scholarship (for which there are likely 1000s of distinctions, all deeply meaningful within respective scholarly fields and traditions) into abstract, higher-level categories. In addition, there's the fact that Zotero hadn't added *any* new item types for more than 10 years until about 1.5 years ago for purely technical reasons, so even among things that everyone agrees should happen there's a backlog.
  • I'd love to see an “album” and “song” container in Zotero even if I understand what @adamsmith said. Is that possible theoretically to image a way where users can create some customs container?
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