Template:Infobox song/doc

Articles about songs often include an infobox that provides an overview or summary of the song. Generally, Infobox song is oriented more towards recorded music that has been commercially released. Other infoboxes, such as Infobox musical composition and Infobox anthem may be better suited to traditional or historical songs. The examples to the right are the infobox filled in with the most commonly used parameters.

An infobox provides key facts as discussed in the article—it should not be too detailed or take up too much of the article space. It should only contain items, such as genres or songwriters, that are discussed in the article (or have citations to reliable sources).

The code below can be copied and completed with information pertaining to particular song articles. The Parameters section provides guidance on using the fields.

Code
The first template code below includes the most commonly used infobox parameters. If there is no information in the article to support the field, leave it blank. Remove the  to use the Start date and Duration subtemplates.

The second includes the full set of parameters; most articles will not need many of the fields and they may be left blank or removed. Please note that adding fields other than those listed, such as arranger or recording engineer, will not be displayed.

Most commonly used parameters


Full set of parameters


name
The title of the song. If not provided, the template uses the PAGENAMEBASE of the page. Since it is not linked, disambiguation terms, such as "(song)", "(Beyoncé song)", etc., are not needed.

cover
Add an image of a sheet music cover, picture sleeve, or other image appropriate for the song. First, one must be uploaded (see Uploading images for details). Then, enter the file name (without File:) into the field, such as.

alt
Use this field to provide alternative text or a description of the cover image for visually impaired readers. See WP:ALT.

caption
If there is an image, a suitable caption may be added that follows MOS:CAPTION (begins with a capital letter, no period at end if it is a sentence fragment, etc.) Please note that if the image is unambiguously a picture sleeve or record label for the release that is described in the infobox, then it is "self-captioning", and no caption needs to be entered in this parameter.

type
Specify "single", "instrumental", "composition", "promo", etc., as shown in the code table below. The entry will be automatically linked to the corresponding article, so only the unlinked code is needed (the default is "song"). This field is used to generate the header and color; please note that it is not used for genre, which is described in the genre fields.

A song that is called a "single" by sources, even if the song was not released as part of a single, may be classified as a "single".

If an album track was later released as a single, use the most notable or best known. For example, "Stairway to Heaven" was released as a promo single in several markets and as a digital single in 2007, but became best known as a song from Led Zeppelin's fourth album.

artist
If the article associates the original or primary rendition of the song with one artist, enter the name of the artist and link if they have a WP article. For band names that begin with "The", enter the lower case "the" (the Beatles, rather than The Beatles), consistent with MOS:THEMUSIC. For traditional or historical songs, when the focus is not on a particular rendition, this should be left blank (alternatively, consider using Template:Infobox musical composition).

album
If the song was first released on an album, enter the name of the album and link. The template will italicize the album name and produce "from the album Name " in the header. If the song was originally released as a single well in advance of the album, album should not be used, since it is not from the album, but later added to one. For example, "Beck's Bolero" and "Back on the Chain Gang" were released as singles about 16 months before they were added to albums and became well-known before the albums.

EP
If the song was first released on an EP or Extended play, add the EP name in this field. The name will be italicized, etc., and should be used as described in the album subsection above. Please note: only album or EP should be used and depends on which one was issued first.

language
If the song is not in English, indicate the language (common languages should not be linked).

English_title
An English translation of the title may be included in this field.

A-side
If the article is about a song that was released as a B-side of a single, enter the name of the A-side and link as appropriate (do not use B-side). Quote marks will be added automatically. For multiple entries, see Notes for details. For double A-sided singles, refer to the Chronology for double-A-side singles section below.

B-side
If the article is about the song that was issued as the A-side of a single, enter the name of the B-side in this field (do not add A-side). Add a link if it has an article; quote marks will be automatically added. For multiple entries, see Notes for details. Generally, later releases or in secondary markets, reissues, etc., should only be included in the body of the article.

written
The year the song was written or composed may be added, if discussed in the article. This is usually used for historical songs, written before the advent of sheet music publishing or music recording.

published
The year the song was published also may be included, if discussed in the article. This usually refers to sheet music published before the rise of music recording.

released
Indicate the commercial release date, whether it is a single, album, or other. Usually, this is the date that it became widely available to the public, such as in retail. Dates for leaked copies, advance or limited promo releases to radio stations, etc., generally are not used, but may be included in an appropriate section of the main body if noteworthy. For example, album tracks that receive airplay should use the album release date, rather than when they were added to radio. If the same song is later released as an actual single and that becomes the best known (and single is used), indicate the date the single was released. Enter the date using Start date. For example, use  for the complete date,   if only year and month are known, or   for just a year. For multiple entries, see Notes for details. Generally, later releases or in secondary markets, reissues, on compilations, etc., should only be included in the body of the article.

format
The format parameter has been removed as a result of a 2020 discussion. Any information entered in format will not be displayed.

recorded
Enter the date(s) the song was recorded. When there are many dates, it is best to summarize, using the month or range of months (e.g., January–March ). For multiple entries, see Notes for details. Add the location of the recording in the studio or venue field.

studio
If the song was recorded in a recording studio, enter the name and location. Link the studio, but not well-known cities, states, or countries (see WP:OVERLINK). Remove "Studios" if it appears in the name – use Sound City rather than Sound City Studios. For multiple entries, see Notes for details. 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 for details.

venue
For live recordings, include the name of the venue (concert hall, stadium, etc.) and location. Link as appropriate. 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 for details.

genre
The field should include the music genre(s) that best describes the song. It should come from a reliable source and also be stated and referenced in the body of the article; personal opinions or original research must not be included. Note that most genres are not proper nouns and should not be capitalized. However, the first word in a list of multiple genres should be capitalized. For multiple entries, see Notes for details.

length
Enter the length of the song in minutes and seconds using a colon to separate the two, such as. Do not use "3 minutes and 9 seconds", 3' 9", etc. If additional lengths are entered, use Duration for the second and subsequent lengths:   will produce "3:09". A seconds value must be included; enter "3:00" if the song is timed to three minutes only. The length should be taken from the original album or single release, instead of reissues, downloads, etc.  For multiple entries, see Notes for details.

label
The name of the record company that issued the release may be included here. Generally, add later releases, those from different countries, reissues, etc., in the body of article instead of the infobox. Remove "Records" if it appears in the name – use Universal instead of Universal Records. For multiple entries, see Notes for details.

writer
Use this field if the music and lyrics were written by one person or, in the case of multiple writers, where a separate lyricist and composer have not been clearly identified by a reliable source. Do not use this field if the composer and lyricist fields are used. For multiple entries, see Notes for details.

composer
The person(s) who composed the song's music, if different than the lyricist. If not differentiated in the article, use the writer field instead. For instrumentals, use this field only (in WP song articles, "song" (music with words) is not usually used to describe an "instrumental"). For multiple entries, see Notes for details.

lyricist
The person(s) who wrote the lyrics, if different than the song's composer. If not differentiated in the article, use the writer field instead. For multiple entries, see Notes for details.

producer
Enter the name of the person(s) credited as the actual record producer(s). Do not include those listed as executive, co-, additional, vocal, etc., producers, unless a reliable source identifies their contribution as substantially the same as the main producers. These should be included in the article body or track listings rather than be listed here. For multiple entries, see Notes for details.

chronology
This field and the following prev_title and next_title display the artist's immediate singles chronology. By leaving it blank, "The Artist singles chronology" is automatically displayed if any of the following fields are used. An alternative header may be displayed before the automatically produced "chronology", for example,,  , etc., produces "The Artist American chronology", "The Artist UK singles chronology", etc. Please note: if this field is used and a track listing is also wanted, it must be added using Extra track listing.

If chronology is blank, the first (English) letter of the artist name given in artist is automatically capitalized in the chronology header, so that band names starting with "The" appear as recommended in the Manual of Style. If the first letter of the artist's name is stylized in lower case, or if the first letter in the artist's name is not part of the English alphabet, enter the artist's name in chronology as you wish it to appear. For example:
 * letlive. should use letlive. for it to also appear there in lower case.
 * Édith Piaf should use Édith Piaf to prevent the letter "d" (the first English letter) from appearing in upper case.

prev_title
Enter the name of the artist's previous single. Quote marks will be added automatically; link it if there is a WP article. Leave this blank if the artist has no previous single. For double A-sided singles, refer to the Chronology for double-A-side singles section below.

prev_year
Enter only the year the previous single was released. Following the WP date style guidelines, years should not be linked within the chronology section. Leave this field blank if there is no previous single.

next_title
Enter the name of the artist's next single, if applicable. Quote marks will be added automatically; link it if there is a WP article.

next_year
Enter only the year the next single was issued, if applicable.

tracks
Several track listing options are available. See the Track listing examples section below for explanations and codes.

misc
This is not a space for miscellaneous information or comments. It allows for the use of subtemplates, including Extra chronology, Extra track listing, Extra album cover, Audio sample, and External music video. Please refer to the template pages for explanations on their use.

Track listing examples
Not all infoboxes should include album track listings. Articles about traditional or historical songs might not focus on a particular recording, so details about a later rendition, including album releases, are inappropriate for an infobox. Additionally, there may already be an album track listing with links to other songs in a navigation template or navbox at the end of the article. These include an album navbox (for example, Thriller (album)), an artist song navbox (Rihanna songs), or an artist navbox that includes songs (Robert Johnson). An album track listing may be added to infobox song as long as the following criteria are met: 1) the article does not have a navbox in which the song appears ; and 2) a majority of the album's songs are linked to WP articles. Currently, three different approaches to listing album tracks are found in infobox song.

Track listing using a separate sub-template
If a separate album track listing sub-template has been created, it may be added to the tracks of the infobox. Using such a template may be more convenient for multi-disc albums or those with many tracks. A header with the album name will be automatically generated, along with the number of tracks. The song title will not be linked, but will appear in bold.

The example to the right uses Astral Weeks track listing to demonstrate. To see its use in actual song infobox, click on the song links. Please note, if a singles chronology is also used in the infobox (prev_title, etc.), Extra track listing must be used in the misc field (refer to that Template:Extra track listing for the code and explanation).