Why are there artists in my catalog I don't recognize and what should I do about it?

As you import data, our system looks up unique values in your reporting (i.e. ISRCs, UPCs, Artist, Release, Track information) in order to begin building your catalog objects automatically. When Artists are featured on compilations, or participating in Releases that are not their own, you might notice some of those Track Artists being created in your Catalog without associated Releases of their own nested under the Artist object. In addition - sometimes variations of an Artist's name are present in your reporting (i.e. The Beatles vs Beatles, The), and these variations may result in multiple versions of an Artist in your catalog. But fear not - by using our helpful Alias tool following the instructions below, you can Alias these values to another Artist in your catalog, and once you have done so, all Items with Artist metadata corresponding to that variant will be routed to the primary Artist moving forward.

1. To alias an Artist, first navigate to your Catalog Manager (Catalog -> Manager)
2. Once you have done so, select the Artist that you would like to alias to the primary Artist (for a variation on an artist name, this might mean selecting "Beatles, The" to alias to the primary Artist "The Beatles" - or for a non-catalog Artist associated with a compilation, we suggest aliasing to a "Various Artists" Artist)
3. Click the "Edit" button under the Artist name on the right side of the screen, and select the primary Artist you would like to alias this Artist to under the "Alias Of" drop-down menu
4. Once you have done so, click "Save" and you will see this alias in the "Aliases" list of the Primary Artist