Sources & evidence

Evidence should be inspectable.

A music ranking will always involve judgment. The evidence behind that judgment should still be visible, legible and honest about its limits.

Source registry and evidence review updated Jul 11, 2026 · Refresh labels below are targets

MGI model 3.3.0July 2026 · MGI v3.3 archive6 factors counted2 context lenses

Artist profiles

1,000

Canonical source IDs

8,000 / 8,000

Current sources

Active dimensions

Our promise

No black box. No hidden assumptions.

You should be able to understand why an artist ranks where they do, distinguish evidence from estimation, and see which sources are deliberately excluded.

How scoring works

Show the basis

Every part of the score should tell you what supports it — and say clearly when a defensible number is not available.

Separate unlike things

Sales and touring stay outside the all-time list and remain unavailable until artist-specific evidence passes review.

Respect data rights

Platform data with restrictive terms is kept out of core scores unless the rights and use are unambiguous.

Inside the all-time score

Six parts of the score, each explained.

These are the dimensions used by the default ranking. Open an artist profile to see the same breakdown for any name on the list.

Open the ranking

Target: manual review20% source coverage

Public attention

Public attention is a provisional long-horizon editorial judgment and makes no measured-observation claim; Current alone links the short pageview window.

MGI authority evidence mapping

Evidence type: Derived (1,000)
Review state: Provisional mapping (1,000)
Coverage fields: 1,000 / 5,000 required fields
Estimated share: 0% of current rows
Confidence: 1,000 high
Latest evidence assessment: Jul 6, 2026
Registry check: Jul 11, 2026

Target: manual review20% source coverage

Influence

Influence is an editorial judgment, supported by notes about reach, legacy and impact on other artists.

MGI authority evidence mapping

Evidence type: Editorial (1,000)
Review state: Provisional mapping (1,000)
Coverage fields: 1,000 / 5,000 required fields
Estimated share: 0% of current rows
Confidence: 1,000 high
Latest evidence assessment: Jul 6, 2026
Registry check: Jul 11, 2026

Target: weekly61.75% source coverage

Longevity

Longevity is a provisional compatibility score with structured career dates where available; its normalization and manual review record are not yet published.

MGI chronology evidence mapping

Evidence type: Derived (1,000)
Review state: Provisional mapping (1,000)
Coverage fields: 3,705 / 6,000 required fields
Estimated share: 0% of current rows
Confidence: 1,000 high
Latest evidence assessment: Jul 6, 2026
Registry check: Jul 11, 2026

Target: weekly52.15% source coverage

Catalog

Catalog strength is a provisional compatibility assessment supported by structured release history where available; normalization and review records remain incomplete.

MusicBrainz + Wikidata

Evidence type: Derived (1,000)
Review state: Provisional mapping (1,000)
Coverage fields: 3,129 / 6,000 required fields
Estimated share: 0% of current rows
Confidence: 1,000 high
Latest evidence assessment: Jul 6, 2026
Registry check: Jul 11, 2026

Target: daily40.33% source coverage

Current

Current presence uses recent public-attention context and should always be read with its date and source.

Wikimedia Pageviews + MGI Ranking Model v3

Evidence type: Derived (1,000)
Review state: Provisional mapping (1,000)
Coverage fields: 2,420 / 6,000 required fields
Estimated share: 0% of current rows
Confidence: 1,000 high
Latest evidence assessment: Jul 6, 2026
Registry check: Jul 11, 2026

Target: manual review20% source coverage

Peak

Peak is an editorial assessment of how completely an artist defined their strongest era, not a directly measured fact.

MGI authority evidence mapping

Evidence type: Editorial (1,000)
Review state: Provisional mapping (1,000)
Coverage fields: 1,000 / 5,000 required fields
Estimated share: 0% of current rows
Confidence: 1,000 high
Latest evidence assessment: Jul 6, 2026
Registry check: Jul 11, 2026

Outside the main list

Sales and touring count — when evidence can support them.

Commercial reach and live power are compelling parts of the debate, but incomplete or licensed totals cannot be inferred from fame or rank. Those views are withheld until complete observation records pass the source, method and review gates.

Target: monthly0% source coverage

Commercial

Sales is unavailable until a reviewed artist-specific observation record supports a reproducible range and score.

MGI Ranking Model v3

Evidence type: Editorial (1,000)
Review state: Needs review (1,000)
Coverage fields: 0 / 7,000 required fields
Estimated share: 100% of current rows
Confidence: 97 high · 903 medium
Latest evidence assessment: Jul 6, 2026
Registry check: Jul 11, 2026

When licensed0% source coverage

Live

Live scale is unavailable until reviewed, attributable artist-specific observations support a reproducible range and score.

MGI Ranking Model v3

Evidence type: Editorial (955) + Not applicable (45)
Review state: Needs review (1,000)
Coverage fields: 0 / 7,000 required fields
Estimated share: 100% of current rows
Confidence: 90 high · 910 medium
Latest evidence assessment: Jul 6, 2026
Registry check: Jul 11, 2026

Where the evidence comes from

Current, reference-only and not-current sources.

This table is generated from the canonical registry. Operational status, license state and explicit boundaries come from the same record used by validation and exports.

SourceCurrent useStatusBoundary

MGI authority evidence mapping

Editorial judgment · internal reviewed

Provisional public-attention, influence and peak judgments with reusable open-source context.

Current model input

These dimensions remain editorial assessments without completed metric review records or direct measurements.

Checked Jul 11, 2026 · Not permitted: commercial scale evidence, touring gross evidence

MGI chronology evidence mapping

Metadata reference (provisional) · internal reviewed

Structured career dates and active-span context for the compatibility score.

Current model input

Open records can be incomplete; this mapping is not a completed profile or metric review.

Checked Jul 11, 2026 · Not permitted: commercial scale evidence, touring gross evidence

MGI Ranking Model v3

Editorial model · internal reviewed

Editorial judgments preserved by the frozen v3.3 compatibility edition.

Current model input

These values are model judgments and must not be presented as measured sales, touring totals or observed Current activity.

Checked Jul 11, 2026 · Not permitted: commercial scale evidence, touring gross evidence

MusicBrainz

Open metadata · public open

Artist identity, releases, relationships and catalog structure.

Open and current

Metadata supports review; it does not measure sales, touring gross, influence or quality by itself.

Checked Jul 11, 2026 · Not permitted: commercial scale evidence, touring gross evidence

Wikidata

Open metadata · public open

Country, career dates, genres, membership and reference identifiers.

Open and current

Community metadata can be incomplete and is not sole authority for editorial scores.

Checked Jul 11, 2026 · Not permitted: commercial scale evidence, touring gross evidence

Wikimedia Pageviews

Public observation · public open

Short-window pageviews used only as Current-presence context.

Open and current

A pageview is not a stream, sale, fan count or quality judgment.

Checked Jul 11, 2026 · Not permitted: commercial scale evidence, touring gross evidence

Billboard Current Boxscore

Official reference · terms limited

General touring-method reference.

Reference only

A methodology landing page is not artist-specific evidence and does not independently support a score.

Checked Jul 11, 2026 · Not permitted: ranking input, contextual ranking input, commercial scale evidence, touring gross evidence

BPI Certified Awards

Official reference · terms limited

General sales-method reference.

Reference only

A methodology landing page is not artist-specific evidence and does not independently support a score.

Checked Jul 11, 2026 · Not permitted: ranking input, contextual ranking input, commercial scale evidence, touring gross evidence

ChartMasters CSPC methodology

Contextual estimate · terms limited

General sales-method reference.

Reference only

A methodology landing page is not artist-specific evidence and does not independently support a score.

Checked Jul 11, 2026 · Not permitted: ranking input, contextual ranking input, commercial scale evidence, touring gross evidence

IFPI Global Charts

Official reference · terms limited

General sales-method reference.

Reference only

A methodology landing page is not artist-specific evidence and does not independently support a score.

Checked Jul 11, 2026 · Not permitted: ranking input, contextual ranking input, commercial scale evidence, touring gross evidence

RIAA Gold & Platinum

Official reference · terms limited

General sales-method reference.

Reference only

A methodology landing page is not artist-specific evidence and does not independently support a score.

Checked Jul 11, 2026 · Not permitted: ranking input, contextual ranking input, commercial scale evidence, touring gross evidence

Wikipedia

Open metadata · public open

Artist identity and public biographical context.

Reference only

A general profile page cannot satisfy every evidence dimension or independently prove a score.

Checked Jul 11, 2026 · Not permitted: ranking input, contextual ranking input, commercial scale evidence, touring gross evidence

Chartmetric

Licensed dataset · contract required

Potential licensed commercial-scale evidence.

License required

Not licensed, connected or used in the current ranking.

Checked Jul 11, 2026 · Not permitted: ranking input, contextual ranking input, commercial scale evidence

Pollstar

Licensed dataset · contract required

Potential licensed touring and box-office evidence.

License required

Not licensed, connected or used in the current ranking.

Checked Jul 11, 2026 · Not permitted: ranking input, contextual ranking input, touring gross evidence

setlist.fm

Live-activity context · terms limited

Possible future concert-activity context.

Not current

Not current and never treated as touring-gross or ticket-revenue evidence.

Checked Jul 11, 2026 · Not permitted: ranking input, contextual ranking input, touring gross evidence

Soundcharts

Licensed dataset · contract required

Potential licensed commercial-scale evidence.

License required

Not licensed, connected or used in the current ranking.

Checked Jul 11, 2026 · Not permitted: ranking input, contextual ranking input, commercial scale evidence

Spotify Web API

Platform metadata · terms limited

Possible future artist-link or identity context after terms and implementation review.

Not current

Not currently used; it must never infer listening volume, popularity or a ranking score without explicit policy approval.

Checked Jul 11, 2026 · Not permitted: ranking input, contextual ranking input, commercial scale evidence

Viberate

Licensed dataset · contract required

Potential licensed commercial-scale evidence.

License required

Not licensed, connected or used in the current ranking.

Checked Jul 11, 2026 · Not permitted: ranking input, contextual ranking input, commercial scale evidence

Wikimedia Commons

Media asset · public open

Possible future artist imagery after a license-aware asset workflow exists.

Not current

Not currently used; image availability never affects a score and creator/license attribution would have to be preserved.

Checked Jul 11, 2026 · Not permitted: ranking input, contextual ranking input

YouTube Data API

Platform metadata · terms limited

Possible future video/channel context.

Not current

Not a current ranking source and not stored as permanent platform history.

Checked Jul 11, 2026 · Not permitted: ranking input, contextual ranking input, commercial scale evidence

Estimated Commercial Layer

Contextual estimate · internal reviewed

Historical score-derived sales and touring ranges retained for archive transparency.

Historical only

Not a current estimate or evidence source and prohibited from ranking, metric-review, commercial-scale and touring-gross use.

Checked Jul 11, 2026 · Not permitted: ranking input, contextual ranking input, commercial scale evidence, touring gross evidence

Last.fm API

Platform metadata · permission required

No current product use.

Not used

Excluded while commercial permission is absent.

Checked Jul 11, 2026 · Not permitted: ranking input, contextual ranking input, commercial scale evidence

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