Wikipedia:Featured sound criteria
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The Featured sounds process, which denoted what were considered to be the best sounds in Wikipedia, ceased operation in about November 2011.
A featured sound is a recording of a musical performance, an environmental field recording or a voice recording that exemplifies our very best work. In addition to the requirements for all sound files, it has the following attributes.
- Public domain / free license. The recording and its subject are available in the public domain or under a free license. Non-free recordings and musical performances that use texts under fair use are ineligible.
- Recording quality.
- (a) For modern recordings, the quality of the audio-engineering is of a high standard (of high fidelity and generally free of technical faults such as unintended noise, distortion, and sonic and compression artifacts).
- (b) Historical recordings are of reasonable quality for their age. Exceptions can be made for significance when it is unlikely that any better-quality free copy of the same recording could be found.
- (c) Musical performances are of a high artistic standard.
- Role. The file helps readers to understand the topic of an article. The file is used in at least one article, and adds to the reader's appreciation of that subject.
- Caption. The description provided on the featured sound portal, and puts the sound file in context.
- Sound description page. The page contains an extended description of the file, including (as far as is possible):
- (i) a brief description of the subject. A sentence or two is usually sufficient, but there should be enough information to adequately identify both the recording and what the recording is of;
- (ii) the date and venue of the recording, where known;
- (iii) the name(s) of the recordist(s), producer(s), and/or record company, where known.
- (iv) where known, a list of any editing that has been applied to the excerpt that was not in the original, such as noise reduction or click removal (obvious fade ups and fade downs at the start and end need not be listed);
- (vi) for a musical performance, the name and years of the composer (and the arranger, where relevant), the year of composition (and the arrangement, where relevant), the name(s) of the performer(s) or, for an ensemble, the name of the group and, where relevant, the conductor and soloist (where information is unavailable, such as for some historical recordings, provide as much as is known); and
- (vii) where a recording has been released into the public domain or has been transferred to a free license, the name of the original owner and the date of release/transfer, if this information is recoverable.
- Additional documentation, such as a transcript or a musical score, can be useful, but is not required.
Spoken Wikipedia readings of articles are ineligible for nomination.