WikiMusicGuide:WikiMusicGuide is not an encyclopedia

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WikiMusicGuide is not an Encyclopedia

A lot of people mistake WikiMusicGuide for an encyclopedia. The question after that is why we are trying to do the same thing as Wikipedia. I can see the confusion arise since we are using MediaWiki, the same software that runs Wikipedia, and that Wikipedia has information on everything, including music. The answer is that we are not an encyclopedia. WikiMusicGuide is a music fan site, a music guide created by music fans and artists themselves all around the world.

1. PPOV vs NPOV. Wikipedia practices NPOV or neutral point of view. WikiMusicGuide leans towards PPOV or positive point of view. We are here to promote our favorite artists and not just to write information about them that everyone else knows. WikiMusicGuide covers both the logical and emotional part of music.

2. Facts vs Guide. Wikipedia is all about facts. WikiMusicGuide is all about music artists and fans. If I want to read about a certain artist's biography, I go to Wikipedia. If I want to know facts and other people’s thought about an artist, share my own views and add more information, I go to WikiMusicGuide.

3. Reviews. If I like an artist, I can just go and make my own review then add it to WikiMusicGuide. WikiMusicGuide welcomes reviews from the music community and captures the emotions and insights of music fans. In Now, we no longer have to read reviews only from the "experts".

4. Music vs Everything. Wikipedia has everything, and I mean everything. WikiMusicGuide focuses only on music. Those who are interested in writing about anything and everything, Wikipedia is the way to go. If you're a music lover, someone who gets excited when a new CD is released and stands in line for concert tickets, WikiMusicGuide is definitely your place. Go to WikiMusicGuide and write about your passion for music. Go to Wikipedia about your passion and get your changes reverted.

5. Community. Wikipedia has a large community that aims to maintain the largest online resource ever built. WikiMusicGuide's community is a music community. We are composed of music fans, music artists, mainstream and Indie, music writers and music managers, etc. Our passion for music can be seen in the way our site is written and built.

6. Interest. Wikipedia does not allow persons involved in the article to write anything about the article. It's a conflict of interest. WikiMusicGuide allows users and artists to edit their own pages and not to simply state facts about them. WikiMusicGuide is a world wide collaborative music fan site – we have facts about artists and we promote them as well.

7. Notability. Wikipedia has notability guidelines and if you don't meet them, your entry will be deleted. Notability is important to make sure an encyclopedia contains only important facts and figures. WikiMusicGuide has only one guideline - any article related to music is welcome. If you're an upcoming or unsigned artist, you're free to join and create your page. Users are also welcome to create pages about songs, albums and concerts. If someone creates a page about President George Bush in WikiMusicGuide, it will be deleted (unless he becomes a musician after his presidency).

8. References. Wikipedia text has to be referenced from somewhere else. How do they validate if those references are correct? I don't know. WikiMusicGuide does not have this restriction. The content comes from music fans all around the world. You don't need to be an expert or just take content from experts.

9. Content. The content from Wikipedia and WikiMusicGuide can be used by anyone under certain conditions. Wikipedia is under the GFDL while WikiMusicGuide is using Creative Commons Share-A-like license.

10. Goal. Wikipedia's goal is to become the largest collaborative encylopedia online. WikiMusicGuide's goal is to become the largest music guide online – an open, collaborative version of All Music Guide that is written by music fans for music fans.

I hope these points show why WikiMusicGuide is different from Wikipedia. Our content, our goals, our interests, our community, they are all music focused. It's really all about music.