THIS IS A BETA FEATURE - anything could change, including the fields themselves. Please check this documentation for updates.
Why should I use this feature?
The CSV_To_Draft feature enables you to create multiple new Database draft entries (submissions) without having to manually enter the information into the Submission Form one at a time.
This feature was built as a test to see if it would help people who have databases and spreadsheets of releases that are not in Discogs, to enter them as easily as possible.
This feature only creates Draft releases from the uploaded file, it does not submit them to the public database. The drafts will still have to be submitted one at a time. This is to enable the Submission Form error checking to catch problems, and to make sure that only completed submissions that have been checked by the submitter appear in the Database.
If you use this feature, please be sure to check all information as usual. Artist and label names need to be checked to make sure they match with the correct entity on Discogs. You can do this easily by going to the artist or label field on the Submission Form, and pressing your ‘down’ arrow key. You will then get a list of potential matches, and can select the correct one.
What standards does this feature follow?
Please remember that all submissions are expected to meet our guideline standards. Other users will check your submissions and may comment or vote on them. It is advisable to work with the Community to ensure corrections are made, and mistakes can be avoided in the future. Remember that repeated poor quality submissions may lead to your ability to enter information to the Database being restricted or even stopped altogether.
The feature is currently restricted to only uploading 100 drafts at a time.
If you are new or inexperienced in submitting, it is advisable to take your time and only submit a handful of releases, so that other contributors can check them. Make sure that the “When one of my submissions is changed by another user” and “When one of my contributions is changed by another user” notifications are set in your Notification Settings so you are notified of any comments.
You can also ask for help in the Submission Help Forum.
How can I access the CSV_To_Draft feature?
The feature is available at https://www.discogs.com/release/csv_to_draft. This link is available to all, but it is not linked on the main site at the moment, as it is early beta and we want to test and get feedback first.
How to use the CSV_To_Draft feature
Before using the CSV_To_Draft feature, please make sure to check the following:
- The release information has to be in a CSV (comma separated values) file, using commas as separators. Any spreadsheet program should be able to save in this format.
- The first row has to contain the header fields (artist, title, etc.).
- As well as following the guide below for using the CSV_To_Draft feature, successful submissions need to follow the usual guidelines for each of the fields.
Supported fields in the CSV_To_Draft feature
- artist
- This is the Main Artist field. You can use commas to add more than one artist.
- title
- label
- You can only add one label.
- catno
- You can only add one catalog number.
- format
- You can only add one format, it has to be a valid format from our formats list. You can’t add format descriptions using this feature at this time, you will need to add them manually when you edit your draft submission.
- genre
- You can only add one genre, it has to be one from our genre list.
- style
- You can add two or more styles, using commas to separate them. They have to be from our list of styles.
- tracks
- Use ‘carriage return’ or ‘newline’ to separate the tracks. Typically, this is done with ‘control’ then ‘return’ on spreadsheet programs. Track positions cannot be added with this feature, they will be automatically marked as generic “1, 2, 3” etc. You will need to edit them on the Submission Form if this is not appropriate for the release. Track artists, times, and credits can’t be added with this feature, if you need to add them, it will need to be done on the Submission Form.
- a runout
- b runout
- notes
- date
- barcode
- Images
- The image has to be on the publicly accessible internet.
Current issues with the CSV_To_Draft feature
- THIS IS A BETA FEATURE - anything could change, including the fields themselves. Please check this documentation for updates.
- Multiple duplicate draft creation is possible (uploading the same file multiple times) - PLEASE BE CAREFUL, you can only delete a draft one at a time at the moment.
- Format only works for main format, not format descriptions.