Music Journalism: An attempt to find common ground for American and British conventions

I write mainly about the music scene and I would like to discuss a boggling dilemma which I think simply boils down to preference and house style at the end of the day but which I still want clarified or challenged to see who prefers which. I write predominantly in American style but when it comes to these issues in particular, I find the British counterpart fairly practical, innate, and convincing.

Band names subject-verb agreement

American English by convention treats band names either as a singular or a plural entity depending on how they sound. When a certain band name actually ends with a plural subject that suggests "human" attribution, the convention even becomes more fitting. Thus:

• Simple Plan is a rock band.
• The Shins is an indie rock band. (the word "shin[s]" has no human attribution; but may be treated as plural for its sound)
• The Wonder Years is a rock band. (ditto)
• Coldplay is a rock band.
• but: The Killers are a rock band. (because the word "killer[s]" has human attribution)

This practice is of course commonplace in the house style of American publications such as The New York Times, The Atlantic, where headlines can look as follows:

• Simple Plan releases new album
• Coldplay hits no. 1
• but: The Killers drop new EP
• The Shins announce tour
• The Wonder Years cover R.E.M.

Here are some screenshots from The New York Times (US).

but

What's a bit confusing is that when a plural-sounding band name like The Shins is paired with an action verb, it is usually treated as plural in AmE.

Here's a screenshot of The Shins' biography from Wikipedia (US).

but

Except for Coldplay, all the above bands I gave as examples are Americans, but that fact doesn't really matter anyway when we write about them the British English way. BrE simply treats all band names as a plural entity that, logically, requires a plural verb. Thus:

• Simple Plan are a rock band.
• The Shins are an indie rock band.
• The Wonder Years are a rock band.
• The Killers are a rock band.
• Coldplay are a rock band.

All of 'em.

In British publication headlines (e.g., NME, BBC, The Guardian):

• Simple Plan release new album
• The Shins announce new single
• The Killers drop new EP
• Coldplay pause tour

It is worth mentioning, though, that most widely followed American music publications (e.g., Pitchfork, Rolling Stone, Consequence of Sound, Alternative Press) evidently use the British style as regards the subject-verb agreement for bands. British publications, on the other hand, couldn't care less. That's their default.

Pitchfork (US)

Consequence of Sound (US)

The one thing I kind of find off with the BrE convention is that it tends to treat as plural all succeeding collective nouns that refer to the musical group being written about, although there have been instances where reservations are manifest. To wit:

• The duo are…
• The band have recorded…
• The four-piece have been…
• The emo band are back…
• but sometimes: The group/band/clique was…

In AmE, where collective nouns are generally treated as singular, the above examples will be written as follow:

• The duo is…
• The band has recorded…
• The four-piece has been…
• The emo band is back…
• but: The band members have told…

While the abovementioned American music publications subscribe to the BrE way of treating band names as plural, they have yet to unsubscribe to the AmE convention of treating collective nouns as singular for good (as opposed to a band name which sounds just fine when paired with a plural verb).

AmE does feel more correct in treating collective nouns like duo, band, and four-piece as singular. As much as I want to refer to bands as a plural entity, I prefer doing so only when it "feels" proper, such as when the band name (a proper noun) is explicitly mentioned, not when it has been replaced with a collective noun equivalent:

• Coldplay are releasing their new effort.
• not: The group are releasing their new effort.

Here is a screenshot of a report by The Guardian (UK).

The BrE practice of treating collective nouns alternately as singular or plural for some reason doesn't appeal to me as I'm a sucker for consistency. The pitfall with AmE, on the other hand, is the inconsistency that often arises for treating all band names as singular unless semantics dictates otherwise.

• Coldplay is releasing their new effort.

Treating Coldplay as a collective noun which takes a singular verb conflicts with the use of their in the very same sentence where Coldplay is treated as a singular entity. To remedy the self-contradiction, AmE simply suggests that their be replaced with its. Thus:

• Coldplay is releasing its new effort.
• The group is releasing its new effort.

Consistent? Consistent. But I prefer "Coldplay are"; "Coldplay have" (BrE) but "The group is"; "The band has" (AmE).

Capitalization of "the" in running text for band names that begin with it

Another noticeable distinction between American English and British English when writing music news or features is the capitalization of the article "the" in running text when it is an integral part of a band's name. (I wrote about this before.) AmE practice (which is commonly governed by the two widely used style guides, the Chicago Manual of Style and the Associated Press Stylebook) recommends the lowercasing of "the" when the band name appears mid-sentence. Thus:

• The Strokes collaborated with Green Day.
• but: Green Day collaborated with the Strokes.
• John is a fan of the 1975.

In BrE, the article "the" is basically preserved throughout, given it is considered an integral part of a band's official name. Thus:

• The Strokes collaborated with Green Day.
• Green Day collaborated with The Strokes.
• John is a fan of The 1975.

I prefer BrE on this (that's why I wrote The Shins as is up there), but I'm quite a minimalist so I actually find AmE's style appealing and I might just follow it anytime soon.

Placement of comma and period

This is the last topic I ought to discuss: The difference between AmE and BrE preferences on commas when writing a series of song titles enclosed in quotation marks or when setting off clauses in general as well as on periods when a song title ends the sentence.

Periods and commas always go inside the quotation marks in American English.

• My favorite Daft Punk songs are "Digital Love," "Around the World," and "Get Lucky."

In British English, not only are periods and commas placed outside, the convention also recommends using single quotation marks.

• My favorite Daft Punk songs are 'Digital Love', 'Around the World', and 'Get Lucky'.

I prefer AmE's double quotation marks, but I like BrE's logical comma and period placement.

Another reason I'm inclined to put commas outside quotation marks when it comes to song titles is that artistic freedom allows the use of special characters in them. They're even becoming odder by the day. See how SPIN treated Taylor Swift's "…Ready For It?" below.

Let's pretend the title was "Hey," (with a comma). Thus: "Instead, that pact became enshrined, and is so again on "Hey,," the second track to be released off the forthcoming…." Some might suggest simply rephrasing the sentence to avoid this presentation issue, which could have been easily remedied by enclosing the title alone in all instances. "Hey,", or "Ready For It?", may look just as odd, though, but at least the comma not part of the title here doesn't get unnecessarily hyperlinked where possible, no?

In sum, I have developed a house style that is a hybrid of AmE and BrE.

• Treat all band names as plural (BrE) [Implementing this soon as all my previous articles were written AmE style]
• Simple Plan are on tour
• Coldplay pause tour
• The Killers have released their new song
• Treat collective nouns like duo, quartet, band, group as singular (AmE)
• The band is finishing the album
• The four-piece has announced its plans
• The group supports the movement
• Capitalize "the" regardless of where it appears in the article when it is part of a band's name (BrE) [I'm considering adopting AmE rule on this soon]
• Use double quotations (AmE), but apply logical punctuation when writing song titles in a series or when setting off in running text (BrE)

Is anyone with me?