The following discussion is an archived debate of the proposed deletion of the article below. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page (such as the article's talk page or in a deletion review). No further edits should be made to this page.

The result was delete‎. ✗plicit 23:38, 4 April 2024 (UTC)[reply]

List of cult music artists[edit]

[Hide this box] New to Articles for deletion (AfD)? Read these primers!

(Find sources: Google (books · news · scholar · free images · WP refs) · FENS · JSTOR · TWL)

A subjective term, not defining characteristic. Surely, The Beatles belong to the list. But in many cases " notable sources" may use this term as a promotional hype. Surely, there can be better, more objective descriptiors, such as "influential music artists", for those who left a lasting well-references influence, like the mentioned Beatles. - Altenmann >talk 19:33, 28 March 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Note: This discussion has been included in the deletion sorting lists for the following topics: Bands and musicians, Lists of people, Music, and Lists. WCQuidditch ☎ ✎ 20:40, 28 March 2024 (UTC)[reply]
Delete Poorly defined and vague inclusion criteria. Not an intrinsic or distinguishing characteristic. A certain term having been used once to describe someone isn't necessarily a relevant commonality. Assuming this refers to Cult_following#Music, this is simply too broad of a concept to justify us maintaining such a large context-free list. Reywas92^Talk 21:55, 28 March 2024 (UTC)[reply]
Delete - There is some merit to discussing a particular band's cult following when that is a matter of knowledgeable coverage, but this list article is just an unencyclopedic mess that doesn't even bother to define the term. Gigantic acts like the Beatles or Beastie Boys or Radiohead are possibly here because someone noted their passionate fanbases, but so many millions of people do not automatically fall within the meaning of "cult following". Also note bands like the Cure or R.E.M., who started with small local followings but then became humungous and never looked back. I recommend a similar analysis of the even vaguer List of cult television shows. ---DOOMSDAYER520 (TALK|CONTRIBS) 13:33, 29 March 2024 (UTC)[reply]
Keep All entries have a reliable source calling them this. We go based on what reliable sources say, not personal opinions. Dream Focus 01:51, 30 March 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Those sources might be reliable in their reporting on other things, but for this discussion many of them have no definition of what "cult" means, and those that attempt a definition do it hundreds of different ways. ---DOOMSDAYER520 (TALK|CONTRIBS) 12:37, 30 March 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Delete: The category for music being described as cult is too broad and doesn't have a clear criteria other than "someone called it cult once." At least for films there's "flopped at the box office but obtained a dedicated following later on," but here it's not defined clearly and just seems to be bands with a dedicated fanbase. That's, well, pretty much every noteworthy band. StreetcarEnjoyer (talk) 02:20, 4 April 2024 (UTC)[reply]

The above discussion is preserved as an archive of the debate. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page (such as the article's talk page or in a deletion review). No further edits should be made to this page.