RolandNote.com was created to organize music information in a manner that's highly unique. The site celebrates country music, the people who make it and the ways that it intersects with other parts of culture with a date-driven approach that puts the music, its creators and the events that surround it into a variety of perspectives.

The site covers more than 60,000 events that have occurred in country music history, with information on more than 10,000 people; 10,000 songs; 3,600 albums and 3,300 movies and TV shows.

RolandNote is driven by hits and cultural relevance. You'll find tons of detail about significant people, songs and albums; you won't get bogged down by tracks from obscure albums. Here's a general overview of the kinds of the criteria that's been used to decide what does or does not appear in RolandNote.com:

People
People qualify for RolandNote.com when they meet one or more of the following criteria:
• They are an artist, producer, songwriter or musician on a hit that reached the Top 15 in the Billboard, Radio & Records or Mediabase charts.
• They appear as an artist on a country album that has been certified gold.
• They are nominated in a country category for a major award (primarily - but not necessarily limited to - the Country Music Association, the Academy of Country Music, the Grammy awards, the American Music awards, the Americana Music awards or the defunct Music City News awards).
• They are referenced in the lyrics of a country hit.
• They appear in a movie or soundtrack.
• They appear as an artist, producer, songwriter or musician on one or more of the entries celebrated in the Country Music Foundation book Heartaches By The Number, which seeks to define the 500 greatest singles in country music history.
• They are a member of the Country Music Hall of Fame.
• They run or founded a record company that releases music that qualifies for inclusion in the database.
• They are an artist who recorded the original non-country version of a future country hit (The database does not go into great detail about their lives. It logs births and deaths and instances when they have played a part in events that qualify for the database for other reasons).
• Presidents and vice presidents who've had interaction with country stars are also included.

Songs
Songs and specific singles are logged into RolandNote.com when they meet one or more of the following criteria:
• They reach the Top 15 in the Billboard, Radio & Records or Mediabase charts.
• They are the debut release by an artist who is featured in the database.
• They are nominated in a country category for a major award (primarily - but not necessarily limited to - the Country Music Association, the Academy of Country Music, the Grammy awards, the American Music awards, the Americana Music awards or the defunct Music City News awards).
• They are referenced in the lyrics of another song that reached the Top 15. (A few examples include such pop songs as "In My Life," "Hey Jude" and "Sympathy For The Devil," which have appeared in the words of songs by Ty Herndon, Martina McBride and The Bellamy Brothers).
• They appear in a movie or soundtrack.
• They appear in the Country Music Foundation book Heartaches By The Number, which seeks to define the 500 greatest singles in country music history.

Albums
Albums are featured in RolandNote.com when they meet one or more of the following criteria:
• They are certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America.
• They are the debut release by an artist who is featured in the database.
• They are nominated in a country category for a major award (primarily - but not necessarily limited to - the Country Music Association, the Academy of Country Music, the Grammy awards, the American Music awards, the Americana Music awards or the defunct Music City News awards).
• They mark the first release at a new label by an artist already featured in the database.
• They are a soundtrack album featuring one or more country artists or songs.
• They are a tribute album featuring one or more country artists.

Movies/TV Shows
Movies and TV shows are generally added to RolandNote under the premise that they signify interaction between the genre and the culture at large if they feature country music or its artists in one of the following ways:
• A country artist, musician or songwriter is part of the cast.
• A country song or country artist is featured in the music for the particular piece.
• A song written by a country figure is featured in the soundtrack.
There are some exceptions, however:
• Appearances on talk shows are usually not included because there are so many of them and it is fairly common for country artists to appear on many of them just after the release of an album. Appearances that are a bit unusual are included at the discretion of the editor. (At some time in the future, talk shows may be included).
• Country cable shows are treated with the same general principle that applies to recording sessions and concerts. Holding a recording session is not particularly noteworthy, because it's what artists do, although recording a hit at a session is noteworthy, because it represents a special benchmark event beyond the routine. By the same token, every concert date an artist does in his or her career will not be included-it's part of the job. Some concerts stand out as special, however, and they do make their way into the database. Not all shows on country cable networks-specifically CMT and GAC-are being included, because country stars appearing on country networks is basically part of the current job description. Events associated with country cable networks that do qualify for the database include the debut of a video, because it helps mark the time frame for a particular release (The videos are required to meet the criteria outlined for songs). Special "event" shows that amass multiple artists for special purposes are also likely to be added.