Wikipedia:Up and coming next big thing
 | This is an essay on notability. It contains the advice or opinions of one or more Wikipedia contributors. This page is not an encyclopedia article, nor is it one of Wikipedia's policies or guidelines, as it has not been thoroughly vetted by the community. Some essays represent widespread norms; others only represent minority viewpoints. |
 | This page in a nutshell: Wikipedia is not a crystal ball. Possible future fame has no effect on present notability. |
With all due respect to the creators of new articles, it is not a valid argument for retention of an article to claim that: "He's an up-and-coming performer; They're gonna get bigger; They have the raw talent to make it to the top; If you delete her now, you'll have to create a new article when she becomes more famous; It's a rising concept/meme/ideology; They show enormous potential; This could revolutionize the field; She is going to be the Next Big Thing!"
All of these are really just different ways of saying, "I tacitly admit this subject is not yet notable; but I believe it will become notable." It's also a rather blatant violation of our underlying policy that Wikipedia is not a crystal ball.
Sometimes this argument will be made by the subject of the article; sometimes, by other parties with conflicts of interest (a publicist for the band or artist); sometimes, merely by an eager fan.
Don't feel discouraged that Wikipedia does not allow articles to be created on non-notable bands, individuals and concepts. After all, if it turns out that you are right, and the article's subject really is the Next Big Thing, writing the article again when it gets its big break is really no big deal. We'll have more to say about it by then, anyway; and Wikipedia is not under any kind of deadline.
Other options
[edit]If you really believe that Foo Barkley is the Next Big Thing in heavy metal guitar, but currently she only plays on YouTube videos she posted and distributes her guitar solo recordings for free on her Soundcloud, you can still start working on an article about her, even if she doesn't currently meet the Notability guidelines (which require that the topic of the article be covered in multiple reliable sources that are independent from the subject, such as mainstream newspapers and magazines and books from reputable publishing houses).
You can:
- Create a draft article about her and save it on your own computer's hard drive. Your draft article can stay safely on your hard drive (safe from being deleted by Wikipedia AfD policies) until the moment that the major music critics finally realize what you already know–that Foo Barkley truly is the Next Big Thing. Then, adding these reliable sources to your article draft, you can post your article on the Wikipedia mainspace. Go, Foo, go!!
- Add the article on Foo Barkley to another website or wiki. Wikipedia is unusual among user-edited websites in that it strives to be an encyclopedia. As such, Wikipedia has a range of policies on what articles can or cannot be created. Another website, such as a fan webpage or a fan wiki may have much more open standards on what material can be posted.
- Add the Barkley article to a free blog website such as WordPress.