artist.searchByName

Description: 

Searches artists by name
From v. 1.0


Authentication : NOT REQUIRED
Parameters: 
apikey : application developer identifier [R]
country : catalogue country
format : output format
order: sorting field (artist_name). If not provided, results are sorted by matching relevance in descending order.
sort: sorting direction (asc | desc)
query : artist's name
page : result page number (1-based)
step : number of items to retrieve
useSuggestion : flag to ask for suggestions

Return values: 

List of artist entities
available : number of artists found


Sample call
http://api.playme.com/artist.searchByName?query=placebo&step=2&page=2&country=us&useSuggestion=1

Sample Result: XML
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<response>
  <artists>
    <artist>
      <artistCode>78709</artistCode>
      <name><![CDATA[Placebo Featuring Alison Mosshart]]></name>
      <url><![CDATA[http://contents_site_url/artist_page/]]></url>
    </artist>
    <artist>
      <artistCode>78747</artistCode>
      <name><![CDATA[Placebo Featuring Michael Stipe]]></name>
      <url><![CDATA[http://contents_site_url/artist_page/]]></url>
    </artist>
    <available>4</available>
    <page>2</page>
  </artists>
  <suggestions>
    <artists>
      <artist>
        <artistCode>151378</artistCode>
        <name><![CDATA[A Place to Bury Strangers]]></name>
        <url><![CDATA[artist_page_url]]></url>
      </artist>

      <artist>
        <artistCode>155420</artistCode>
        <name><![CDATA[Places Of Power]]></name>
        <url><![CDATA[artist_page_url]]></url>
      </artist>

      <artist>
        <artistCode>67060</artistCode>
        <name><![CDATA[Sarah Chang-Berliner Philharmoniker-Placido Domingo]]></name>
        <url><![CDATA[artist_page_url]]></url>
      </artist>

      <artist>
        <artistCode>36712</artistCode>
        <name><![CDATA[Platero Y Tu]]></name>
        <url><![CDATA[artist_page_url]]></url>
      </artist>
    </artists>
  </suggestions>
</response>

Sample Result: JSON
{
  "response": {
    "artists": [{
      "artistCode": "10468",
      "name": "Placebo Featuring David Bowie",
      "url": artist_page_url,
      "numTracks": "7",
      "numAlbums": "1",
      "images": {
        "background": image_url,
        "big": image_url",
        "img_32": image_url
      }
    },
    {
      "artistCode": "78747",
      "name": "Placebo Featuring Michael Stipe",
      "url": "http://www.dada.it/music/placebofeaturingmichaelstipe/",
      "numTracks": "1",
      "numAlbums": "0",
      "images": {
        "background": image_url,
        "big": image_url",
        "img_32": image_url
      }
    }],
    "available": "",
    "page": "",
    "count": "2",
    "suggestions": {
      "artists": [
      {
        "artistCode": "151378",
        "name": "A Place to Bury Strangers",
        "url": artist_page_url,
        "numTracks": "28",
        "numAlbums": "4"
      },
      {
        "artistCode": "155420",
        "name": "Places Of Power",
        "url": artist_page_url,
        "numTracks": "12",
        "numAlbums": "1"
      },
      {
        "artistCode": "67060",
        "name": "Sarah Chang-Berliner Philharmoniker-Placido Domingo",
        "url": artist_page_url,
        "numTracks": "6",
        "numAlbums": "0"
      },
      {
        "artistCode": "36712",
        "name": "Platero Y Tu",
        "url": artist_page_url,
        "numTracks": "143",
        "numAlbums": "10"
      }]
    }
  }
}