Sam--
I use Music Collector from Collectorz [ http://www.collectorz.com/ ], a Dutch software company. It uses recording & track information from Amazon in the US and around the world, as well as a database that Collectorz members help maintain.
It's not perfect, but it works well enough for both my classical and popular music collections (CDs, LPs, music files). Some categories (composer, label, artist, catalog number, etc.) are built in. You also can create as many categories as you like, and indicate location, format, recording & issue date, etc. For example, I can search my collection for all symphonies, or all 19th century symphonies, or all symphonies by Beethoven, or all Beethoven symphonies recorded by Karajan. (I do a weekly radio program, and that kind of classification/search is very helpful.)
When adding a recording to your database, the program does best when reading information directly from a CD or from downloaded audio files. It's less helpful when you type in the name of a recording, composer or performer, and have it search for possible matches--because in some cases there can be multiple editions (and reissues) to sort through, before determining which is the one you want to add to your catalog. (I purchased the company's barcode reader, and used that a lot when first setting things up. However, I've hardly used it since.)
Music Collector also finds cover (front and back) images for you, then displays the artwork when you bring up that recording in your database. You can add your own notes about a recording, as well.
Echoing Tom's comments, I sometimes have to do some manual cleanup of the downloaded recording/track info. Editing is pretty fast, though. (Unfortunately, there's no global search-and-replace, although the developers tell me they have that on a to-do list.)
As I said, it's not perfect, but it's way better than the database I had created from scratch, using MS Access.
Stephen Peithman, Producer/Host, “Connections”
Capital Public Radio | capradio.org | 7055 Folsom Blvd, Sacramento, CA 95826
http://www.capradio.org/classical/connections/
----- Original Message -----
From: "Sam Brylawski" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Monday, March 30, 2015 5:35 PM
Subject: [ARSCLIST] Record cataloging tools
> Greetings,
>
> I'm taking an informal survey to see what kind of database
> applications any subscribers are using to catalog their personal
> collections. Brian? Beyond Category? An Access app? A Filemaker one?
>
> I know there are a lot of file tag utilities out there. I think Tom F.
> especially recommended PerfectMeta (correct me if I'm wrong). But what
> I'd really like to know of are tools that you use for personal
> cataloging of CDs, LPs, 78s, etc. In particular, tools you really
> like!
>
> Thanks.
>
> Sam Brylawski
>
>
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