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That's an interesting site. But how do you get it to correctly load information into MP3 tag fields? That's the point of my complaint -- that the existing load-in databases (Gracenote and freedb) are so sloppy and inconsistent with info for classical albums that they almost always require manual corrections. Another listmember pinged me off-list to ask if I had found anything to catalog my classical CD's, and I told him no because I just don't have the time to correct the data for every CD. With the jazz CD's, it was a 50+% rate of _something_ needing manual correction in order to have consistency. This was very time-consuming. With classical, I can only imagine the time-sucking vortex involved. So I just keep them organized on the shelf and sometimes surprise myself with "oh I didn't realize I already owned that disc" moments." -- Tom Fine ----- Original Message ----- From: "Baoshan Sheng | International Classical Music Database" <[log in to unmask]> To: <[log in to unmask]> Sent: Saturday, April 10, 2010 12:07 AM Subject: Re: [ARSCLIST] article points to some of the problems with classical music and iTunes > Hi Tom: > > Have a look at a project: http://a9music.com (somewhat stale, we're working > at it now). > Try to make some search and exploration. I want to know if this is what you > need. > > Any kinds of critics is truly welcomed. > > Regards, > -- > Baoshan Sheng > Director | International Classical Music Database > + 86 10 5162 6468 | [log in to unmask] > > > On Sat, Apr 10, 2010 at 11:53 AM, Steven C. Barr <[log in to unmask]>wrote: > >> -------------------------------------------------- >> From: "Tom Fine" <[log in to unmask]> >> >> http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/04/arts/music/04download.html >>> This article highlights an overall interesting trend. But the reviewer >>> also points out the confusing and inconsistent tagging that happens with >>> classical music in MP3 and other tag-enabled formats. >>> I have found that cddb/Gracenote and freedb are fraught with problematic >>> and inconsistent data-entry for classical titles. There are actually tags >>> that work great for how classical music is generally understood -- >>> COMPOSER, ARTIST, ALBUM ARTIST and ALBUM TITLE for instance. You can >>> customize iTunes and other database programs to list by whatever field you >>> wish, for instance by artist and album title or by composer and title, so if >>> the data is entered correctly, it need not be totally PITA to use classical >>> music in an iTunes setting. But unfortunately, most of the pre-programmed >>> metadata out there is garbage, typical of internet "group volunteer" >>> operations with no oversight or quality control. Sometimes "help" is not >>> helpful. >>> What has surprised me is that the owners of copyrighted classical >>> recordings haven't gotten together to standardize and publish correct >>> tag-entry methods and to correct at least their active catalogs. I can >>> understand how there's no economic incentive to fix out of print items, but >>> the active catalog gets lost in the shuffle (ipod pun intended) if the tags >>> aren't right. >>> Classical titles are just the most glaring examples of the problems with >>> the online auto-tag databases. I used the Catraxx catalog-database program >>> to gather and organize my jazz, rock, country and popular CD's and I found >>> that at least 50% of the auto-loaded tags needed tweaking for something. >>> Either the recording year was wrong (most common), or something that was not >>> a compilation was listed as one (also very common), or in the case of jazz, >>> the musicians weren't listed in the MEMO field (this is a convenience and I >>> don't hold it against the online databases that this information is usually >>> missing or incorrect), or the record company was incorrectly or >>> inconsistently named (very common), etc. >>> Gracenote is a for-profit entity, so there should be better quality >>> control. Apple's own database at the iTunes store has more errors than you'd >>> think in the more obscure corners of jazz, and classical selections are >>> harder to correctly indentify and locate than rock or jazz. For these >>> for-profit entities, there's no excuse for the poor quality control. And >>> what's particularly galling is, none of this should be necessary since CD >>> Text was available from the beginning of CD's and should have been used to >>> correctly identify artists and songs (which would then make filling in other >>> tags much easier and more prone to be complete and correct). >>> I wish I could propose an easy solution to this, but the only one I can >>> think of is that buyers of digital downloads demand better tagging/database >>> information from the highly profitable entities they buy from. As for >>> cleaning up Gracenote and freedb, I won't hold my breath. I do submit >>> corrected information to Gracenote from both Catraxx and the iTunes software >>> most of the time, and appreciate all other users who do so too. >>> >>> What is needed is a ACD...a classical-based equivalent to the familiiar >> ADBD!! >> Currently, there is NO discography covering the classical-music recordings >> of 19??-1943...I discovered this when attempting to include classical discs >> in my Dating Guide...? >> >> Steven C. Barr >