Dale Preston's Web Log
  
Sunday, March 04, 2007
 

Online Music Databases

 Have you wondered when you rip a CD to your local hard drive, where does the track information come from? There are at least three different online databases that contain information about millions of CDs. The information here is, as far as I know, accurate as of March 4, 2007 when I wrote this post.

1. Microsoft/AMG database used by Windows Media Player. I have heard it said in the Microsoft Windows Media Player newsgroups that Microsoft will soon be changing from AMG to another provider. I think it is one associated with their new partnership with MTV/URGE.

2. Gracenote's CDDB used by iTunes and Roxio among others.

3. Magix' freedb database used by Nero and a whole bunch of lesser known applications.

Here's my mini-review of each in order of least accurate to most accurate (in my opinion):

Microsoft/AMG



The Microsoft/AMG database is used only, as far as I know, by Windows Media Player. I have had more not-found CDs when using Windows Media Player for ripping than from any other source. The information, in my experience, has often been wrong, inconsistently formated, and just not reliable.

As far as I know, the Microsoft/AMG database is fed almost exclusively by the record labels through AMG. I have never been able to find any documentation from Microsoft on the format or behavior of the Microsoft/AMG datbase. I have heard it rumored that updates only occur when at least 5 users provide the same exact feedback but I have not been able to find this documented.

To submit updates, you use Windows Media Player to find the CD information when ripping. Click the option to edit the information before ripping the CD and make any necessary changes. When you click Finish, Windows Media Player will tell you thanks for submitting the information and sharing it with users around the world. But I am not aware that the changes ever really show up in the database.

The big problem I see with the Microsoft/AMG model is that the labels don't really care about the accuracy of your media library. They care more about brand recognition and marketing. The people who are updating the database just don't seem to know what they're putting into the database and even the name of the same band can be entered differently for different CDs. For instance, I have one CD from Small Faces that Microsoft/AMG correctly identifies as "Small Faces". I have another that Microsoft/AMG identifies as "The Small Faces". To AMG, the difference must not matter. To music fans, the difference is significant.

Because the Microsoft/AMG database is so unreliable and Windows Media Player will not allow you to choose an alternate data provider, I use iTunes and CDDB for all my CD identification - for now.

Gracenote's CDDB



CDDB has been used by more software installations than anything besides the Windows Media Player/Microsoft/AMG combination. That says a lot since every PC sold in the last several years (certain EU PCs excepted) has come preloaded with Windows Media Player.

CDDB was, originally, a user supported database even though the servers and rights were owned by the Gracenote company. They published standards for inputting information that a lot of users followed and their information, as a result, was pretty accurate and consistently formated. User updates were generally managed by the forms included in the CDDB SDK but some applications, like iTunes, use their own form. In most cases, updates would generally be reflected in the database within about 24 hours or so.

The big problem with Gracenote's CDDB is that, a few years ago, they changed their policy and began accepting CD information from the record labels. Since that time, I have not had any luck seeing my own changes reflect in their database.

CDDB suffers from the same problem here as Microsoft/AMG in that regard. Information is being entered in a fashion to highlight the label's brand or products. For instance, I had several CDs from one label for which the names were all prefixed with a bullet character. This really screwed up sorting and searching in my media library!

Overall, I still find the accuracy of CDDB to be higher than Microsoft/AMG. The biggest problem I have with using iTunes and CDDB is not with CDDB at all; it's with iTunes. iTunes, for some silly reason, limits file names to 40 characters long. That isn't long enough to include the full name of many albums or tracks. I end up having to edit all my file names to get them right. I suppose that's picky on my part, but if I am going to do something, I am going to do it right.

Magix' freedb



The last online music database that I am aware of is the freedb database. It was, originally, privately run but under GNU license and was completely updated and maintained by users.

I have heard it said that user maintained databases are subject to the abuses of malcontents but I have found that the determination of real fans outweighs the interest of trouble makers and the information in freedb tends to be extremely accurate. You can rest assured that if there's any flaws in the Steve Miller Band information, I am going to be all over it. I'm sure there are bands for which you'll do the same.

The nice thing about freedb is that it was modeled after the original CDDB. That means that, if your applicaton allows entering a web address for your online database server, you can possibly substitute the URL for freedb in replacement of the CDDB database.

freedb was purchased from its founder recently by Magix. Magix is the creater of several media related applications. This raises questions about the future independence and reliability of the freedb database but, so far, Magix has promised to maintain the database in its current free GNU licensed form. I hope they maintain that promise.

The only reason I don't use freedb for my own ripping is that, as much as I like the concept and their accuracy/reliability, I don't like any of the programs that use freedb. The only cost of not using freedb is that I have to spend a few minutes editing any time I rip a CD. I am working on my own CD ripper that will use freedb and I won't have to use iTunes anymore.


Links



I'm unaware of a specific site related to the Microsoft/AMG online database but AMG does have a great reference site including search capability. I often go there to find out what album a particular song was on. Their search will show every album from every artist that contains a song by title. It's very handy.

http://www.allmusic.com

The CDDB site has a pretty handy search but not as good as AMG's.

http://www.gracenote.com

The freedb site has a great FAQ.

http://www.freedb.org

- posted by Dale Preston @ 3/04/2007 11:29:00 AM
Comments:
I have been using MusicMatch (an older version, around version 8) for my CD Ripping and ID3 tag editing, and file name management. I like the fact that when a CD is ripped, MM will include the album art on each MP3 file.

I was wondering if you knew what DB MM uses? I've heard that it uses CDDB, or their own DB, but CDDB doesn't contain album art.
# posted by Blogger Annon : March 13, 2007 9:12 PM
 
I'm not sure which database MusicMatch uses. I have disliked MusicMatch for years because of marketing practices that they used then and still use today that I feel are fraudulent bait-and-switch tactics.
# posted by Blogger Dale Preston : March 15, 2007 9:43 PM
 
MusicMatch used the AMG database for its CDDB service.

Further, AMG has its own relatively new recognition service called "Lasso" which is used by a large number of players including RealPlayer, Rhapsody, Sony PS3, Bang & Olufson, Verizon's V CAST, and a number of others.

In addition, AMG's database is used to power the following music stores: Apple iTunes, eMusic, Rhapsody, Napster, Zune, Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and many others. It is considered to be the industry standard database.

Gracenote's service has been in decline for the past year since AMG started competing with them in the CDDB space for large commercial clients, and since freedb has taken over most of the smaller applications.

Gracenote's future is even more unclear now that Macrovision has purchased AMG and TV Guide parent Gemstar.
# posted by Anonymous Annon2 : December 09, 2007 3:20 PM
 
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