Apps for building and organizing a music library

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	DIGITAL ENTERTAINMENT Apps for building and organizing a music library
	By Lincoln Spector Want to fill in some gaps in your MP3 collection? Or get it better organized so you can see what you have? Here are two free programs for filling out and bringing some order to your digital-music library.

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The full text of this column is posted at windowssecrets.com/digital-entertainment/apps-for-building-and-organizing-a-music-library/ (paid content, opens in a new window/tab).

Columnists typically cannot reply to comments here, but do incorporate the best tips into future columns.[/td]

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My view is that MP3jam is illegal. In reality it is no different to the various dodgy MP3 download sites. It would be useful sometime for WS to review the various legal sites like eMusic so we can find the best way to keep our download collection legal or at least reasonably legal.

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I always have problems with people using the term “Music Library” when referring to recordings only. Having been professional music librarian where we had books about music, actual scores and sheet music, as well as recordings the misuse of the handle “Music Library” messes up search criteria in most of the search engines and people don’t find what they are really interested in if it is not the recording(s).
A better headline would be: “Apps to build and organize recording collections.”
Naming the Association for Recorded Sound Collections describes what it represents. “Music library” doesn’t describe a recording collection.

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“All music files contain tags, also known as metadata, which describe the content.”
Well, maybe the music that most of you get. I’m really into trad and world music and end up buying a lot of my music in other countries off the street, from local markets, and even what you get in larger music stores in big cities that is local music – none of that will have anything but a track number usually – not even a track name lots of times.

I’d sure love to find a program that could automate some of the ordeal of getting those discs identified and organised.

If anyone else is a fan of non-mainstream music and has any ideas, I’d love to hear them.

"She was not quite what you would call refined. She was not quite what you would call unrefined.
She was the kind of person that keeps a parrot."
--Mark Twain

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Amazon.com has Beatles music readily available for download as mp3 format files. (See Attachment, added after the original version of this post.) Not free mp3’s, but available. So where’s the article come off saying the Beatles’ music is not available in mp3 format for download?

Maybe it’s just my unusual musical tastes, but Beltain is a group I know well.

As for the legality of any free mp3 catalog (It’s not the software which is prohibited by US laws — it’s the postings and downloads themselves) I leave it to lawyers to decide what is or is not permitted, pending any definitive legal decision about those programs and sites which now stand accused in US courts of copyright infringements.

Stripping audio from YouTube and saving the resulting soundtracks in digital formats is definitely illegal under US laws. At best, the songs are only licensed by the uploader for a single use. At worst, no license at alll is obtained. Royalties are not paid to artists when their music is illegally copied, and this bothers me.

-- rc primak

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Amazon.com has Beatles music readily available for download as mp3 format files. Not free mp3’s, but available. So where’s the article come off saying the Beatles’ music is not available in mp3 format for download?

Most of those Beatles tracks at Amazon are interviews, not songs. But most Beatles music has been available for download on iTunes for 2.5 years: The Beatles Now on iTunes

Bruce

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Most of those Beatles tracks at Amazon are interviews, not songs. But most Beatles music has been available for download on iTunes for 2.5 years: The Beatles Now on iTunes

Bruce

Either way, Lasky’s [Edit: Lincoln Spector. Sorry, Mr. Lasky!] argument is false. I only looked at the top few listings when I went to the reference link in my post. See the .PNG Attachment in my Edited Post above. It makes sense, as the iTunes deal when it was made was the first of its kind ever announced to the public. The deal may well have been largely exclusive with Apple/iTunes Store.

Is the iTunes format open mp3? Maybe, for all I know, if you pay extra.

-- rc primak

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Amazon.com has Beatles music readily available for download as mp3 format files. (See Attachment, added after the original version of this post.) Not free mp3’s, but available.

“Dinner Party Guitar Moods” are not performed by the Beatles (or any original artists).

Bruce

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”Dinner Party Guitar Moods” are not performed by the Beatles (or any original artists).

Bruce

Between the exclusive Apple iTunes mp3 deal and the Amazon interviews, I’d say we have located a pretty good selection of Beatles and Beatles related mp3’s online, readily available for download, although none of it is free or (to my knowledge) unlocked in the DRM sense. I conclude that Mr. Lasky’s [EDIT: oops! That was the article below. This one was by Lincoln Spector] argument for using the mp3jam software because Beatles mp3s aren’t available online, is a false argument. This is (I hope) the point you and I both want to make clear with regard to the error in the article, and only in that regard.

Again, to all Lounge readers, the software is (probably) not illegal, and their download site is (almost certainly) free of anything malicious. It is the possible misuse of the software, especially for ripping soundtracks from You Tube videos, which could easily stray into illegal territory. And obtaining anything by or about The Beatles from sources other than the legitimate and official sources, would be illegal.

-- rc primak

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I conclude that Mr. Lasky’s argument for using the mp3jam software …

Bob,

According to the online version of the newsletter the article “Apps for building and organizing a music library”, which contains the reference to MP3jam, is by Lincoln Spector.

Michael Lasky is the author of the article that follows said article: “Utilities for better productivity and security”, so I can see how you probably got the authors mixed up Bob.

Regards,
mo.eu

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Bob,

According to the online version of the newsletter the article “Apps for building and organizing a music library”, which contains the reference to MP3jam, is by Lincoln Spector.

Michael Lasky is the author of the article that follows said article: “Utilities for better productivity and security”, so I can see how you probably got the authors mixed up Bob.

Regards,
mo.eu

Scrolling error in Chrome. Yes, you’re right. But the statement about the mp3jam justification was wrong. (Claiming that Beatles music is not available in mp3 format on the Internet for legitimate download without using third party utility software.) I think we can all agree about this.

-- rc primak

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I like the Jaikoz Audio Tagger. It works by matching an acoustic signature of the track with the MusicBrainz and Discogs databases. Especially nice is its ability to correct tracks that are mislabeled, because it “listens” to them and uses the results to find the correct match.

Here is the address: http://www.jthink.net/jaikoz

The MusicBrainz data base can be updated and added to by users. I have sent them data about some of my obscure albums of ethnic dance music.

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The download link on the MP3jam site brought the following warning:
Your requested URL has been blocked by TrustedSource. McAfee has found that this site (http://dawwpk9vo4we.cloudfront.net/MP3jamSetup.exe) contains a credible threat to the security of your system.
Take it for what it’s worth.

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Another great tag management program is TagScanner

It might take a while to get used to the interface, but it is quite powerful. Also has tools to look up tag contents online.

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