Subsonic Forum

Get and store album level meta data including items such as: Release Date, Genre, Styles, Reviews (user and 3rd party), User Ratings, etc.

Some of the meta data can be easily gotten from Amazon.com, FreeDB, MusicBrainz.org without copyright issues (I know AllMusic is out).

This could be stored in an XML file for simplicity... here is an example:

Code: Select all

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="iso-8859-1"?>
<Album>
<ASIN>B00005ABHH</ASIN>
<MBID>04325c99-2ec1-49a9-a3fb-cd05707a8167</MBID>
<Title>311</Title>
<ReleaseDate>1995-07-25</ReleaseDate>
<ReleaseType>Album Official</ReleaseType>
<Artist MBID="bf600e2b-dc2d-4839-a1be-6ebef4087cd0">311</Artist>
<Genre>Pop/Rock</Genre>
<Styles>
  <Style>Alternative Pop/Rock</style>
  <Style>Funk Metal</style>
  <Style>Heavy Metal</style>
  <Style>Rap-Metal</style>
  <Style>Alternative/Indie Rock</style>
  <Style>Rap-Rock</style>
</Styles>
<Ratings Average="4">
  <Rating User="Admin">4</Rating>
  <Rating User="bSmooth">4</Rating>
</Ratings>
<Reviews>
  <Review Number="1">
  <Source>Amazon.com</Source>
  <Content>Razor-sharp guitars, hip-hop and funk rhythms, and healthy doses of ska and dance-hall reggae make this one of the most surprising albums to come out of the American heartland. But what's most remarkable about 311's breakthrough release is its enlightened attitude: In an otherwise terminally aggro style of music, where everyone strives to be harder than each other, 311 put down deadly weaponry on "Guns (Are for Pussies)." "Hive," meanwhile, disses hard drug use (but they're pro-hemp, of course), and "Misdirected Hostility" encourages, of all things, positivity ("All that angst sh*t is just cheesy"). Vocalist Nick Hexum and rapper Doug "S.A." Martinez trade lines with ease, and the band dexterously shifts gears between heavy tracks like "Down" and "Brodels," the frantic "Jackolantern's Weather," and the laid-back "All Mixed Up" and "Sweet." &lt;I&gt;--Daniel Durchholz&lt;/I&gt;  </Content></Review>
<Review Number="2">
  <Source>AllMusic.com</Source>
  <Content>It is the seamless way the songs on the eponymously titled 311 combine the band's influences into a potent blend of rap, funk and rock that renders this album a cut above their competitors. These riff-heavy and radio-ready songs are underscored by a tight drum sound (often with a piccolo snare), the scratching of turntables and the crunch of heavy guitars: a formidable backdrop for this surprisingly melodic effort. The rhythms of reggae and ska percolate through this mix, and the harmonies of Nick Hexum and Count SA lend the band an edge not found in the majority of bands that feature rapping over rock beats. - Peter Stepek</Content></Review>
</Reviews>
<SimilarAlbums>
  <SimilarAlbum Number="1"><Title>Grassroots</Title><ASIN>B00005ABHN</ASIN></SimilarAlbum>
  <SimilarAlbum Number="2"><Title>Soundsystem</Title><ASIN>B00005ABI1</ASIN></SimilarAlbum>
  <SimilarAlbum Number="3"><Title>Music</Title><ASIN>B00005ABHV</ASIN></SimilarAlbum>
  <SimilarAlbum Number="4"><Title>Evolver</Title><ASIN>B00009YFP9</ASIN></SimilarAlbum>
  <SimilarAlbum Number="5"><Title>Transistor</Title><ASIN>B000003CMZ</ASIN></SimilarAlbum>
</SimilarAlbums>
<Images>
  <Image Description="Cover" Size="Small" Height="74" Width="75">\IMG\311 - 311 (Small).jpg</Image>
  <Image Description="Cover" Size="Medium" Height="159" Width="160">\IMG\311 - 311 (Medium).jpg</Image>
  <Image Description="Cover" Size="Large" Height="300" Width="301">\IMG\311 - 311 (Large).jpg</Image>
</Images>
</Album>


How should it recognize single tracks?

3R3 wrote:How should it recognize single tracks?

Actually, I have been looking a bit at Last.fm´s API, and they provide search for tracks, and each track has a Last.fm ID (apparently).

You can also get a lot of relevant data from that API. In additon, BBC´s API is nice as well. Check out Programmable Web for "music" if you´re interested.