CDDB problems (Gracenote Services No Longer Work In Winamp: Reason Why Explained)

[304092aj]

Hi All, I'm new to this site, just been reading the posts re the CDDB problems, this may sound an obvious choice but I found using Windows Media Player to do the rip and then launch WinAmp, File, Add media to library, works for me unless any one can suggest an easier option that will provide the same result.

[MrSinatra]

easier? no, can't think of anything easier. but I do not like WMP, the way it does things, or its quality.

dbpoweramp or EAC would be what I'd use, (and in fact, EAC is what I always use).

[Aminifu]

Since Winamp currently uses some of the Microsoft media services components associated with WMP, we can't uninstall it. If you don't want to take advantage of it (like 304092aj does), you can add a rule to the OS firewall (blocking web access) to prevent the OS's annoying habit of using it to change album art (and search for other metadata) from time to time.

[Gringo67]

There's another tagger. It's called TidyMyMusic. Can be found at http://www.wondershare.net/ad/tidymymusic-mac/?gclid=CIO314TWgsICFVBsfgodI58ARQ

[WordTickler]

So, I'm a retired programmer who is interested in creating an open source plugin for Winamp that picks up right where Gracenote once worked. Can I get some indication of the interest in this?

At the very least, this would allow older versions of Winamp to compensate, even if the newer Winamps go a different route.

Anyone?

WordTickler

[MrSinatra]

Originally Posted by WordTickler

So, I'm a retired programmer who is interested in creating an open source plugin for Winamp that picks up right where Gracenote once worked. Can I get some indication of the interest in this?

At the very least, this would allow older versions of Winamp to compensate, even if the newer Winamps go a different route.

Anyone?

WordTickler

I believe u would have to pay gracenote for access to their DB, do u plan to do so?

[graffias79]

Originally Posted by WordTickler

So, I'm a retired programmer who is interested in creating an open source plugin for Winamp that picks up right where Gracenote once worked. Can I get some indication of the interest in this?

At the very least, this would allow older versions of Winamp to compensate, even if the newer Winamps go a different route.

Anyone?

WordTickler

I would love to have this feature back. I registered here just to say this! I've been a Winamp user since 1999 and a Winamp Pro user since 2004. It just does everything I want, well, except for tagging music now.

[Aminifu]

Originally Posted by graffias79

I would love to have this feature back. I registered here just to say this! I've been a Winamp user since 1999 and a Winamp Pro user since 2004. It just does everything I want, well, except for tagging music now.

The tagging feature will return, it just will no be supported by Gracenote. Gracenote now charges too much for their online database service (even though tagging was part of the free version, Gracenote views Winamp as a commercial product). This is a crappy thing for them to do, since it's database was built from submissions freely donated by it's users.

[Sierragolddust]

Originally Posted by 304092aj

Hi All, I'm new to this site, just been reading the posts re the CDDB problems, this may sound an obvious choice but I found using Windows Media Player to do the rip and then launch WinAmp, File, Add media to library, works for me unless any one can suggest an easier option that will provide the same result.

For ripping my own CD's I have never found anything better than Audiograbber http://www.audiograbber.org/. It auto-tags using freedb and once set up is a slam dunk for tagging, ripping and foldering a stack of CD's.

[Amani]

Winamp's was a really easy setup and contrary to some of the things I read while researching this issue.

[joe1991]

Thank you for the words,after that,I really understand that Winamp as free software is moving towards less expensive alternatives, i help can read much more good artical from you,tks again.


There's no chance of striking a deal with the new owners of Gracenote? According to wikipedia, Sony sold Gracenote to Tribune Company earlier this year. Or is there some reason for not wanting to use Gracenote? I have no experience using MusicBrainz, but my main concern is that its autotag/file identification system is as fluent in Japanese as Gracenote is.

[J-BOY59]

Everytime I try to manually enter/correct CD info, Winamp tries to fetch data from Gracenote and fails for reasons explained here many times, and I cannot edit/enter data. To be precise, from the CD Info window, on MusicID tab, hit Edit and it goes to Gracenote.

I suppose there must be a way to stop this behavior, so that at least I can manually enter CD info.

[DJ Egg]

@J-BOY59
MusicID is Gracenote.
Manual edits are made via the first General Info tab, not the MusicID tab.
In the CD view of the ML, just select all tracks on the CD, right-click the first selected track, select 'Edit CD Info',
In the first tab, type in the main Album Artist, Album Title, Year and Genre, click OK, then repeat for each separate track.

You might as well also disable Gracenote MusicID by unchecking "Use MusicID" via:
Winamp > Prefs (Ctrl+P) > Plug-ins > CD plugin (in_cdda.dll) > config.


@joe1991
Do you think they'll let us use it for free? :-)

[joe1991]

Originally Posted by joe1991

Thank you for the words,after that,I really understand that Winamp as free software fiber optic patch cord is moving towards less expensive alternatives, i help can read much more good artical from you,tks again.

I have no experience using MusicBrainz, but my main concern is that its autotag/file identification system is as fluent in Japanese as Gracenote is.

[J-BOY59]

Thank you DJ Egg--I have always used MusicID tab for editing since I could make changes without selecting the songs first. Now I know what was meant to be.

[TheGueu]

you said that in the end of the year there will be a new winamp with something to replace gracenote at the auto tag. is there any ETA on this? if not, do you know of a plug-in to replace the connection to gracenote and to give me access to another database so winamp can auto-tag my files again? any option i tried (including those you suggested about mp3tag) just sucks.
i need to bulk convert 3600+ songs from flac to mp3, and my softwares just keep deleting my idtag. winamp was just the best solution to auto tag this. i work now with 4 different software just to get what winamp gave me, and it's not even close...

[djpete]

the Godfather will do all that in a few seconds.
http://www.jtclipper.eu/thegodfather/index.html

[Abjdsd]

Love the site, and keep on keeping on!

[TheGueu]

Originally Posted by djpete

the Godfather will do all that in a few seconds.
http://www.jtclipper.eu/thegodfather/index.html

does this use an online database to update the id tags, like winamp used to with gracenote?

[DrO]

Originally Posted by TheGueu

you said that in the end of the year there will be a new winamp with something to replace gracenote at the auto tag. is there any ETA on this?

the only eta as has been stated for months in the official news thread (as the initial eta stated of mid-2014 was found to not be realistic with other things going on) is some point in 2015 - which could be anytime between now and the end of the year (barring any other unexpected bumps in the road).

[djpete]

TheGueu...
supports online database lookups from, e.g., Amazon, discogs, or freedb
So does this software..
http://www.mp3tag.de/en/

And more here hope it helps..
http://lifehacker.com/5266613/six-be...-tagging-tools

[rails35]

Both EAC and dBpoweramp offer the GD3 database (www.getdigitaldata.com), which I've found to be accurate and has great cover images. It's built into the registration fee for dbpoweramp, but since EAC is free they just charge a small fee to the user for unlimited access. I suspect Winamp could follow a similar model as EAC making it optional for a user to purchase it if they wanted.

[Aminifu]

Originally Posted by rails35

Both EAC and dBpoweramp offer the GD3 database (www.getdigitaldata.com), which I've found to be accurate and has great cover images.

What is(are) the format(s) and resolution of the images? I've found that jpeg images that are at least 600x600 work good enough for me at the minimum to maximum display sizes I use. I also prefer those encoded with the least amount of compression. I'm willing to accept a larger file size for faster rendering speed.

The website's description sounds good (quoted below), but it is not specific.

"Get Digital Data includes high resolution images of CD/DDVD artwork to allow for the best possible image on PC and TV displays. Lower resolution images provided by second generation databases result in poor images when displayed on large displays such as TV's. By scanning our own artwork, we can insure the highest resolution and exact matches to the CD/DVD."

[rails35]

I'm not sure of the format of the images from GD3, but when saved to the folder they are jpeg. Most images are 1000x1000, which look nice on my TV mediaserver UI. My CD collection is a small sample size, but when compared to musicbrainz and freedb, GD3 seems to have more consistent results meaning less manual editing.

I'm not a programmer, so it's not of much use to me, but there's an api posted at the following link, maybe someone could take a look at it:
http://www.getdigitaldata.com/GD3API.aspx

[MrSinatra]

I forget what DrO said he was going to do, but I suggested that the future tagging in winamp work like EAC, where you can pick what plugin/service you want to use. EAC uses freedb, Cuetools DB, and allows one to pay to use GD3 and it could use others as long as the plugin for it uses the EAC API and has access to the service.

that way, a user has multiple choices and if one is revoked, like gracenote was, its not dead in the water, like it is now.

I believe the next ver will use the musicbrainz DB, and so I hope lots of options are given to the user, b/c imo that DB spams all kind of things into the tags.

EDIT: I should clarify that while I will miss gracenote, I have np leaving it behind b/c it was costly and forced exclusion, and I also like musicbrainz, but I just want options as to what tags to allow MB to insert.

[Aminifu]

Hi rails35,

Yeah, 1000x1000 images would look great. But a huge number of them may cause memory problems due to the way Winamp currently handles artwork. When Winamp was supplying artwork on it's own, the images were 200x200. Too small for many of the ways artwork is now used. I'm confident something appropriate will get worked out.

Thank you for the info.

[Russ1162]

This is a cd extractor program that has build in CDDB working services.

http://cdexos.sourceforge.net/

[venturedj]

I have looked around for those that want to use the gracenote feature. Unfortunately it steers us away from our beloved Winamp...

Here is what I've managed to find:

https://www.dropbox.com/s/w7840bvxqt...mage1.png?dl=0

Hope this might help a bit

[MasterGoa]

Just putting this out there, but a few people seem to have been able to hack the dl_gracenote file and point it to freedb.

I do not know how though.

Anything can be done, even if temporary?

[pat35249]

Oh!You do have a point there, Muscbrainz does pay attention to detail !

[Archguy]

Any word on progress? And those of us who paid up for Winamp Pro, was that money wasted?

[DJ-Garybaldy]

And those of us who paid up for Winamp Pro, was that money wasted?

Most probably!!

[ugoveri]

For me there is nothing better for Windows than Tag & Rename (http://www.softpointer.com/index.htm)

It has multiple ways of inputing information. And multiple ways of reading the information from the filename or from several servers on the internet.

So if you want a powerfull tagger I believe this is it.

Best regards,

Hugo Verissimo

[SireMarvin]

Well this is great news.

I have been a Musicbrainz fan for years and the winamp forum has barely mentioned it apart from the last month or so. With all the "winamp should die as you don't provide gracetone" posts.

It is a much better system for tagging your music collection.

DrO,

I have spent a lot of time with Musicbrainz and know a fair few inner workings of it.
Finally if you do have proper tags multiple artists sharing the same name can be grouped together properly rather than all lumped under the same name.

I think you will need to decide what MB tags move across. I would suggest as many of them:
MusicBrainz Artist Id
MusicBrainz Recording Id
MusicBrainz Release Artist Id
MusicBrainz Release Group Id
MusicBrainz Release Id
MusicBrainz Track Id

That will give you the best compatibility in the future.
To be honest properly tagged with musicbrainz can led to whole new directions of how you want your player as you can link to a load of stuff.

Can I ask how you are planning to lookup this information?
Your own database (free) copy of Musicbrainz on Winamp servers or using their (paid or free) API? Their free API has lookup limits and I suspect that we could (depending on how many users are left using Winamp) hit those limits. I have not dealt with the licensing to their paid API directly but I do know someone that has.

For the cover art (The Cover Art Achieve). That is a recent addition to Musicbrainz in conjunction with archive.org. So there is a fair amount to of art missing still but going fairly rapidly.
I suppose you need to work out what level of granularity you need to go down to here. Is a generic cover art for that Release Group ok or do you want it for that actual Release (UK original release from 1999, re-release in Japan 2012, etc). AFAIK lastfm is very generic and will just get (some sort of art).

Musicbrainz goes into so much detail (often why people struggle with Picard) you will need to decide what you want to get out of it. I cannot imagine it will be much fun to select many versions of the release.

Users obviously want (as in any development) a magic button that does everything for them Previously this was Auto-Tag. But when you get options you need to decide what one (or ones) you give the user.

Personally I would be against multiple options for providers but obviously biased. But if you do implement this can have options to turn this off/choose which ones.

[MrSinatra]

i don't think DrO is working on winamp anymore. maybe that will change, but seems to be the case for now. who knows if the new devs read the forums or care or even if they r developing a new release at all?

having said that, i'll just repeat what i said before: let winamp fully support all aspects of MB, but allow users to decide what MB tags to include or not to include.

[chapiz]

Originally Posted by garybaldy72uk

Most probably!!

You should talk to the support

[amymaarten]

The last several days my Winamp is playing songs in fastforward...any known fixes?

[OrajelJunkie]

It's been years since winamp could tag files and people are still using it?I only still use it for listening and puting music on my ipod.It's a shame they dropped gracenote and now refuse to do anything.Winamp went from the greatest invention ever to a big pile of poop.It's still better than itunes though.

[sahartech]

whatever the system used, it's only as good as the information which people put into it and personally i found Gracenote's CDDB lookups very hit and miss (or just people don't care about getting things correct compared to the actual titling on the CD case itself!).

[MrSinatra]

love it or hate it, Gracenote is moot, its dead to us b/c of the cost and exclusivity.

as i said above, i hope winamp uses an EAC style plugin system where multiple sources could be used, be it freedb, cuetoolsDB, MB, or whatever. i would also like control of what individual tags are actually inserted, (MB can spam tags in).