FreeDBModeration

FreeDB Auto-Importas and the FreeDB Editor (id:2)

Prior to the 2004-10-10 server update, it was possible for a release to be imported into MusicBrainz from FreeDB without any human interaction or verification. This would only happen under certain circumstances described in more detail at AutoInsertFromFreeDB. When this occurred, the editor for the AddReleaseEdit was the FreeDB editor. The FreeDB editor was just a placeholder for these edits; instead of being a real person, it represented the system operating in an automated, unattended fashion.

This feature was disabled after some mailing list discussion because the poor quality of the raw FreeDB entries and the frequency of duplicated entries due to bug #898903 were felt to outweigh the benefits of additional data for MusicBrainz.

Note that the effect on the rate of DiscID imports can be seen clearly on the Database Stats page (the DiscID total graph).

Nonetheless, even though the automatic addition of releases was disabled, certain elements of the implementation still remain in MusicBrainz. Notably, the addition of DiscIDs to existing releases is still supported, although this occurs very rarely, since the artist name and release title must match the FreeDB entry "exactly" (subject to some case insensitivity described in AutoInsertFromFreeDB). (Since the addition of DiscIDs to a release happens automatically, without voting, the FreeDB editor is not used for these additions.)

Additionally, the MusicBrainz search page still retains special support for including or excluding the FreeDB editor, and a prefined search for FreeDB edits is still one of the entries in the SiteMenu.

• This page is referenced from the FreeDB editor profile page; if you are moving, renaming, or redirecting this page, please (ask a MusicBrainz administrator to) update that as well.

CategoryDocumentation