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[[MusicBrainz]] is a user-maintained community music metadatabase. Music metadata is information such as the artist name, the album title, and the list of tracks that appear on an album. [[MusicBrainz]] collects this information about music and makes it available to the public so that music players can retrieve information about the music that is playing. For instance, most audio CDs do not contain the name of the artist, album, or a listing of the tracks. A music player can use the digital characteristics of an audio CD to look up the correct metadata and show it to the user during playback. |
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| ⚫ | '''MusicBrainz is a user-maintained community music metadatabase.''' Music metadata is information such as the [[Artist|artist name]], the [[Release Title|release title]], and the list of [[Track|tracks]] that appear on a [[Release|release]]. MusicBrainz collects this information about recordings and makes it available to the public. The web site is the interface which allows the creation and maintenance of the data. All of the data in MusicBrainz is user contributed and user maintained. This means that if you spot a mistake in the database, you should take the initiative to [http://www.musicbrainz.org/login.html create yourself a MusicBrainz account] (for free, of course!) and edit the data. MusicBrainz will never share your personal information with anyone and we will not spam you with anything. We believe strongly in the privacy of our users and since they are our lifeblood we would be stupid to disrespect our contributors. Please contribute your knowledge about music and MusicBrainz will share your knowledge with others, and in time MusicBrainz can become the most powerful and comprehensive music service in existence. In return for your hard work, MusicBrainz makes the data that users have contributed [http://www.musicbrainz.org/products/server/download.html available for download] by the public. Some portions of the data are placed into the [http://creativecommons.org/licenses/publicdomain Public Domain] and some portions are covered by a [[Creative Commons|CreativeCommons]] [http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/1.0 license]. Please take a look at our [http://www.musicbrainz.org/products/server/download.html server/data product page]. |
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[[MusicBrainz]] also takes this concept one step further in applying it to digital audio files like MP3 files and Ogg Vorbis files. The metadata contained in these files is often incorrect or missing altogether. If this data is not present or correct, it makes it difficult for users to find the music they wish to play. Many MP3 lovers have a huge collection of MP3 files but often have a hard time finding the music to which they want to listen. The [[MusicBrainz]] solutions for this are the [[Windows Tagger|WindowsTagger]], iEatBrainz, and the [[Picard Tagger|PicardTagger]]--Windows, MacOS X, and Python applications that use [[Acoustic Fingerprint|AcousticFingerprint]]s ([[TRM]]s) to semi-automatically identify tracks in your music collection and then write consistent and accurate metadata to your music files. |
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'''The MusicBrainz products:''' MusicBrainz takes the catalog service one step further and provides products which build on it. Our products can be used to apply the data to digital audio files like MP3, Ogg Vorbis (and for the [[Picard Tagger|PicardTagger]], a multitude of other digital audio formats as well). The metadata contained in these files is often incorrect or missing altogether. If this data is not present or incorrect, even more since many music lovers have a huge collection of digital audio files, it is very hard to find the music one wants to listen to. The MusicBrainz solutions for this are the [[MusicBrainz Tagger|legacy windows-only tagger]], iEatBrainz, and the new cross-platform [[Picard Tagger|PicardTagger]] - Windows, MacOS X, and Python applications that use [[Acoustic Fingerprint|AcousticFingerprint]]<code><nowiki></nowiki></code>s ([[TRM]]s and [[PUID]]s) to semi-automatically identify tracks in your music collection and then write consistent and accurate metadata to your digital audio files. MusicBrainz provides a [[XML Web Service|webservice]] which can be used to query musicbrainz data from any application which is able to parse XML. Another option is [[MusicBrainz Server Setup|to setup an own copy of the MusicBrainz server]], and import the latest database dump. From there on, you can subscribe to the [[Replication Mechanics|database replication service]] (free for non-commerical use!) which allows your copy of the database to stay up-to-date with the changes being made to the main database. (see the [[Products|products page]] for more details) |
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| ⚫ | '''MusicBrainz provides data about recordings, but ''not'' the media files itself:''' The MusicBrainz service only provides the data ''about'' music (a catalog of music [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metadata metadata]) but '''not the music itself'''. MusicBrainz does not condone copyright infringement and will never help you find a place to illegally download copyrighted works. |
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| ⚫ | '''How the MusicBrainz catalog can be used:''' MusicBrainz users can browse and search our catalog to examine what music different artists have published and how those artists relate to each other, to discover new music. The music metadata and its ability to uniquely identify music will also enable non-ambiguous communication about music, and will allow the Internet community to discover new music without any of the bias introduced by marketing departments of the recording industry. Another usage scenario is the lookup of information by media players: Since most audio CDs do not contain the metadata about the recording on the physical media, but they can use the digital characteristics of the CD (i.e. number of tracks, the lenght of the tracks) to look up the metadata and use this information to enhance the listening experience. |
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Another important aspect of the web site is the creation and maintenance of the data. All of the data in [[MusicBrainz]] is user contributed and user maintained. This means that if you spot a mistake in the database, you should take the initiative to [http://www.musicbrainz.org/login.html create yourself a MusicBrainz account] (for free, of course!) and edit the data. [[MusicBrainz]] will never share your personal information with anyone and we will not spam you with anything. We believe strongly in the privacy of our users and since they are our lifeblood we would be stupid to disrespect our contributors. |
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| ⚫ | '''Where to go from here:''' This introduction serves as the most basic crash course on what MusicBrainz does. The MusicBrainz project has many goals for the future with the hopes of changing how people enjoy their music collections. The detailed [[Current Work|current status]], the [[Future Work|plans for the future]], our views on working with commercial companies and our plans for creating a non-profit corporation are covered in great detail in our [http://www.musicbrainz.org/papers/mb_nonprofit.html MusicBrainz Non-Profit White Paper]. |
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| ⚫ | Please contribute your knowledge about music and |
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| ⚫ | This introduction serves as the most basic crash course on what |
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Revision as of 13:45, 9 June 2006
Corporate Parent
MusicBrainz is a project of the US non-profit MetaBrainz Foundation.
About MusicBrainz
MusicBrainz is a user-maintained community music metadatabase. Music metadata is information such as the artist name, the release title, and the list of tracks that appear on a release. MusicBrainz collects this information about recordings and makes it available to the public. The web site is the interface which allows the creation and maintenance of the data. All of the data in MusicBrainz is user contributed and user maintained. This means that if you spot a mistake in the database, you should take the initiative to create yourself a MusicBrainz account (for free, of course!) and edit the data. MusicBrainz will never share your personal information with anyone and we will not spam you with anything. We believe strongly in the privacy of our users and since they are our lifeblood we would be stupid to disrespect our contributors. Please contribute your knowledge about music and MusicBrainz will share your knowledge with others, and in time MusicBrainz can become the most powerful and comprehensive music service in existence. In return for your hard work, MusicBrainz makes the data that users have contributed available for download by the public. Some portions of the data are placed into the Public Domain and some portions are covered by a CreativeCommons license. Please take a look at our server/data product page.
The MusicBrainz products: MusicBrainz takes the catalog service one step further and provides products which build on it. Our products can be used to apply the data to digital audio files like MP3, Ogg Vorbis (and for the PicardTagger, a multitude of other digital audio formats as well). The metadata contained in these files is often incorrect or missing altogether. If this data is not present or incorrect, even more since many music lovers have a huge collection of digital audio files, it is very hard to find the music one wants to listen to. The MusicBrainz solutions for this are the legacy windows-only tagger, iEatBrainz, and the new cross-platform PicardTagger - Windows, MacOS X, and Python applications that use AcousticFingerprints (TRMs and PUIDs) to semi-automatically identify tracks in your music collection and then write consistent and accurate metadata to your digital audio files. MusicBrainz provides a webservice which can be used to query musicbrainz data from any application which is able to parse XML. Another option is to setup an own copy of the MusicBrainz server, and import the latest database dump. From there on, you can subscribe to the database replication service (free for non-commerical use!) which allows your copy of the database to stay up-to-date with the changes being made to the main database. (see the products page for more details)
MusicBrainz provides data about recordings, but not the media files itself: The MusicBrainz service only provides the data about music (a catalog of music metadata) but not the music itself. MusicBrainz does not condone copyright infringement and will never help you find a place to illegally download copyrighted works.
How the MusicBrainz catalog can be used: MusicBrainz users can browse and search our catalog to examine what music different artists have published and how those artists relate to each other, to discover new music. The music metadata and its ability to uniquely identify music will also enable non-ambiguous communication about music, and will allow the Internet community to discover new music without any of the bias introduced by marketing departments of the recording industry. Another usage scenario is the lookup of information by media players: Since most audio CDs do not contain the metadata about the recording on the physical media, but they can use the digital characteristics of the CD (i.e. number of tracks, the lenght of the tracks) to look up the metadata and use this information to enhance the listening experience.
Where to go from here: This introduction serves as the most basic crash course on what MusicBrainz does. The MusicBrainz project has many goals for the future with the hopes of changing how people enjoy their music collections. The detailed current status, the plans for the future, our views on working with commercial companies and our plans for creating a non-profit corporation are covered in great detail in our MusicBrainz Non-Profit White Paper.
With this short introduction, we leave you to explore MusicBrainz. Welcome, and enjoy your visit!
