Barcode
Barcodes are machine-readable numbers used as stock control mechanisms by retailers: as such they are highly standardised and well recognised, and form an invaluable identifier for communication between companies.
There are a few different types. Some of the most common are:
- UniversalProductCode (UPC):
- This was the original barcode introduced in the US. They are theoretically 12 digits long, but any number of zeros at the start can be left off, so the actual printed barcode can be shorter than this. Wikipedia page
- European Article Number (EAN):
- This is the European version, and is basically the same as the UPC but has 13 digits. All UPCs are also valid EANs, they just have an extra zero at the start. Somewhere, not sure where, I got the impression that the US is also standardising on EANs now. Wikipedia page
Reasons for Adding Barcodes
I think it's worth recording these, just so we know why we're doing what we're doing:
- Barcodes are an industry standard for identifying products. Adding barcodes makes the MusicBrainz data much more accessible and useful for a variety of organisations, from wholesalers and retailers to public libraries. Some of them might be prepared to license the MusicBrainz database.
- Barcodes are clear, visually distinct, well recognised, and almost ubiquitous. This makes them a really useful way to help amateur cataloguers be precise about exactly what they are talking about, even if they don't understand the full subtleties of re-releases, regional variations, catalog numbers, and so on.
- AmazonMatching would be made far easier if barcodes were available. Adding a barcode to an album would, pretty much automatically, result in MusicBrainz acquiring an ASIN as well. This adds cover-art to album pages, and earns MusicBrainz money through referral fees.
- You can buy USB barcode scanners for not much money. This would be a nice way to manage large collections of music. For example, a music collector buys a job lot of old CDs at a jumble sale, and wants to add them all to their private catalog. OK, maybe not a very common requirement, but I thought I'd throw it in there! :-)
Barcode DB Project
I'm running a separate project, the Barcode DB (BCDB) for keeping track of barcodes on media, including CDs. Part of this is a client that allows you to catalogue your CDs with a barcode reader and have it tell you about the CDs, by including a reference to an external source such as MusicBrainz to give artist/track/etc details. If you found this page because you're doing something barcode and music related, drop a mail to musicbrainz@bcdb.org.uk or have a look at the fledgling site on http://www.bcdb.org.uk/ If there's sufficient demand, it would make sense to merge the information into a single data source.
Other Identifiers
- ReleaseCatalogNumber
- LabelCode (Note: for labels, not albums)
- ASIN
- ISRC for recordings (single tracks)
Also see http://www.iasa-web.org/icat/08_0.htm for some others.
Discussion
- According to http://www.uc-council.org/ean_ucc_system/stnds_and_tech/2005_sunrise.html, it looks like the US is still sticking with the 12-digit UPC code, but from the start of this year that all US retailers' and wholesalers' technology must also support EANs, thus reducing the re-barcoding of imported items. This is A Good Thing. --RodBegbie
- Adding Barcodes to MusicBrainz
-
UPC/EAN codes have been requested from time to time but haven't been implemented for several reasons like EANs being not really unique (a well-known example is the reuse of Warner Home Video codes for (DVDs). Another problem is that our albums don't really correspond to "products". Thus we decided to wait until the ReleaseGroups proposal is implemented which is probably the next big thing that has to happen.--MatthiasFriedrich
- I think it's fair to say that we can have no expectations that either Album -> Barcode or Barcode -> Album relationships would be unique. Albums imported to the US from Europe get re-barcoded, and importers often re-used the same set of UPC codes. --RodBegbie PUID's, TRM's, and even Disc ID's aren't unique in either direction! If EAN's conflict, (good) client software should let the user pick which is the proper one in their case - like it does with, at least, disc ID's. Bad client software? Well, they'll mess up regardless! --FrederikSOlesen
Using AR we could really bridge the time until we have ReleaseGroups. Later we could simply parse the URLs and extract the EANs. All you have to do now is to convince the link editors to add a new album<->URL link type.
- Simple question: How is BarCode supposed to help in AmazonMatching? I've never seen amazon storing barcode information anywhere or is this hidden somewhere? --Fuchs
