General FAQ: Difference between revisions

Revision as of 02:44, 13 February 2019

Frequently Asked Questions: General FAQ · Account FAQ · Editing FAQ · Introduction to Voting

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Products: Picard FAQ

This page answers Frequently Asked Questions about MusicBrainz.

If this page doesn't answer your question, please ask it in the MetaBrainz Forum or contact us. If you would like to update this page on the wiki, feel free to do so but please do not add questions without answers.

General Questions

What's the purpose of MusicBrainz?

This site is intended to be a free, on-line encyclopedia of music information. We (and you, if you decide to join us) are building an open-source database containing all the information you would ever want to know about songs, releases, and artists.

Why would I need to use MusicBrainz? What's wrong with Gracenote's CDDB?

No one needs to use our site, and nothing is wrong with CDDB. We just have a different aim from the maintainers of CDDB. Check the history page for more information on the origins of this project.

This site is free. CDDB is not.

CDDB was made by volunteers sharing the track listings of their CDs with the central server that was run voluntarily, not for profit. This freely volunteered effort was effectively stolen by Gracenote, who made it a commercial service that you have to pay to use in your music player software, or if you want to download large parts of the database for whatever reason.

Why would I need to use MusicBrainz? What's wrong with FreeDB?

FreeDB is based on the last version of CDDB that was freely available. While it is a very useful site, it is technically inferior to this site as it is based on a flat format. i.e. releases are not grouped by artists, they just have a text field "Artist Name". Different printings of the same release that are not quite identical go into the listing twice etc. There is no concept of a single track being on more than one release -- a track doesn't really exist in its own right. While MusicBrainz is not perfect in this respect, it is a lot better, and plans for improvements are laid down. The path to achieving those goals is clear. It would be very hard to give FreeDB those facilities. Eventually it is envisioned by some that MusicBrainz could take over from FreeDB, although they may evolve to take different markets, or be competitors continually spurring each other on.

MusicBrainz allows users to import data from FreeDB, although it should be corrected according to our style guidelines.

Is there a mailing list for MusicBrainz?

Not anymore, but our forum can be used via email.

Who are the people responsible for creating MusicBrainz?

Check out the MetaBrainz team.

I want to chat with other MusicBrainz editors. Where do I do that?

A number of MusicBrainz editors hang out in the IRC channel on IRC chat at irc://irc.freenode.net/musicbrainz. Come join us for a chat!

Why the name MusicBrainz?

It indicates the overall goal of the project: a lot of people (brains) collaborating to enhance the digital music experience.

Which digital audio players support MusicBrainz?

Take a look at the MusicBrainz Enabled Applications page. If your favorite tool/player doesn't support MusicBrainz, please contact the author and ask them to support MusicBrainz.

Metadata Questions

What is metadata?

Metadata is the data that is associated with music. Artist name, release name, track number, release event, audio track signature, and CD Index disc IDs are all examples of metadata.

How does MusicBrainz use ID3 tags? What about for Ogg files?

See the Picard tag mapping table (list of specific metadata tags defined by MusicBrainz and standard tags, for ID3v2, Vorbis, APEv2, and iTunes MP4).

CD Submission Questions

I'm confused by the CD submission process. Why do some CDs have more than one CD Index ID? Some of my CDs are already in the system, but they have a different number of tracks than my CD. What's up?

The identification of CDs is a tricky matter. Please check out our Disc Submission that explains these issues.

What's a CD Index ID and why should I care?

A CD index ID is more commonly known as a Disc ID. You can find the answer to this on Disc ID Calculation.

Licensing Questions

Do I need to sign a licensing agreement in order to use MusicBrainz?

No. Unlike Gracenote's CDDB you do not need to sign a licensing agreement. Please see our GPL (GNU General Public License) for more details.

Under what license is the metadata in MusicBrainz?

A portion of the data is in the Public Domain and the other portion uses a Creative Commons license. Please see our data license page for more details.

Under what license is the MusicBrainz server source code?

The server source code is available under the GPL (GNU General Public License).

Under what license is the MusicBrainz client source code?

The client source code is available under the LGPL (GNU Lesser General Public License). This means that closed source applications such as Winamp and Sonique are allowed to use the client library in binary form without any fees or royalties.

Technical Questions

Does MusicBrainz handle international metadata?

Yes. MusicBrainz uses UTF-8 for all its data, which means that all the data is stored in Unicode and supports lots of different languages.

What MusicBrainz-enabled software is there?

See MusicBrainz Enabled Applications for list of applications.

Code Libraries:

python-musicbrainz2: Python bindings for the XML Web Service
libmusicbrainz: Language bindings for the old RDF Web Service -- not to be used for new development!

@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
+{{FAQHeader}}
-=Frequently Asked Questions - General Stuff=
-This page lists some very general [[Frequently Asked Questions|FrequentlyAskedQuestions]] about [[MusicBrainz]] and how to use the site.
+This page answers [[Frequently Asked Questions]] about MusicBrainz.
+If this page doesn't answer your question, please ask it in the [https://community.metabrainz.org MetaBrainz Forum] or [[Contact Us|contact us]]. If you would like to update [[mbwiki:General FAQ|this page]] on the wiki, feel free to do so but please do not add questions without answers.
-If your question is not covered here, please check the [http://www.musicbrainz.org/faq.html official General FAQ] on the main site, which is more complete that this here. There are also [[Frequently Asked Questions|FrequentlyAskedQuestions]] specific to different subjects, like the [[Moderation FAQ|ModerationFAQ]].  If that still doesn't help, please find us in one of the [[MusicBrainz Forums|MusicBrainzForums]] or via the [http://www.musicbrainz.org/support/contact.html contact page].
-<ul><li style="list-style-type:none">[[Image:Attention.png]] ''This FAQ seems to have gotten truncated, and should be updated/merged with the [http://www.musicbrainz.org/faq.html version on the main pages].''
-</ul>
+==General Questions==
+===What's the purpose of MusicBrainz?===
-----
+This site is intended to be a free, on-line encyclopedia of music information. We (and you, if you decide to join us) are building an open-source database containing all the information you would ever want to know about songs, releases, and artists.
+===Why would I need to use MusicBrainz? What's wrong with Gracenote's CDDB?===
+No one needs to use our site, and nothing is wrong with CDDB. We just have a different aim from the maintainers of CDDB. Check the [[About/History|history page]] for more information on the origins of this project.
+This site is free. CDDB is not.
-==General Questions==
+CDDB was made by volunteers sharing the track listings of their CDs with the central server that was run voluntarily, not for profit. This freely volunteered effort was effectively stolen by Gracenote, who made it a commercial service that you have to pay to use in your music player software, or if you want to download large parts of the database for whatever reason.
+===Why would I need to use MusicBrainz? What's wrong with FreeDB?===
+FreeDB is based on the last version of CDDB that was freely available. While it is a very useful site, it is technically inferior to this site as it is based on a flat format. i.e. releases are not grouped by artists, they just have a text field "Artist Name". Different printings of the same release that are not quite identical go into the listing twice etc. There is no concept of a single track being on more than one release -- a track doesn't really exist in its own right. While MusicBrainz is not perfect in this respect, it is a lot better, and plans for improvements are laid down. The path to achieving those goals is clear. It would be very hard to give FreeDB those facilities. Eventually it is envisioned by some that MusicBrainz could take over from FreeDB, although they may evolve to take different markets, or be competitors continually spurring each other on.
+MusicBrainz allows users to import data from FreeDB, although it should be corrected according to our [[Style|style guidelines]].
-===What's the purpose of this site?===
+===Is there a mailing list for MusicBrainz?===
-This site is intended to be a free, on-line encyclopedia of music information.  We (and you, if you decide to join us) are building an open-source database containing all the information you would ever want to know about songs, albums, and artists.
+Not anymore, but our [https://community.metabrainz.org/ forum] can be used via email.
+===Who are the people responsible for creating MusicBrainz?===
-===Why would I need to use your site?  What's wrong with Gracenote's CDDB?===
+Check out the [[meb:team|MetaBrainz team]].
+===I want to chat with other MusicBrainz editors. Where do I do that?===
-No one needs to use our site, and nothing's wrong with CDDB.  We just have a different aim from the maintainers of CDDB.  Check the history pages for more information on the origins of this project.
+A number of MusicBrainz editors hang out in the [[IRC]] channel on IRC chat at [irc://irc.freenode.net/musicbrainz irc://irc.freenode.net/musicbrainz]. Come join us for a chat!
+===Why the name MusicBrainz?===
-This site is free. CDDB is not.
+It indicates the overall goal of the project: a lot of people (brains) collaborating to enhance the digital music experience.
+===Which digital audio players support MusicBrainz?===
-CDDB was made by volunteers sharing the track listings of their CDs with the central server that was run voluntarily, not for profit. This freely volunteerd effort was effectively stolen by Gracenote, who made it a commercial service that you have to pay to use in your music player software, or if you want to download large parts of the database for whatever reason. (RJMunro)
+Take a look at the [[MusicBrainz Enabled Applications]] page. If your favorite tool/player doesn't support MusicBrainz, please contact the author and ask them to support MusicBrainz.
+==Metadata Questions==
-===Why would I need to use your site?  What's wrong with ["FreeDB"]?===
+===What is metadata?===
-[[FreeDB]] is based on the last version of CDDB that was freely available. While it is a very useful site, it is technically inferior to this site as it is based on a flat format. Ie. Albums are not grouped by artists, they just have a text field "Artist Name". Different printings of the same album that are not quite identical go into the listing twice etc. There is no concept of a single track being on more than one album - a track doesn't really exist in its own right. While [[MusicBrainz]] is not perfect in this respect, it is a lot better, and plans for improvements are laid down. The path to acheiveing those goals is clear. It would be very hard to give [[FreeDB]] those facilities. Eventually it is envisioned by some that [[MusicBrainz]] could take over from [[FreeDB]], although they may evolve to take different markets, or be competitors continually spurring each other on.
+Metadata is the data that is associated with music. Artist name, release name, track number, release event, audio track signature, and CD Index disc IDs are all examples of metadata.
+===How does MusicBrainz use ID3 tags? What about for Ogg files?===
-In certain places, [[MusicBrainz]] itself uses [[FreeDB]] when it doesn't know an album already. (RJMunro)
+See the [https://picard.musicbrainz.org/docs/mappings/ Picard tag mapping table] (list of specific metadata tags defined by MusicBrainz and  standard tags, for ID3v2, Vorbis, APEv2, and iTunes MP4).
+==CD Submission Questions==
-===Why won't the web site accept my login name and password?===
+===I'm confused by the CD submission process. Why do some CDs have more than one CD Index ID? Some of my CDs are already in the system, but they have a different number of tracks than my CD. What's up?===
-Please [http://www.musicbrainz.org/support/contact.html send us an e-mail] providing as much of the following information as accurately as possible:
+The identification of CDs is a tricky matter. Please check out our [[Disc Submission]] that explains these issues.
-* your username (or as much as you can remember of it)
-* your password (or as much as you can remember of it)
-* the e-mail address you registered with
-* when you registered
-* when you last successfully logged in
-* when you last tried and failed to log in
+===What's a CD Index ID and why should I care?===
-With that information we'll be able to look into the problem and help you.
+A CD index ID is more commonly known as a [[Disc ID]]. You can find the answer to this on [[Disc ID Calculation]].
+==Licensing Questions==
-===I've forgotten my password - how do I get in?===
+===Do I need to sign a licensing agreement in order to use MusicBrainz?===
-If you've previously entered and confirmed your e-mail address, then use the [http://www.musicbrainz.org/user/forgot-password.html Forgot your password?] link.
+No. Unlike [[Gracenote]]'s CDDB you do not need to sign a licensing agreement. Please see our [http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/gpl.html GPL (GNU General Public License)] for more details.
+===Under what license is the metadata in MusicBrainz?===
-Otherwise, please see the answer to the previous question, "Why won't the web site accept my login name and password?"
+A portion of the data is in the Public Domain and the other portion uses a [http://creativecommons.org/ Creative Commons license]. Please see our [[MusicBrainz License|data license page]] for more details.
+===Under what license is the MusicBrainz server source code?===
-===How do I delete my account?===
+The server source code is available under the [http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/gpl.html GPL (GNU General Public License)].
+===Under what license is the MusicBrainz client source code?===
-You can't completely delete your account; we need to keep at least the information that an account existed at some point, so that the database is kept consistent.  However, you can remove your personal information from an account:
+The client source code is available under the [http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/lesser.html LGPL (GNU Lesser General Public License)]. This means that closed source applications such as Winamp and Sonique are allowed to use the client library in binary form without any fees or royalties.
-* delete all your subscriptions, if you have any   ([http://www.musicbrainz.org/user/subscriptions.html http://www.musicbrainz.org/user/subscriptions.html])
-* edit your profile, and blank out all three fields   ([http://www.musicbrainz.org/user/edit.html http://www.musicbrainz.org/user/edit.html])
-* change your password to something very complex and hard to remember, and don't write down what it is ([http://www.musicbrainz.org/user/change-password.html http://www.musicbrainz.org/user/change-password.html])
+==Technical Questions==
-That way all your personal information is removed from your account, and you've effectively "locked" the account (by giving it an almost impossibly complex password).
+===Does MusicBrainz handle international metadata?===
-If you like we can also rename the account to something like "deleted account #1234".  If you want us to do this, then follow the above instructions except:
+Yes. MusicBrainz uses [[wikipedia:UTF-8|UTF-8]] for all its data, which means that all the data is stored in Unicode and supports lots of different languages.
-* set the "bio" text of the account to "Please delete this account" (or similar)
-* e-mail us ([http://musicbrainz.org/support/contact.html http://musicbrainz.org/support/contact.html]), telling us that you'd like your account to be deleted, and ''tell us the name of the account''.  We'll e-mail you back to let you know when it's done.
+===What MusicBrainz-enabled software is there?===
-----
+See [[MusicBrainz Enabled Applications]] for list of applications.
+Code Libraries:
+* [[python-musicbrainz2]]: Python bindings for the [[XML Web Service]]
+* [[libmusicbrainz]]: Language bindings for the old [[RDF]] [[Web Service]] -- not to be used for new development!
-----[http://www.musicbrainz.org/faq.html OriginalVersion]
-[[Category:To Be Reviewed]] [[Category:FAQ]]
+[[Category:To Be Reviewed]]
+[[Category:FAQ]]
+[[Category:WikiDocs Page]]