MusicBrainz Identifier: Difference between revisions
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One of MusicBrainz' aims is to be the universal lingua franca for music by providing a reliable and unambiguous form of music identification; this music identification is performed through the use of MusicBrainz Identifiers (MBIDs). |
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One of MusicBrainz' most fundamental purposes is to enable people and computers to have meaningful conversations about music; however, to truly have a meaningful conversation all involved parties must be able to reliably and unambiguously identify what is being discussed. To this end, MusicBrainz assigns a unique MusicBrainz Identifier (MBID), to all [[Artist|artists]], [[Release Group|release groups]], [[Release|releases]], [[Track|tracks]], and [[Label|labels]] in the [[MusicBrainz Database|MusicBrainz Database]], and uses these MBIDs as a universal [[wikipedia:lingua franca|lingua franca]] for music. These MBIDs, aside from being unique to the specific entity it is associated with, are also a permanent identifier for that entity for as long the entity exists. |
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In a nutshell, an MBID is a 36 character [[wikipedia:Universally Unique Identifier|Universally Unique Identifier]] that is assigned to each entity in the database, i.e. [[Artist|artists]], [[Release Group|release groups]], [[Release|releases]], [[Track|tracks]], and [[Label|labels]]. For example, the artist [[Artist:53b106e7-0cc6-42cc-ac95-ed8d30a3a98e|John Williams]] has an artist MBID of <code>53b106e7-0cc6-42cc-ac95-ed8d30a3a98e</code> and his [[Release:fff250bd-6c12-4f11-ab9e-a84568a74afb|Greatest Hits 1969-1999]] compilation has a release MBID of <code>fff250bd-6c12-4f11-ab9e-a84568a74afb</code>. |
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== Definition == |
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A MusicBrainz Identifier is an absolute [[wikipedia:Uniform Resource Identifier|Uniform Resource Identifier]]. |
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This URI takes the form <code><nowiki>http://</nowiki>musicbrainz.org/<ENTITY>/<UUID></code>, where <code><ENTITY></code> refers to one of the previously mentioned musical entities (<code>artist</code>, <code>release-group</code>, <code>release</code>, <code>track</code>, or <code>label</code>), and <code><UUID></code> refers to a [[wikipedia:Universally Unique Identifier|Universally Unique Identifier]] assigned to that entity. |
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=== |
=== Taggers === |
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Multiple MBIDs may be written to a file by a MusicBrainz enabled [[MusicBrainz Tagger|tagger application]]. They are commonly used to identify: |
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* <code><nowiki>http://musicbrainz.org/artist/53b106e7-0cc6-42cc-ac95-ed8d30a3a98e</nowiki></code> is the MBID for the artist [[Artist:53b106e7-0cc6-42cc-ac95-ed8d30a3a98e|John Williams]]. |
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* <code><nowiki>http://musicbrainz.org/release/44b7cab1-0ce1-404e-9089-b458eb3fa530</nowiki></code> is the MBID for the release [[Release:44b7cab1-0ce1-404e-9089-b458eb3fa530|Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band]]. |
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* <code><nowiki>http://musicbrainz.org/track/62c2e20a-559e-422f-a44c-9afa7882f0c4</nowiki></code> is the MBID for the track [[Track:62c2e20a-559e-422f-a44c-9afa7882f0c4|Enter Sandman]]. |
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* the label |
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For more information, read the [[MusicBrainz Tag|MusicBrainz tag specification]]. |
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=== Music players === |
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In situations where the context is clear (such as within the MusicBrainz namespace, or file metadata) the above absolute URIs can be converted into their relative form. These relative URIs consist of just the <code><UUID></code> portion of the MBID. |
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Music player applications can take advantage of a file that has been tagged with MBIDs to do things such as: |
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* <code>53b106e7-0cc6-42cc-ac95-ed8d30a3a98e</code> is the ''relative'' MBID for the artist [[Artist:53b106e7-0cc6-42cc-ac95-ed8d30a3a98e|John Williams]]. |
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* query the [[MusicBrainz Database]] for further information about the file or related entities |
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* <code>44b7cab1-0ce1-404e-9089-b458eb3fa530</code> is the ''relative'' MBID for the release [[Release:44b7cab1-0ce1-404e-9089-b458eb3fa530|Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band]]. |
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* reliably search for related files based on a unique string, instead of by potentially ambiguous strings such as [[Artist Name|artist name]] or [[Release Title|release title]] |
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* <code>62c2e20a-559e-422f-a44c-9afa7882f0c4</code> is the ''relative'' MBID for the track [[Track:62c2e20a-559e-422f-a44c-9afa7882f0c4|Enter Sandman]]. |
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== Uniform Resource Identifier == |
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Using a relative MBID is OK as long as you qualify it or it has been given context. For example, relative MBIDs are used on entity pages. |
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When the MBID is listed in relative form it can be converted back to its absolute form by prepending <code><nowiki>http://musicbrainz.org/<ENTITY>/</nowiki></code> to it. |
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=== Entity pages on the website === |
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The URI that makes up an MBID is ''not'' the same as the URL that is required to visit an entity's page on the MusicBrainz website. |
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To get the valid web address add <code>.html</code> to the end of an absolute MBID like so: |
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* <code>http://musicbrainz.org/artist/53b106e7-0cc6-42cc-ac95-ed8d30a3a98e.html</code> is the URL for [[Artist:53b106e7-0cc6-42cc-ac95-ed8d30a3a98e|John Williams']] artist page. |
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* <code>http://musicbrainz.org/release/44b7cab1-0ce1-404e-9089-b458eb3fa530.html</code> is the URL for [[Release:44b7cab1-0ce1-404e-9089-b458eb3fa530|Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band's]] release page. |
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* <code>http://musicbrainz.org/track/62c2e20a-559e-422f-a44c-9afa7882f0c4.html</code> is the URL for [[Track:62c2e20a-559e-422f-a44c-9afa7882f0c4|Enter Sandman's]] track page. |
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The upcoming server release, scheduled for release in 2010, will address this issue and the canonical MBID will resolve to the appropriate page. |
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=== Tagging applications === |
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When writing metadata, a MusicBrainz enabled tagger application will write several different ''relative'' MBIDs to each file, one for each of the following: |
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URIs can be constructed by prefixing the MBID with the address of the MusicBrainz server and the entity type, for example [[Artist:53b106e7-0cc6-42cc-ac95-ed8d30a3a98e|John Williams']] URI becomes http://musicbrainz.org/artist/53b106e7-0cc6-42cc-ac95-ed8d30a3a98e.html, and [[Release:fff250bd-6c12-4f11-ab9e-a84568a74afb|Greatest Hits 1969-1999's]] URI becomes http://musicbrainz.org/release/fff250bd-6c12-4f11-ab9e-a84568a74afb.html. |
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See [[MusicBrainz Tag|MusicBrainz Tag]] for more detailed information. |
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== See also == |
== See also == |
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Revision as of 05:50, 27 June 2010
One of MusicBrainz' aims is to be the universal lingua franca for music by providing a reliable and unambiguous form of music identification; this music identification is performed through the use of MusicBrainz Identifiers (MBIDs).
In a nutshell, an MBID is a 36 character Universally Unique Identifier that is assigned to each entity in the database, i.e. artists, release groups, releases, tracks, and labels. For example, the artist John Williams has an artist MBID of 53b106e7-0cc6-42cc-ac95-ed8d30a3a98e and his Greatest Hits 1969-1999 compilation has a release MBID of fff250bd-6c12-4f11-ab9e-a84568a74afb.
Using MusicBrainz Idenfiers
MBIDs play an important role when managing a digital music collection and there are several applications that are MusicBrainz enabled.
Taggers
Multiple MBIDs may be written to a file by a MusicBrainz enabled tagger application. They are commonly used to identify:
- the track itself
- the release
- the label
- the track artist
- the release artist
For more information, read the MusicBrainz tag specification.
Music players
Music player applications can take advantage of a file that has been tagged with MBIDs to do things such as:
- query the MusicBrainz Database for further information about the file or related entities
- reliably search for related files based on a unique string, instead of by potentially ambiguous strings such as artist name or release title
Uniform Resource Identifier
URIs can be constructed by prefixing the MBID with the address of the MusicBrainz server and the entity type, for example John Williams' URI becomes http://musicbrainz.org/artist/53b106e7-0cc6-42cc-ac95-ed8d30a3a98e.html, and Greatest Hits 1969-1999's URI becomes http://musicbrainz.org/release/fff250bd-6c12-4f11-ab9e-a84568a74afb.html.
See also
There are several other identifiers that MusicBrainz uses:
- Disc ID: An ID calculated from the TOC of a CD.
- PUID: The IDs used in the proprietary MusicDNS audio fingerprinting system operated by MusicIP.
- Barcode: Machine-readable numbers used as stock control mechanisms by retailers.
- ISRC: The International Standard Recording Code, an identification system for audio and music video recordings.
