I wrote a series of popular blog posts about metadata and MP3 files for a previous blog (which has since been mismanaged by its owner and the content is no longer available). Since that is the case, and I recently upgraded my iPod to a 160 GB version, I thought it would be a good idea to re-run an updated version of these posts. So, here is the first in a series of postings on musical metadata...
Anyone who knows me reasonably well knows that I'm an avid music fan. I own more than 6,000 CDs and record albums. Yes, I still own and play (and even sometimes buy) vinyl records. In fact, last year I went through a phase where I converted some of my vinyl to MP3s so I could listen to them on my PC and my iPod.
Anyway, as I rip my collection to MP3s I can't help but to think about metadata. I know, only a true geek like me
would think about metadata when listening to music and playing around with my iPod, but stick with
me.
Database guy that I am, I have my entire
record/CD collection in a Filemaker database that I sync up with my Treo smartphone so
that I always have information on my collection handy. Without that,
unfortunately, I’ve been known to buy a CD or two that I already own.
Now you might be thinking, “You’re just getting around to
using an MP3 player?” Good question – and the answer is no. I bought one of the
first generation MPs players on the market many moons ago, as well as several
others over the years, but only recently did I upgrade to an iPod. I got my first iPod (the 80 GB version) a year or so ago when my brother got one for
Christmas. He he let me play with it, envy set in, and I just had to get
one for myself. And now I've upgraded to the iPod with the largest amount of storage (160 GB)... but what I really want is even more storage along with the new interface of the iPod touch - you know, the one that looks like an iPhone - and, by the way, throw in phone capability, too!
OK, so why did I start thinking about metadata? Well, MP3s
are all about the metadata! If you don’t get the metadata right, then the
MP3 player is not as easy to use as it could be. I’ll be talking more about
this in this series of blog entries (didja notice that Part 1? Yes, that means
there will be additional parts upcoming.)
The goal of this series to to be fun, yet educational. If you
want to read something less “fun” about metadata, check out another of my multi-part
blog series on The Importance of Metadata:
Part 1, Part 2, and Part 3. And thanks for coming along on this musical metadata voyage with me...