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Open Content Music Database Launched

Posted by Hemos on from the using-the-system dept.

An anonymous reader writes "The open source music database MusicBrainz was launched officially today. The data is partly in the public domain, partly under an open content like license. It includes artist/album/track information, with more to come. There's support for CDDB-like CD identification (actually, a lot of the current data was imported from freedb), but also identification of single tracks via audio fingerprints (TRMs). Help both in adding new content by tagging your music collection and consolidating the existing data is welcome. Also check out some technical information on the XML database at IBM developerWorks."

2 of 148 comments (clear)

  1. Down already by blacklite001 · · Score: 0, Redundant

    This is a great idea, I think, and I'm .. attempting.. to use it right now. But the servers seem to be clogged up and completely useless.

    Um.

  2. Re:questions... by icantblvitsnotbutter · · Score: 0, Redundant

    *Paranoid pondering* what if the TRM tech owners decided to charge for future use after the database was largely used and accepted.

    This is almost exactly what happened with CDDB, which is why freedb exists. CDDB changed their protocols and you can no longer program for their service without using their own plugins (DLLs or librarys) -- which requires registering with them, and agreeing to pay a fee.

    The fee is based on usage numbers of your software, not how much you charge. That can lead to a situation where a creator of successful freeware owes them money (I don't know how WinAmp does it, perhaps they have a special agreement in light of their marquee status).