RE: Disc ID Calculation
Jim Powers (rancor nospam at mindspring.com)
Thu, 18 Mar 1999 22:10:48 -0500
> [Summarizing conversation so far: MP3 files should have an ID that can
> be cross-referenced with databases of contains album and song metadata.]
>
> >>>>> "RK" == robert <robert nospam at moon.eorbit.net> writes:
>
> RK> I've been wanting to do just that for quite some time. I want to
> RK> have a system where MP3 players are aware of the id in the ID3
> RK> tag and if they find one embedded in the MP3, it highlights the
> RK> info button. One click of the info button and it goes to look up
> RK> the artist/album/track on the web page and starts displaying
> RK> information.
>
> Most of the tools I've been using (homegrown and mpg123 on Solaris)
> are aware of the 128-byte tag (ID3 v1). The comment field is just
> large enough to contain the 28-byte Disc Id and a 2-byte track number
> (%02X). That's enough for me at the moment.
>
> The ID3 v2 standard is bigger and more complex. A 30-byte disk+track
> id is good enough for me because all of the metadata can be stored
> separately and downloaded as needed. Of course, you can also hand
> someone the 30-byte id and let them ask the database for the actual
> data.
Quick point: Although as of today most, if not all, source material for MP3
files will come from CDs, MP3 provides for an alternate method of publishing
aside from CD. For instance, bands can offer MP3 only songs off of a Web
site. Under these circumstances the will be no CD to refer to. You might
want to think of an identification mechanism that can opt out of refering to
a CD when necessary.
Jim Powers