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[tommyrot]

Hi folks,

Happy New Year.

I wanted to canvass your views on this whole business of tagging classical music. For me there's a recurring pattern. Every few years, in hope of advances in tagging practice, UPnP standards and control software, I set about getting my music library in order. And every time it ends is disappointment.

Let's take the example of Beethoven's 9th Symphony. (I have 172 albums of Beethoven.)

Let's assume I want to find it by browsing (on virtually all iOS control points). I find it absurd to navigate starting at Composer and painfully scrolling through endless composers. When I do find Beethoven albums, there are scores of albums with titles beginning 'Beethoven Sym...'. The limitations of control point design means that invariably, that's all that is shown. With scores of recordings, systematically tapping each result to see if it's the one I want is a thankless task, so it ends in frustration.

It's just as absurd navigating a tree from 'Album', because even if you jump to 'B' in the alphabet, it's a case of scrolling past the many dozens of albums beginning with 'B'. Remember that it's not nested in any sort of hierarchy, so it means scrolling through endless jazz, rock, pop and all other classical albums beginning with 'B' find Beethoven. When I do find Beethoven albums, there are scores of albums with titles beginning 'Beethoven Sym...' and the limitations of control point design means that, invariably, that's all that is shown. With scores of recordings, systematically tapping each result ... yadda, yadda, yadda. It's that same end point of frustration each time. That's the case for browsing.

Let's see how search fares using the query 'Beethoven'. The result list is overwhelming, but it's grouped by Artists, Tracks or Albums containing 'Beethoven'. Beethoven isn't the artist, so that leaves tracks and albums. The number of tracks and albums containing the string 'Beethoven' is eye-wateringly long, so it ends with frustration again. The most joy (pun intended) I've had is to use a album naming convention that might support the case for search e.g. "Beethoven: Symphony No. 9". Using this string produces a manageable number of results. This convention could be applied to piano concertos, piano sonatas, violin sonatas, etc.
It could also work for other large works. For example, Bach: English Suite, Bach: French Suite, but it runs aground with smaller works like partitas, overtures which tend to be recorded and bundled together.

So, there ends the case for search.

Every time I contemplate the ongoing herculean task of wrestling with these shortcomings, I ask myself what the point is because, ultimately, the way I think about classical orchestral music is Composer+Work+Conductor+Orchestra+Year. That's four data points. Each one is logical nesting. Not surprisingly, that's how my collection is hierarchically organised. So, using Folder View, navigating to Beethoven>Symphonies> it's a few taps to choose the conductor and year I want to play the recording I want. E.g. Beethoven>Symphonies>Symphony no. 1>Karajan>Berlin Philharmonic>. Ordering and navigating the collection this way alleviates the migraine of discoverability where some music comes with the composer and conductor tag, while others not and overcomes the readability shortcomings of control point sw.)

Every few years, I come to this conclusion. Usually with a sense of defeat after wrestling with the staggering inconsistencies in tagging practice and shortcomings of technical standards which all combine to produce this a feeling that I'm building on quicksand.

I just wondered how many of you feel likewise. I'd be interested in your thoughts.

Thanks.