Displaying Composer information in a Control Point

[DavidHB]

Thank you, André, for your thoughtful and helpful response.

(24-11-2013 06:20)Andre Gosselin Wrote:  ... the difficulty of clearly displaying the composer metadata when switching control points and music servers got me into the habit of always hardcoding the composer last name as the start of the track titles when tagging my music files. This adds redundancy, but frees you of depending on a specific feature of a music server or control point to correctly see the composer info.

Yes, that is an approach. I decided not to use it because it goes against all the database discipline I was ever taught, and because I was (and am) uncertain as to whether the composer surname belongs in the track title, the group or the composition tag (maybe all three). Automating things with MinimServer does at least give me the option to change things back by changing one setting. It requires me to display the full composer name (I could also use ComposerSort, which puts the surname first), and that can be a disadvantage in some some circumstances. So my approach is not necessarily better than yours.

One thing that might bring our approaches closer together would be if MinimServer had the option to extract the composer surname (which I guess would be easier with Composer Sort than with Composer) on the fly and use it in tag formatting. You'd still have issues with Bach J.S./C.P.E./J.C. and Strauss J./R. etc., but I think I'd live with those.

Quote:(BTW, your remarks could also be extended to the conductor metadata, which for classical music lovers is also important, but are mostly ignored by most control points.)

True, and the same can be said for soloist, orchestra etc. I stuck with discussing the composer data to avoid over-complicating the topic, and because the composer name is likely to be the most important single metadata element for a classical collection.

Quote:Surprisingly, not all music servers publish the composer metadata when asked for track metadata by upnp control points. The upnp standard does not seem to impose that. For example, mediamonkey server does not publish either composer or conductor metadata, whereas minimserver, foobar and assetupnp do. This inconsistency in the behavior of upnp music servers may explain (but not excuse) why some control points treat the composer metadata somewhat lightly.

... allied to the fact that, in some parts of the industry, there seems to have been a strenuous effort to force classical music into the same mindset as other genres. I suspect that those of us who enjoy classical music are often thought of as just being prissy or pedantic when we say that it needs to be treated diffently from other genres. But the reality is that 'classical' music (a ridiculously inappropriate name, but we are saddled with it) is more than a genre; it is a repository of musical works built up over many centuries. People should expect it to have a more complex data structure than other music.

That said, I agree with what you say. It is interesting to consider why the UPnP standard should be so unhelpfully loose. Part of the reason is that many (perhaps most) of those who support UPnP are also involved (often more actively) in DNLA, which is even more unhelpfully draconian. And I suspect that it is from this group that the most influential among those who regard classical music as just awkward will come.

Quote:Also, it should be noted that BubbleUPnP displays the composer name at the top of playlist tab (when viewing by album), and also at the top of the library tab. In the Playing tab, composer is also shown below the track title if the "Show composer" choice is selected in the "Now Playing" settings. BubbleUPnP also displays the composer name in its "Show metadata" contextual menu when long pressing a track title. I think BubbleUPnP is doing a decent job when it comes to displaying composer metadata (if of course the music server in use cares to publish those in the first place).

How did I ever miss those settings? Thank you for pointing them out (they are present in Bubble DS as well as Bubble UPnP); I'll be trying out options over the next few days to see how I can best get what I need without overcrowding the display. I certainly agree with your positive view of the Bubble user interface.

But Bubbleguuum cannot rest easy just yet . In my ideal world, Bubble would have at least options to let the user more completely design (with order, font size etc.) what goes where on the 'Now playing' Screen. And 'Now playing' screen profiles that change according to the genre or some other item of metadata would be rather nice. Those thoughts should keep Bubbleguuum busy when he finds he has a quiet Wednesday afternoon . At least he has the consolation that he is already well ahead of the competition when it comes to meeting the needs we have identified.

David