Classical music needs

[olddog]

Recently, I installed iTunes and had a BIG surprise; They know even lass about classical music than MM. They have their classical categories so disorganized that it was next to impossible to find the music I had wanted to buy. Because of that experience, I suspect that it may help the MM development team if I explain WHY classical music NEEDS more detailed fields/columns. Sorry if I can’t make any references to tags or code, but I just don’t know enough about them. Maybe other MM users can contribute their thoughts and ideas here as well.

--------Minimum categories and sub>categories needed: ------

For pop music:
Genre > Artist > Album

For classical music:
Genre > Composer > Composition name > Catalog Nr. > Artist > Conductor > Orchestra > Album > Label

Why does classical music need so many additional sub-categories? Mostly because that stuff has been around for hundreds of years and is still being used/performed/recorded and added to today. Thus there is an enormous number of composers (over 2000) and compositions (millions, J.S.Bach alone composed over 1200 works) and many different performances of each composition, that have accumulated over the years, all of which somehow need to be positively identified, sorted, tagged, and cataloged.

Genre:
This is not really needed in the same way as in pop music, but very handy to sort classical music into sub-categories such as instrumental, choral, opera, symphony, etc., or into time periods, such as baroque, romantic, etc., thus, this field cannot be diverted to another purpose under classical use.

Composer:
Look up any listing of classical music, and you will find that the first category used is always “Composer” (Here 2 examples: http://www.classical.net/ or http://www.classicalarchives.com/ ) The large number of compositions demand that they need to be sorted first by composer, before going into any other category. BTW; this composer field should also have a drop down menu to display already entered names to reduce double listings, such as JSBach and J.S. Bach or Johann Sebastian Bach.
Please also note that this and the following fields/categories need to be under the “basic” tab and not be coded like the current custom (second class!!!) fields that tend to loose their information when moving/manipulating tracks, which is rather frustrating!!!

Composition name: (Often also called "Works")
The coders may think that the “Title” field could be used for this purpose, but those composition names often are VERY long and many have several names and some even nick names that are usually listed in quotation marks. Plus, quite often, classical tracks use the title field to list the individual movements (Allegro, Largo, etc.) that need to go somewhere. So, this is another crucial field/column needed for classical music.

Catalog Nr.:(Often called "Verzeichnis")
This is very much needed for any collection of famous composers, mostly because these are well established cataloging systems that have been compiled by experts (such as BWV or Köchel) and thus are absolutely crucial to help the novice to learn more, and to prevent mislabeled names to creep into a larger collection. See this for more info: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_co ... stian_Bach
Or this: http://www.classical.net/music/composer/works/mozart/

Artist:
This field should be used in the same way for classical as for pop music, to list star or famous performers, soloists, opera singers, etc. Therefore, this field cannot be diverted to another use, as had been suggested by rusty.

Conductor:
There are many famous conductors that deserve the same recognition as star performers, and since they often appear/record together, conductors do need their own field and column. As well, it is often desirable to compare a given composition under the various conductors, with various artists AND with various orchestras performing.

Orchestra:
Different orchestras can provide quite a different sound to a composition under different conductors, thus this is another needed field/column for classical CDs.

Album:
Same use as pop music.

Label:
Classical recording labels can have a long history (such as Polydor, Deutsche Grammophon, EMI, Archiv, Decca, London, Naxos, etc.) and often indicate the quality of a CD and are thus a crucial part of any classical CD collection. And here again, different labels usually offer the same or similar compositions under varying recording techniques that can be rather interesting to compare. This can be a rather small field (20 characters) and share the same line with Composer. It could also benefit from a drop down menu like Genre.

All other existing fields could remain as they are.

[rovingcowboy]

did you go to the properties of the song ? any song?

look at the basic and the detail tabs there,
you can find some of those
in fields for you to type in.

are you asking the others not found.

be added to the details tab?

[Lowlander]

This topic has been discussed recently at length. The team has said that 2.6 should see improvements in handling classical music.

The inclusion of individual fields also depends on what the standards (mostly ID3v2) allow.

[Bex]

Nice work Olddog!

I'm sure the developers appreciate this. Perhaps you should link this thread to the other thread where they requested input regarding Classical music.


/Bex

[olddog]

rovingcowboy,
I wasn't looking for anything specific at iTunes, just wanted to see what they have to offer for classical music, and found total disorganization, two categories for opera, one of them containing mostly pop and lots of symphonic and non-operatic works, just one great big mess. They can keep that, I'll continue buying CDs at stores. Did you actually read my post???

Lowlander,
yes, I am aware of it (I started it). I am just trying to find a different approach for explaining the needs of classical music lovers. Shining the light on the same topic from a different angle often leads to better results. I am trying to explain why the need is real.

Bex,
Thanks. I am under the impression that the old thread was getting too long and disorganized, but here is the link anyway: http://www.mediamonkey.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=4964

[Lowlander]

I think that the classical needs are understood. Now it's just waiting till the next version and see what they implement.