When a music CD is inserted in a computer connected to the internet, the media player application (like Itunes and Windows Media Player) go through a convoluted system of taking the number of tracks on a CD, the running times of the tracks, and then comparing this information to a database of existing CD’s online where it then retrieves the album, artist, track information, and even album cover from a central database. Different media players use different databases – Itunes uses Gracenote. Windows Media Player uses AMG.
Then what is CD-Text?
CD Text
CD Text refers to the track names and other information encoded into the disc during mastering. YOUR COMPUTER DOES NOT READ CD TEXT. Only Text-enabled CD players (in your car or home). These devices are not connected to the internet so they do not have access to any on-line database. Their text display (showing ‘CD-Text’) presents info that has been included when the physical disc was created, either as part of ‘pre-mastering’ or ‘mastering’. Any duplication from a disc with encoded with CD Text will transfer the track names only to another CD. HOWEVER, ripping an MP3 will NOT read the track name (remember, the computer can’t read the encoding).
One word of warning about CD text. Because this is encoded in your master, if after the mastering stage you decide to change the name of any tracks, the master will need to be re-made with the new track names encoded.
Online Databases
One of the most popular online database is Gracenote. Gracenote recognizes a disc by analyzing the sequence of tunes on the disc and their lengths. This isn’t foolproof. Occasionally you may see album information from the wrong CD and you have to manually tell it which CD is in the drive. For individual tracks, Gracenote generates a “fingerprint” of a portion of the music file, and thereafter identifies the track with that section.
This information is usually then stored on your computer by your media player as well as the online database for others. It is NOT encoded on your disc. Read here to learn about that: Inserting Track Info onto your Master
Album data can be extensive, and includes album title, artist name, record label, year of released CD, genre, musicians, producers, ISRC, and even label website. Track data include track title, artist name, record label, year of album-released song, credits, genre, subgenre and more.
Believe it or not, the information in the database can come from anyone: the record label, the artist, or even a fan. Whoever uploads the info first. When someone puts the CD into their computer, if their media player doesn’t find it in the database, the program will ask the user to enter the album and track information and then uploads it to the online database for others to then download when they play their copy of the CD.
How do I submit my CD track information?
If you submit your CD to CDBaby for distribution (which I recommend anyway), your track info will be submitted automatically to all the relevant databases. Period.
or, if you really want to, you can do it yourself…..
There are currently 3 different competing online databases. Gracenote, AMG, and FreeDB. You should at least submit to Gracenote and AMG, but while you’re at it, you might as well do the other. Every database has a different submission procedure.
1. Never submit info completely in capitals or completely lower case, if there is no special reason for that.
2. For bands that have a leading “the”, simply leave out the “the” (e.g. use “Rolling Stones” instead of “The Rolling Stones”)
3. Names of people should be written “first name last name” – NOT “last name, first name”. (John Doe)
4. Use the name of the artist repeated on the “title” field if there is no title (usually seen on an artist’s first major label release, such as with the B-52′s)
5. For a sampler or compilation, you should include the track-artist in the track-name, using the syntax “artist / track-title” and set the CD-artist to “Various”
Gracenote
Note: Only media players licensed by Gracenote will submit the data to Gracenote.
- If you use Itunes, the easiest way is to just put your CD into your computer. Click on the first track and select ‘file’, then ‘get info’ and enter the track information (You can also click in the edit fields or, on a PC, hit [ctrl]+[I].) When you have entered all the track information go to ‘advanced’, ‘submit CD track names’, fill in the requested information and hit [OK].
You can also use Lala, Tuneup, Winamp, Quintessential Player (QCD) and Yahoo Media Engine. The software will try to identify the CD. If the CD is not identified, you will be asked if you’d like to submit the information. To submit the information, type the following information in the required fields then click the Submit button. - Or, you can submit your CD information directly to Gracenote.com as a “content partner”
- Or just wait until your first fan puts in their CD and enters the information for you (correctly you hope!).
Once a CD’s track listing is in the database, anyone playing that CD in a Gracenote powered player (listed above) will have it recognized. It can take up to 48 hours for a new submission to show up.
Full submission of all data (including audio and graphics) are only accepted through the avenue of specialized accounts. This is how songs appear for on-line sale through the various providers. For iTunes, product is only accepted via their iTunes Producer software that does the rip, encode, and meta data formatting, and submits as a full single file uploaded to that labels account. CDBaby has deals in place with all the various online services.
FYI Gracenote Inc. knows almost any time a CD is “ripped” for use in a portable music player. Apple, Creative and Rio use its service, along with hundreds of software products for playing and recording music CDs.
To learn more about CDDB, visit www.gracenote.com. or read their FAQ page
AMG
Send one copy of the product along with any relevant promotional materials, such as press releases and artist photos to:
Product Submissions
All Media Guide
1168 Oak Valley Drive
Ann Arbor, MI 48108
Your CD or DVD will go through a data entry and scanning process in which everything from credits to track and chapter listings to cover art will be entered into the database. AMG editors may also assign descriptors such as genres, styles, and moods to the title. Your product will then be stored in our archive in case there is a future need to review, add to, or correct the data. Your product should appear on our web site within 4-6 weeks after we receive your materials.
For more information: http://www.allmovie.com/about/product-submissions
FreeDB
You will need a freedb-aware program supporting submit. For Windows you can use MAGIX Music Manager, Feurio!, CDex or Audiograbber, for Linux you can use Grip. A longer list of freedb-aware applications can be found on their site. www.freedb.org
I’ve also heard about MUZE (www.muze.com).
