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<font face="Times New Roman, Times, serif">Hello...<br>
<br>
<font face="Times New Roman, Times, serif">For the last three
years, <font face="Times New Roman, Times, serif">several of us
have been developing a FLAC-based digital music library for
use at our ra<font face="Times New Roman, Times, serif">dio
station here in norther<font face="Times New Roman, Times,
serif">n California. This was started fi<font face="Times
New Roman, Times, serif">rst</font></font> as an
experiment<font face="Times New Roman, Times, serif"><font
face="Times New Roman, Times, serif"> with the goal of
under<font face="Times New Roman, Times, serif">standing
what it takes to make a useful library on a <font
face="Times New Roman, Times, serif">central network
file </font>server</font></font></font>. In the
process, we dev<font face="Times New Roman, Times, serif">eloped
a<font face="Times New Roman, Times, serif">n imp<font
face="Times New Roman, Times, serif">roved a<font
face="Times New Roman, Times, serif">nd far more
usefu<font face="Times New Roman, Times, serif">l <font
face="Times New Roman, Times, serif">schem<font
face="Times New Roman, Times, serif">a for
tagging the res<font face="Times New Roman,
Times, serif">ulting F<font face="Times New
Roman, Times, serif">LAC files. Fo<font
face="Times New Roman, Times, serif">r <font
face="Times New Roman, Times, serif">reasons
you surely understand, cr<font
face="Times New Roman, Times, serif">eat<font
face="Times New Roman, Times,
serif">ing </font></font>a<font
face="Times New Roman, Times, serif">
<font face="Times New Roman, Times,
serif">lossy library<font
face="Times New Roman, Times,
serif"> or any library <font
face="Times New Roman, Times,
serif">based on a <font
face="Times New Roman,
Times, serif">proprietary
for<font face="Times New
Roman, Times, serif">mat</font>
</font></font>wa<font
face="Times New Roman, Times,
serif">s deemed absur<font
face="Times New Roman,
Times, serif">d. <font
face="Times New Roman,
Times, serif">F<font
face="Times New Roman,
Times, serif">L<font
face="Times New Roman,
Times, serif">AC was <font
face="Times New
Roman, Times, serif">ou<font
face="Times New
Roman, Times,
serif">r <font
face="Times New
Roman, Times,
serif">star<font
face="Times
New Roman,
Times, serif">ting
point and
still seems to
be the lo<font
face="Times
New Roman,
Times, serif">gical
<font
face="Times
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Times, serif">choice
for th<font
face="Times
New Roman,
Times, serif">e
next genera<font
face="Times
New Roman,
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of music dis<font
face="Times
New Roman,
Times, serif">tribution
file
formats....in<font
face="Times
New Roman,
Times, serif">cluding
hig<font
face="Times
New Roman,
Times, serif">h-res<font
face="Times
New Roman,
Times, serif">o<font
face="Times
New Roman,
Times, serif">lution
fi<font
face="Times
New Roman,
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fo<font
face="Times
New Roman,
Times, serif">r
thos<font
face="Times
New Roman,
Times, serif">e
that <font
face="Times
New Roman,
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even mo<font
face="Times
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Times, serif">re
a<font
face="Times
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audio<font
face="Times
New Roman,
Times, serif">
quality.</font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font><br>
<br>
<font face="Times New Roman, Times, serif">One
of t<font face="Times New Roman, Times,
serif">he<font face="Times New Roman,
Times, serif"> <font face="Times
New Roman, Times, serif">primary </font>underlying
assump<font face="Times New Roman,
Times, serif">tions comprising the
foundation of <font face="Times
New Roman, Times, serif">this p<font
face="Times New Roman, Times,
serif">ro<font face="Times New
Roman, Times, serif">ject
was that f<font face="Times
New Roman, Times, serif">utu<font
face="Times New Roman,
Times, serif">re music
di<font face="Times New
Roman, Times, serif">stribution<font
face="Times New
Roman, Times, serif">s
will inevitably be
file-based and <font
face="Times New
Roman, Times,
serif">free of the
encumbrance of opt<font
face="Times New
Roman, Times,
serif">ical
discs <font
face="Times
New Roman,
Times, serif">in
</font>any
format. Discs
don't make
sense, but
compatible,
searchable libra<font
face="Times
New Roman,
Times, serif">ries
do. U<font
face="Times
New Roman,
Times, serif">sers
need to search
their
libraries <font
face="Times
New Roman,
Times, serif">for
more important
reasons than
just to locate
an artist or
song by name.
<font
face="Times
New Roman,
Times, serif">The
current <font
face="Times
New Roman,
Times, serif">(f<font
face="Times
New Roman,
Times, serif">ormalized)
set of Vorbis<font
face="Times
New Roman,
Times, serif">Comm<font
face="Times
New Roman,
Times, serif">e<font
face="Times
New Roman,
Times, serif">nts
is inadequate
for this
purpose. <font
face="Times
New Roman,
Times, serif">[For
example<font
face="Times
New Roman,
Times, serif">,
who is the <font
face="Times
New Roman,
Times, serif">vocal<font
face="Times
New Roman,
Times, serif">ist
on that track,
or w<font
face="Times
New Roman,
Times, serif">h<font
face="Times
New Roman,
Times, serif">o<font
face="Times
New Roman,
Times, serif">
is pla<font
face="Times
New Roman,
Times, serif">y<font
face="Times
New Roman,
Times, serif">ing
the violin on
this track?] </font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font>I<font
face="Times
New Roman,
Times, serif">n</font></font>
this scenario,
FLAC <font
face="Times
New Roman,
Times, serif">is
</font>the
obvious choice
for a
server-based
music library<font
face="Times
New Roman,
Times, serif">
in <font
face="Times
New Roman,
Times, serif">both
</font>consumer
and profession<font
face="Times
New Roman,
Times, serif">al
<font
face="Times
New Roman,
Times, serif">appli<font
face="Times
New Roman,
Times, serif">cations</font></font>.
We would like
to see artists
and labels
make th<font
face="Times
New Roman,
Times, serif">eir
offer<font
face="Times
New Roman,
Times, serif">ings
available in
bot<font
face="Times
New Roman,
Times, serif">h
"standard" and
high-resolutio<font
face="Times
New Roman,
Times, serif">n
formats in the
<font
face="Times
New Roman,
Times, serif">form
of <font
face="Times
New Roman,
Times, serif">"lossless"
FLAC <font
face="Times
New Roman,
Times, serif">files,
already tagged
correctl</font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font>y
and accurately<font face="Times New Roman, Times, serif"><font
face="Times New Roman, Times, serif"><font face="Times New
Roman, Times, serif"><font face="Times New Roman, Times,
serif"><font face="Times New Roman, Times, serif"><font
face="Times New Roman, Times, serif"><font face="Times
New Roman, Times, serif"><font face="Times New Roman,
Times, serif"><font face="Times New Roman, Times,
serif"><font face="Times New Roman, Times, serif"><font
face="Times New Roman, Times, serif"><font
face="Times New Roman, Times, serif"><font
face="Times New Roman, Times, serif"><font
face="Times New Roman, Times, serif"><font
face="Times New Roman, Times, serif"><font
face="Times New Roman, Times, serif"><font
face="Times New Roman, Times,
serif"><font face="Times New
Roman, Times, serif"><font
face="Times New Roman, Times,
serif"><font face="Times New
Roman, Times, serif"><font
face="Times New Roman,
Times, serif"><font
face="Times New Roman,
Times, serif"><font
face="Times New Roman,
Times, serif"><font
face="Times New
Roman, Times, serif"><font
face="Times New
Roman, Times,
serif"><font
face="Times New
Roman, Times,
serif"><font
face="Times
New Roman,
Times, serif"><font
face="Times
New Roman,
Times, serif"><font
face="Times
New Roman,
Times, serif"><font
face="Times
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Times, serif"><font
face="Times
New Roman,
Times, serif"><font
face="Times
New Roman,
Times, serif"><font
face="Times
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Times, serif"><font
face="Times
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Times, serif"><font
face="Times
New Roman,
Times, serif">.</font></font></font></font></font></font></font><br>
<br>
<font
face="Times
New Roman,
Times, serif">Having
said this, the
minimal set of
VorbisComm<font
face="Times
New Roman,
Times, serif">e<font
face="Times
New Roman,
Times, serif">nts
<font
face="Times
New Roman,
Times, serif"><font
face="Times
New Roman,
Times, serif">lis<font
face="Times
New Roman,
Times, serif">ted
as pa<font
face="Times
New Roman,
Times, serif">rt
of the FLAC <font
face="Times
New Roman,
Times, serif">specificati<font
face="Times
New Roman,
Times, serif">on
</font></font></font></font></font></font>is
<font
face="Times
New Roman,
Times, serif">justifiably
inadequate for
the purpose. A
new set of
recommendations
for FLAC <font
face="Times
New Roman,
Times, serif">tags
<font
face="Times
New Roman,
Times, serif">(in
the VorbisComm<font
face="Times
New Roman,
Times, serif">e<font
face="Times
New Roman,
Times, serif">nts
<font
face="Times
New Roman,
Times, serif">format<font
face="Times
New Roman,
Times, serif"><font
face="Times
New Roman,
Times, serif"><font
face="Times
New Roman,
Times, serif"><font
face="Times
New Roman,
Times, serif">)</font>
is <font
face="Times
New Roman,
Times, serif">more
than just
desir<font
face="Times
New Roman,
Times, serif">able—<font
face="Times
New Roman,
Times, serif">i</font>t's
essential for
the future
adap<font
face="Times
New Roman,
Times, serif">tation
of FLAC <font
face="Times
New Roman,
Times, serif">for
music distribu<font
face="Times
New Roman,
Times, serif">tion.
A <font
face="Times
New Roman,
Times, serif">revised
codified
standard for
VorbisComme<font
face="Times
New Roman,
Times, serif">nts
or their equi<font
face="Times
New Roman,
Times, serif">valent
<font
face="Times
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Times, serif">is
re<font
face="Times
New Roman,
Times, serif">qu<font
face="Times
New Roman,
Times, serif">ired.<br>
<br>
<font
face="Times
New Roman,
Times, serif"><font
face="Times
New Roman,
Times, serif">Since
<font
face="Times
New Roman,
Times, serif">our
</font>project
began three
years ago, we
have develope<font
face="Times
New Roman,
Times, serif">d
<font
face="Times
New Roman,
Times, serif">and
are still
working on the
best <font
face="Times
New Roman,
Times, serif">means
for tagging
our files. We
think we're
just about
there. We're
in the process
of finalizing
<font
face="Times
New Roman,
Times, serif">ou</font></font></font></font></font>r
recommendations
<font
face="Times
New Roman,
Times, serif">(<font
face="Times
New Roman,
Times, serif">in
the form of a</font>
proposal<font
face="Times
New Roman,
Times, serif">)
for an upd<font
face="Times
New Roman,
Times, serif">ated<font
face="Times
New Roman,
Times, serif">
a<font
face="Times
New Roman,
Times, serif">nd</font></font></font>
consistent, co<font
face="Times
New Roman,
Times, serif">di<font
face="Times
New Roman,
Times, serif">fied
standard for
FLAC <font
face="Times
New Roman,
Times, serif">tags.
Rather than
just cr<font
face="Times
New Roman,
Times, serif">eate
havoc by going
o<font
face="Times
New Roman,
Times, serif">ff
on our own, we
<font
face="Times
New Roman,
Times, serif">would
li<font
face="Times
New Roman,
Times, serif">ke
t<font
face="Times
New Roman,
Times, serif">o
seek input and
acceptance of
this revis<font
face="Times
New Roman,
Times, serif">ion
by the x<font
face="Times
New Roman,
Times, serif">iph.org
c<font
face="Times
New Roman,
Times, serif">ommunity</font></font>.<br>
<br>
<font
face="Times
New Roman,
Times, serif"><font
face="Times
New Roman,
Times, serif">What
is the best
way to go
about this?<br>
<br>
<font
face="Times
New Roman,
Times, serif">Dennis
Brunnenmeyer<br>
<font
face="Times
New Roman,
Times, serif">F<font
face="Times
New Roman,
Times, serif">ull
Fidelity Music<br>
<font
face="Times
New Roman,
Times, serif">KVMR-FM
Rad<font
face="Times
New Roman,
Times, serif">io<br>
<font
face="Times
New Roman,
Times, serif">Nevada
<font
face="Times
New Roman,
Times, serif">C<font
face="Times
New Roman,
Times, serif">ity,
CA</font></font></font><br>
</font></font></font></font><br>
</font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font><br>
<br>
</font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font><font
face="Times
New Roman,
Times, serif"></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font>
</font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font>
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