One of the “peripheral” pleasures of Friday mornings at Law & ICT classes is the information and technology exchange modus operandi of the back row boys, who happen to be mostly Mac users, by reason of which I was handed with equinux’s integrated software tandem for audio file organization: SongGenie and CoverScout (the tekkie learning, of course, remains of principal interest, if you would believe). These two applications are designed to rummage through a user’s multi-format music compendium, and by “listening” to the files by sampling and then checking it against an online database, provide extensive song information and album cover art; from the basic song “name”, “artist”, and “album”, to the more difficult to trace “track” and “disc” number, “year”, “genre” and most especially, lyrics! The software can be customized to add or overwrite only missing or even existing song information; and to have seen it display a result for Utada Hikaru’s “First Love” in combined kanji and English, presumably perfectly on cue with the song’s mixed Japanese-English lyrics as sung was quite amusing.
The SongGenie and CoverScout dynamic duo transforms music file organization into a dandy and entertaining regimen, especially for the obsessive-compulsive, because they’re also functionally integrated with iTunes, such that the changes in song information are correspondingly written directly onto the music files and accordingly reflected in iTunes.
Although many local favorites, older and less known OPM hits, haven’t been included in the online databases, so searching for their details must still be performed manually, no worries for the world-popular or mainstream music, since the online database is continuously updated to purvey information on even the freshest raved tunes. Anyhow, it’d always be a welcome task to play sleuth, tediously searching the web and cross-referencing between sites for discography, etc., taking pains not to miss even the less important details for the “composer”, “track number” and “label” fields, among others.
Now, the “genre” field has always been most problematic, since different sources almost invariably classify the same songs differently, and I wonder if the online music genre finders are of any benefit. In any event, with these tools, and the support of the likes of Last.fm, music file collection and organization, like philately or stamp collection, can conceivably congeal into an engaging study and art form, if it isn’t already so.
“About SongGenie
See what’s missing from your music library. SongGenie tidies and polishes your songs, ready for your Mac, iPod and iPhone. Name your untitled tracks and insert lyrics straight into your music files.
SongGenie now goes beyond artists and titles. Search and automatically apply lyrics for your songs. Display your favorite songs with lyrics on your iPhone or just about any iPod too. Add tags, genres and more to your music files.” (http://www.apple.com/downloads/macosx/ipod_itunes/songgenie.html)
“About CoverScout
Tired of those gray gaps in your music library? CoverScout searches Amazon, WalMart and Google Images for the cover art that’s missing in your music library. Analyze your albums and let CoverScout apply high quality covers automatically. The integrated fully featured cover editor lets you scale, crop, straighten and frame your album art. You can also use your iSight for capturing your own album covers.
CoverScout also includes the most popular templates for printing pre-cut labels for the perfect jewel case booklets. It’s never been easier to find the perfect covers for your music. If the title information for your tracks is missing with just one click you can jump to SongGenie to identify them.” (http://www.apple.com/downloads/macosx/ipod_itunes/coverscout.html)
Raul S. Grapilon
Entry No. 13
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