The state of ID3v2 support in the Linux console

marfig · 2010-08-12 14:05:17

Being a Windows user that only recently started to gain a genuine interest in adding Linux to my list of proficiencies, my music collection is 90% composed of MP3 files with ID3v2 tags; a sort of expected setup on Windows machines.

I particularly enjoy the more recent ID3v2 -- as opposed to ID3v1.1 -- because this allows me to store the song lyrics withing the music file. Very useful because it simplifies file management, while removing the need to be online, and many windows players (I use foobar2000) can read all the extra fields in the ID3v2 header.

For the past days I've been trying to find a console music daemon or player for Linux that fully supports ID3v2. I haven't been able to do so. For some reason that I cannot understand, the norm is ID3v1.1 support. As I understand, the Linux community tends towards the Ogg format which implies 'Vorbis comment'. Unfortunately, 'Vorbis comment' specifications suggest that type of metadata should reside on a separate stream. Which really doesn't make much sense to me when the data is so intrinsically connected to the file as is the case of music lyrics. But specifications are specifications, so I can understand I won't see many developers willing to break them. What I find curious however is why the lack of ID3v2 support. What has been stopping the community from developing full support?

Zeist · 2010-08-12 14:20:17

MPD officially has ID3v2 support and MOC will use ID3v2 tags if ID3v1 tags aren't present as well in the files.

marfig · 2010-08-12 14:34:22

Well, I'm using mpd, and while it can read ID3v2 tags, it will not be able to read any extra fields (which is one of the innovations from ID3v1.1). Essentially, in behavior it falls back to ID3v1.1. As an example try to edit metadata_to_use in you mpd.conf to include an extra field you planned to start using on your mp3 tags. The daemon won't even start. It's hard-coded to only accept ID3v1.1-style fields.

MOC has the same problem essentially. It ignores extra fields. These players and daemons can read ID3v2. But ignore the specific implementations of this "new" (12 years old) standard.

I'm curious as to why. What has been stopping it?

Last edited by marfig (2010-08-12 14:35:55)

0mark · 2010-08-12 15:16:47

Well, i think mostly because both are more or less minimized programs, doing just whats really needed.

PS: As far as i know, there is no common semantic to the extra fields. And then, after switching through some player, you may end up with a lot of fields with alien names and data that hat no obvious meaning.

orph · 2010-08-12 18:52:01

Having a console audio player is sweet, indeed. But let me tell you a story.

I've tried a lot of players (GUI and not) since I use Arch Linux: MPD with ncmpcpp, MPD with sonata, Rhythmbox, Songbird, Amarok, etc. The thing is that when you experienced foobar2000, and that you have specific ends to meet, like your lyrics-embedded MP3s, the current solutions simply doesn't work well enough.

What I do now is that I run foobar2000 through the lastest Wine. It's working pretty well. So my bet is that if you can afford running a GUI player through a Windows compatibility layer, go for it.

marfig · 2010-08-12 19:17:14

Indeed foobar2000 is life changing for anyone who comes across it. It's been my player for many years. Excellent news that it is supported under Wine. I don't have the necessary resources to support it under this VMWare setup I'm currently running Arch on. But that will be a probable solution once I fully migrate to a standalone computer. Thanks Orph.

0mark wrote:

PS: As far as i know, there is no common semantic to the extra fields. And then, after switching through some player, you may end up with a lot of fields with alien names and data that hat no obvious meaning.

The fields are well defined under the standard. Essentially it is all controlled by a header that specifies content and sizes of each frame. Then the frames follow with said content. As long as a player follows the standard, it's just like any other metadata that needs to be implemented (say, Vorbis).

I'm not really trying to bring a critic here. I confess seeing no support for ID3v2 shocked me. I wasn't expecting that. Instead I trust there's a reason somewhere. It's not of the Linux community in general to squander a standard. Unless... perhaps, there's a general lack of interest because ID3v2 has really only been fully implemented by the MP3 format and this format is proprietary?

Last edited by marfig (2010-08-12 19:17:38)

Barrucadu · 2010-08-12 19:26:20

I imagine it's more a case of the ID3v1.1-style tags being the most-used ones, so there hasn't been any interest in developing full ID3v2 support (remember: a lot, if not a majority, of FOSS development is done to scratch an itch); though I find it hard to believe that there isn't a player or lib out there that does have full support.

Last edited by Barrucadu (2010-08-12 19:27:21)

stryder · 2010-08-13 02:25:26

There are a couple of people here who have developed music players - guayadeque and goggles music player come to mind. Check out their threads in the multimedia section. They welcome feature requests.

anonymous_user · 2010-08-13 02:29:09

Deadbeef is another new music player. And heres the threads:

Goggles Music Manager: https://bbs.archlinux.org/viewtopic.php?id=48445
Guayadeque: https://bbs.archlinux.org/viewtopic.php?id=86787
Deadbeef: https://bbs.archlinux.org/viewtopic.php?id=96968

Last edited by anonymous_user (2010-08-13 02:32:14)

Acecero · 2010-08-13 02:33:14

I completely recommend Deadbeef. Foobar2000 clone and it has ID3v2.2, ID3v2.3, and ID3v2.4 support.

marfig · 2010-08-13 03:43:47

Thanks, I will definitely give it a try. I make extensive use of ID3v2 (with the exception of album art) and I couldn't disagree more with the Vorbis comment methodology, which has always stopped me from converting to the otherwise superior Ogg format, since I naturally expect players to respect the Vorbis specifications (although I never really looked into it).

Arch Linux

#1 2010-08-12 14:05:17

The state of ID3v2 support in the Linux console

#2 2010-08-12 14:20:17

Re: The state of ID3v2 support in the Linux console

#3 2010-08-12 14:34:22

Re: The state of ID3v2 support in the Linux console

#4 2010-08-12 15:16:47

Re: The state of ID3v2 support in the Linux console

#5 2010-08-12 18:52:01

Re: The state of ID3v2 support in the Linux console

#6 2010-08-12 19:17:14

Re: The state of ID3v2 support in the Linux console

#7 2010-08-12 19:26:20

Re: The state of ID3v2 support in the Linux console

#8 2010-08-13 02:25:26

Re: The state of ID3v2 support in the Linux console

#9 2010-08-13 02:29:09

Re: The state of ID3v2 support in the Linux console

#10 2010-08-13 02:33:14

Re: The state of ID3v2 support in the Linux console

#11 2010-08-13 03:43:47

Re: The state of ID3v2 support in the Linux console

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