I decided to perform a test to see how long it takes for updates to the MusicBrainz database, specifically for AllMusic-related metadata, to show up for albums in Plex when the metadata is refreshed. According to the relevant support document, the updated content should be available “within about a day and a half.” My test involved an album I added to my library recently, “Little Big II: Dreams of a Mechanical Man” by Aaron Parks. An entry for the album was already present in the MusicBrainz database, but there was no album art and there was no cross-linked AllMusic entry. The album was successfully matched by Plex, but there was no album art, and the “review” field where AllMusic album reviews gets populated was blank. There was only one MusicBrainz release in the release group (it’s a new album), so on May 15th (6 days ago), I added album art and added a cross-link URL for the relevant AllMusic release. The AllMusic link was automatically applied, but the album art needed to be approved before being applied. So I waited a few days, refreshing the Plex Metadata for that album each day, but the AllMusic review text never got populated in the Plex “review” field. So then, on May 18th (3 days ago), I also added a cross-link URL for the relevant AllMusic release group link, thinking maybe that was the AllMusic link Plex uses for import. After 3 days (6 days total), the review field still does not populate, whether I refresh metadata or do a “Fix Match…”
I’m curious what other people’s experiences are in adding to the MusicBrainz database and having the data eventually show up in Plex. It doesn’t seem to be as straightforward as the support document implies. My album art is still pending approval in MusicBrainz (probably since I’m a newbie rated as a “beginner”), but the AllMusic links were accepted automatically without review.
FWIW, I’m on Plex Server for Mac version 4.34.1, running it on an iMac.
Hi, I’m curious about the Plex – MusicBrainz – AllMusic interplay as well.
I’ve just noticed in my collection many albums without tags (Genres, Styles, Moods) and after some searching discovered that those get pulled by the Plex Music agent from AllMusic via MusicBrainz. I noticed that those albums had no link between their MusicBrainz and AllMusic entries, so I figured that was why the tags remained empty. Your experience and the helpful reference to the support document serve as confirmation.
So, I’ve added the MusicBrainz – AllMusic link 30 minutes ago, keep refreshing the metadata, but the tags are yet to get populated.
I suspect that Genres, Styles, and Moods may come from a source other than AllMusic. I’ve just added to Plex a release, the MusicBrainz group of which has no link to AllMusic. Nevertheless, the Genres, Styles, and Moods tags got populated.
After about 10 days, I’ve come to the conclusion that, for my test album, the review text from AllMusic is never going to get populated by Plex. Maybe the AllMusic link has to exist at time of initial matching for it to get pulled in.
This fits with my observations: now, before importing new music to Plex, I create a link between MusicBrainz and AllMusic, and all albums get properly tagged.
I tried unmatching and rematching, but in vain. Maybe a Plex dance will help.
So this is my personal experience with MusicBrainz as of the past few days. (Side note: Plex Pass user for years, large music collection of properly tagged/articled music).
I had ~700+ albums and artists that did not match in Plex (I like Indie bands… and tend to support them by buying their material). I created an account in MusicBrainz, added a sample (~ 20 songs/albums/artists) metadata after searching their db and noting that there was no record for each (no artist, no album, no previously-existing metadata). I entered the metadata per the ID3 tag info that I have on each file.
Shortly (hours) after submitting, ALL of my entries were voted down and flamed by one of the core “group” running MusicBrainz with useless comments like “I don’t think that looks right.” Not helpful. Nor did the person add any metadata of use. I was silly enough to escalate the spamming which got me a quick response by an individual who clearly knew the first person… and promptly stated support for the spamming since they did not know the content either. It was like I touched a hornet’s nest simply by adding metadata that they did not previously have (nor would outside of my use via Plex by the looks of things).
BTW… their rules are set up simply… some (like the great unwashed such as I) need 3 Yes votes for items to flow through to their Db. All that is needed is 1 No vote to kill it… and there appears to be a number of individuals that spen most of their time blocking new content to self-amuse. These same people (inner circle?) get auto-approval for their edits. Even on content that you/I post. Regardless of their knowledge (or lack thereof). They started acting childish so I deleted my account. I don’t need the BS.
I quick-sampled their db and here are my observations:
(1) their metadata is suspect at-best with mainstream content. Lots of abnormalities.
(2) their non-mainstream content is MIA… and they have no interest in adding it. They have an interest in preventing it.
(3) they have a VERY tight circle of kids that appear to control everything
(4) they do not want to build a complete set of metadata records for all musical content… just their music. Everything that falls outside of that circle is subject to ridicule and supposition…followed by quick and summary rejection.
Why doesn’t Plex leverage Discogs? It seems like an exponentially larger collection which happens to be run by adults (rather than overage adolescents). Discogs has an available API as well. I am not affiliated in any way… just have used them to complete my ID3 tags over time.
This might be somewhere in the Forum…just have not had time (or perhaps not hit on the right search terms yet) to find it.
