(*Implemented) Request: Add Option to Automatically Identify and Tag Music From Browser Title

Please inform the developer that the Automatically Identify and Tag Music option is hit and miss depending on lots of random variables. A very easy update to implement is to add a File Naming Rule that will pick up tags from the Browser Title, i.e. {browser artist} - {browser track}. This would allow the Automatic Identify and Tag Music option to be 100% accurate for many sites like Slacker.com rather than often inaccurate or defaulting to cryptic file names after a failed guess or look-up. Alternately, there could be two options, i.e. "Automatically Identify and Tag Music" and "Automatically Tag Music from Browser Title." For example, Slacker.com already displays how the file should be tagged in the title of the browser's header. This information would be easy to logically parse, i.e. "song" by "artist" from "album" etc. However, RMC only has an option to "guess" the Tag instead of a second option to automatically obtain the correct tag from the browser title which is a much simpler solution for tagging than the current implementation when available. Pandora doesn't display titles this way, but the browser title option should at least coexist with it for the sites that do. The fact that tags are often wrong or not found and then must be manually tagged with a rename counters the second biggest selling point of the RMC software: automatic tagging--the first being automatically recording the media itself that later requires tagging. In a perfect world, RMC would automatically "read the page" as we do by pulling the song and artist information from the same area on the page that we ourselves view it when listening to music or watching videos. This is easy to implement per site but is much more difficult to maintain for all of the sites as they requires unique tweaks in where the information exists on the page for each site, which would frequently change. Admittedly, this would be a strong selling point to add that individual site functionality for at least the most popular sites in the world such as Slacker especially since the functionality *already* exists for tagging popular sites such as Youtube: RMC automatically tags Youtube videos by pulling the name from the page title. The importance and draw of 100% accurate automatic tagging can't be overstated--since, again, it along with the media file capturing, is the primary reason RMC is your most popular software and biggest moneymaker. But for something more potentially universal, an option to capture tags from browser titles is cross-browser compatible and requires much less maintenance. Slacker.com for example is a simple parsing of "song" then "by" then "artist" then "album" in the browser header. But even without parsing, having RMC even automatically tag songs just as it currently does for Youtube videos from the page title, i.e. "Song by Artist from Album" would be a 100% accuracy starting point. Even in the worse case scenario, I'd rather have 100% accurate identification with an occasional cleaning up of automatic tags that didn't perfectly parse songs that had the words "by" or "from" in them versus the current solution of having 50% accurate identification with the need to manually rename every other song with complete artist and song information. I love your product and am a big fan; but this core functionality is such a buying motivator that not having more tagging flexibility is a lacking area. I only want this product to continue to succeed. Please contact me if you have any questions. But please submit this to the developers; he/she will immediately understand what I'm describing, will confirm that extending RMC's Youtube functionality to songs by detecting browser titles is very "easy" to code and "quick" to implement, and that the business manager would certainly see how it would increase your profits and the bottom line. Thanks for listening!

-Cee

Unfortunately, this is not as easy said and done. What if the browser title just says "song1" or "song-3qrt.wmv" which i've seen before.

We already have a tagging system in place for RMC and it works quite well, for the most part. If both options were present, which variable would RMC use to create the tag from?

I will make sure our developer see's your poll and request, however, I don't foresee this happening in the near future. I apologize for any inconvenience.

Good questions. I'll summarize the answers from my original post:

1: This tagging option already exists for YouTube and all the other videos that RMC handles; RMC currently pulls the title from the browser and renames the file to match it. So the developer doesn't need to create it, only to add it as an option for all media, i.e. audio, and not just for videos.

2: The existing tagging option is a toggle option in RMC settings. Adding this second toggle option next to it would simply make sense. The customer chooses which tagging option to toggle on instead of being limited to use the sole existing tagging option.

3: Since the developer has already created it within RMC for videos, not implementing it as a toggle option would simply be restrictive. There is no technical reason why it can't be added as it already exists within RMC.

4: We can currently toggle off the existing tagging option for sites that are more accurate from manual tagging than using the automatic toggle option in settings. So being able to deselect this in favor for a second page title tagging option for 100% tagging for sites such as slacker would give customers the toggle option they want to use. This would resolve whether we want to manually correct "song1.mp3" titles, let the existing tagging guess it, or let the page title get it right every time. Which tagging option we'd choose would depend on the site we're on of course, but this is exactly as it currently is: we toggle the automatic tagging option on or off as needed. If I was at slacker.com, I'd toggle the second page title option which would deselect the existing toggle option, and have 100% tagging accuracy.

5: Even if the developer doesn't parse the page title into song and title, having the existing video/YouTube browser title renaming extended to audio also an option would still be fine because I can parse the page title outside of RMC with third party free file renamers or could do it in real time by changing the browser title automatically. It's very easy to do either using free downloads from CNet's download.com.

Thanks for submitting it!

Hi Curtis,

Thanks for your detailed response. I have submitted your request, as I said I would, but I have heard nothing back yet.

Thanks again.

Naming downloaded videos automatically is tricky. The issue is that all sites stream in different formats and manners. Much of the time the stream Replay Media Catcher records comes from a completely different site than that hosting the video. We use a variety of techniques to try and detect the best name possible for a downloaded/recorded stream - the majority of the time Replay Media Catcher gets it right.

In the cases Replay Media Catcher can't find a good video name, you can rename files directly from within Replay Media Catcher. Just right-click the stream and choose Rename from the menu.

If you wish to send us web site(s) that consistently give gobbly gook file names then please do so - provide as many details as possible.

Thank you for your comments, I have forward them to our developer.

Thanks Shellie for forwarding them to the developer. Let me be clear: I love RMC! In this economy, I consider buying software a luxury, and yet, I bought RMC without hesitation last year after sampling its features. I also recommend the program constantly and have sent more than a few new customers your way. I'm impressed with the program. And as you alluded to earlier, am amazed at how effortlessly and efficiently RMC integrates the complexities of all of the different site streaming formats and implementations into a user-friendly and straightforward interface. This is why I'm investing in its future with feedback. I truly feel that the appeal of RMC is not in its hidden complexity but in its potential to become a life-altering experience like a TiVo or an iPhone. These products transcend software and hardware and become lifestyle commodities because "They just work." And that's where RMC hits its hiccups. I look at this software and see the potential in it changing my lifestyle in how I interact with certain sites because when it "just works" it's amazing in how seamless it identifies, tags etc. -- hiding all that complexity behind the scenes. But there are those nagging tagging hiccups which occur far too frequently. If my TiVo only occasionally recorded the important television shows I asked it to while I was away, or my iPhone only occasionally let me swipe my finger or use the apps, the exceptional greatness of those devices take a very steep turn downwards. Sad, but true. When even something great works only part of the time, it negatively colors the entire experience. I realized that my enjoyment of RMC was rapidly decreasing, which was strange as a self-proclaimed RMC evangelist. And that's when I realized why: it was because I far too often had to manually rename files directly within RMC. The appeal of it just working, wasn't...because I couldn't just "set-it-and-forget-it." The admiral way RMC makes the complex easy to use is technically brilliant. But it's lost in the experience when having to stop and rename a file then resume, because it was this automation--not the technical expertise--that was the selling point. The TiVo should always record. The iPhone should always swipe. And RMC should always automatically tag a file. But that's impossible I know; it's a complex science how audio and video media are hosted. But what if you could take several of the top sites and implement a way for 100% accuracy for those sites? The appeal and user experience for a large portion, but not all, of your customers would immediately benefit from that "tiny" tweak. And more RMC evangelists are born. Here's the deal: The tricky brilliance of automatically naming YouTube videos in RMC is already there, as is the figuring out how to record all the different formats and manners. None of that would need to be changed, no new technology, and no new detection: because it's already there. The only thing the developer would need to do is simply add a toggle option that would pull the name from the browser--just as it already does with YouTube--and then rename the file that was downloaded. RMC already expertly detects and downloads these streams using whatever fancy technology you reference. This wouldn't require any change to that. Simply, to rename it to the browser title after downloaded--regardless of where it was downloaded from, how it was downloaded, etc. We know that RMC successfully will download the file; it's only in the naming of the files that is hit or miss. This won't work on all sites of course, but letting the customer toggle the option on/off per our preference will remedy that. Having this option for Slacker.com for example would mean 100% accuracy simply by taking the browser title and renaming the downloaded file! That would be a godsend. :)

We're crossing our fingers too :)

Hi,
From the developer:
Radio stations are streaming RTMP and it is a live stream so does not have any meta data. Meta data normally contains a page Url which can be used to look up the page title with an extended naming lookup. If the MusicDNS lookup fails (song is not in database) then an extended look up is done of the last 5 pages loaded.
The way Slacker.com is constructed involves lots of requests such as these:
http://www.slacker.com/clicktrack/hs...ndom=388820992
These all have a content-type of text/html and therefore are added to the pages to search for a title. In reality these are just ad snipits and not actually html pages and as they are the last pages loaded, the extended naming fails to find a title in them.

So, he is working on a solutions and hopes to have it available in the next update.
Best regards,

Shellie Heggenberger
Applian Technologies, Inc.

You fixed it in about a month! A huge update that addresses all of these issues in an elegant design, with an overhauled filenaming section created "just for me." :-) This level of support shows your dedication to fulfilling the requests of your target audience: your customers. And for this, you have gained a loyal lifetime supporter who will not only continue to recommend your product over all others simply because it's the best, but will out of loyalty alone remain with your company's product for endless years to come. Brilliantly done. My hats off to your support and development teams for a challenging but rewarding job well done. Impressive response to a pressing situation! Thank you!



March 9, 2011





Replay Media Catcher -4.1.6




- RTMPT support on port 1935 (bloomberg.tv)

- Copy protected content dialog
- Exposed naming rules control via settings

- Handle configuration exceptions gracefully.

- Improved error reporting for driver installation and licensing failures.

- Slacker.com playlist naming support

- Fixed RTMP issue with slacker.com

- Lynda.com playlist naming support

- Added ability to change default buffer time in settings window

- MSI now written to windows temp folder and left there so it is always available.

- If install fails then FAQ window is opened in browser.

- Fixed issues with smooth streaming and H.246

- Fixed crash in Http/HttpResponse.cs

- Correctly handle duration in RTMP resumes

- Set RTMP default buffer time to 1000 instead of 8000

- New MusicDNS lib

- Update Director registry entries

- License key is now stored in a file - not registry

- f4v file extension now registered with FLV Player in RMC install.

- Some Rhapsody naming support

- Stop multiple YouTube downloads by handling the YouTube player
requesting a video in segments. This is a new option available through
the settings, Download Settings tab and is enabled by default.

- Ad blocking implementation. This is a new tab in the settings. It is
disabled by default so that Replay Media Catcher will download
everything by default.

- Fixed crash in playlist processing

Is there any chance this functionality will be added to Replay Music or the Freecorder Toolbar?