Discussion Forums - Classical
Topic: Classical Browsing Ability is Disappointing
|
||
|
I really am disappointed in the "Browse" feature for classical music. Classical is not a single "genre". Having to wade through huge lists by album title is tedious. I hope that as the site gets going, this gets refined. Also, I am finding the ability to search by artist somewhat difficult. Good luck looking for (for example) an Anonymous 4 CD. Searches turn up nothing, even though I know that some of their CDs are listed in the system. Really, they need to add a composer line and change artist to performer. Don't get me wrong. Overall, I really like the site. For those who like modern types of music, I think it will be GREAT. But it doesn't show any understanding of Classical music at all. I think it would be helpful if the designers visted a Tower Records and noticed how classical gets it's own room, where it can be divided up into it's own sub-genres. T |
||
 |
|
||
|
"Really, they need to add a composer line and change artist to performer." I think so too. Hopefully it will be streamlined as we go. I suppose this is a common problem (on ipods too). There doesn't seem to be a neat way to decide whether the composer or the performer is the artist.... |
||
|
|
||
|
If you had to split classical music into TEN piles, how would you do it? |
||
|
|
||
|
I would likely split it this way: 1. Ancient / Early Music 2. Medieval 3. Renaissance 4. Baroque 5. Classical Era 6. Romantic Era 7. 20th Century / Modern 8. Perhaps another category for New Agey / Mood stuff, if not elsewhere on site What to do with all the "neo" stuff? Either a new category for it, or maybe stick it in the appropriate era category. Subcategories under each Category, where applicable - Chamber / Small Ensemble - Wind Band - Orchestral - Vocal - Solo / Duet - Musical Theatre / Opera (if not elsewhere on the site) - Other (gotta have a catch-all!) |
||
|
|
||
|
I like trinitym's categories. They would work much better than just lumping everything under "classical". I think there should be separate composer & performer fields instead of one 'artist' field. |
||
|
|
||
|
So we would have 8 x 7 categories or 56 slots to sort classical music into. 1. Ancient / Early Music - Chamber / Small Ensemble - Wind Band - Orchestral - Vocal - Solo / Duet - Musical Theatre / Opera (if not elsewhere on the site) - Other (gotta have a catch-all!) 2. Medieval - Chamber / Small Ensemble - Wind Band - Orchestral - Vocal - Solo / Duet - Musical Theatre / Opera (if not elsewhere on the site) - Other (gotta have a catch-all!) 3. Renaissance - Chamber / Small Ensemble - Wind Band - Orchestral - Vocal - Solo / Duet - Musical Theatre / Opera (if not elsewhere on the site) - Other (gotta have a catch-all!) 4. Baroque etcetra 5. Classical Era 6. Romantic Era 7. 20th Century / Modern 8. Perhaps another category for New Agey / Mood stuff, if not elsewhere on site Sounds like a good plan to me. But than I don't have a real clue if something is missing. Christmas music? Commentary. How does it jibe with the stuff already dumped under classical?  |
||
|
|
|||
| OK, where are Strings? You have Solo / Duet, but no Quartets? You're right - saying 'classical' is about as definitive as saying 'it's music'!! Probably the best we can hope for would be along the lines of 'record club' catalogs. | |||
|
|
||
|
I have requested, twice, that they let us search for classical music by composer or performer with not even a reply. I would also like to search by instrument. Paperbackswap now lets you add tags - words people can plug into the search engine such as roses (not just gardening), appetizers (not just cook book). A BIG help. I'd like to be able to search for an instrument without it having to be in the title. I would also like to be able to go to page 14 in classical without having to wade through 13 pages of "100 best of" CDs. |
||
|
|
||
|
All of the suggestions posted are of value and certainly based upon a frustration common to all of us trying to wade through the offerings in classical music. To say that browsing classical music is difficult is an understatement. For example, if you type in the name of the a performer in the "performer" box, you may get a few hits. But then if you type it into the "title" box, you get other hits! As an example of how classical music could be set up, I recommend checking out ArkivMusic. I have been able to find anything I've ever looked for there because the categories make sense. It is not a trading site, but it is very good to get more information about a particular work, composer, performer, CD, etc. If the CD exists, you can find it there. Their categories offer a solid way of approaching the set up of classical selections. One of the major problems of all the trading/swapping sites is that they are all geared to "Top Forty" or rock or whatever. In other words, music that puts the all the emphasis on the performer. The searching values are different. If you're looking fir the Dixie Chicks, you don't care about composer, or conductor, or orchestra or chamber group, etc. It's Dixie Chicks and that's it (except perhaps for album title). But if you want Vivaldi's "Four Seasons," you really need to know who's playing, who's conducting? when was it recorded? There must be dozens of versions out there (I myself have about four and I like them all, to varying degrees). I too find it crazy that I can't jump from page 1 to page 10 if I want to. You really have to work to find what you want! The classical music section has to be treated as if it's a different product than the other music categories. And it has to be programmed by someone who knows something about the music.
|
||
|
|
||
| I found this site 2 weeks ago and within 10 minutes found myself frustrated by the same browsing problems that Tammy S. experienced 2-1/3 years ago. Clearly this is not a crucial concern to the people who operate SwapaCD. For all I know changing the browsing mechanism is too difficult a task to be undertaken because a few members want it changed. I'll try contacting the SwapaCD guys, for what it's worth. | ||
|
|
||
|
I haven't looked at this site in almost two years. After my initial disappointment, I mostly stopped bothering. It's unfortunate that this still hasn't been rectified, especially since there is no need for them to make up a new system, but rather use any system like what other music distributors already use. It's also unfortunate for those who are lovers of pop/modern music - they are probably sitting on tons of music that they don't want, and that we do. It could be a a real win-win.
|
||
|