I went ahead and setup an ftp server for lrcdb.com. This will be a temporary way for us to share LRC files until I get the site up; although, I may find a way to leave it up, integrated with the database.

To have an account setup for you, please send an e-mail to ftprequest@lrcdb.com with the subject “FTP REQUEST” in the following format:


Login: your_bbs_user_name
Password: desired_password


Accounts will be granted to members of the BBS only. You must be an active member, with at least 20 posts. We want quality lyrics here, folks. You will receive confirmation via e-mail within a day. I’ll try to do this within just a few hours, if possible.

Users will only be able to access their own directory.

Rules for posting are as follows:

1. Uploads are only allowed in your directory (named the same as your login).
2. All files must be named with the following structure (including the []’s):
   
   
   
   • [Artist]-[Year]-[Album]-[Track Number]-[Song Title].lrc
     
   
   
3. Only alpha-numeric characters can be used.
4. An underscore may be substituted for a space if desired.
5. The year must be a 4-digit number (i.e. 2003).
6. The track number must be a 2-digit number (i.e. 02).
   

See the example in Justin's directory (/justinlarsen)


For retrieval, use the following login and password:


Login: lrcdb
Password: lrcdb


This account only has read access to all folders.

That’s it! I can hear the groaning already…

I know this is a hassle, but I wanted a way to make sure we get quality files, and to make it easier for pulling those files into the database before the site goes live.

So, who’s first?

Just sent you a request.

Accounts have been created for everyone who has sent me a request as of 2:30PM (PST) on 2/21/03.

All those lrc files i already made just have the artist - track name.lrc Do i have to go back and redo all those files?

Good question. I know a lot of people have files in that format, and gathering the other information would require some time and effort. My original thought of having the files named the way I described above was to keep the quality high, by making sure they were complete. You know, quality over quantity. However, I understand that a lot of people don't want to spend the time fixing all of their files to include this information, and because of that they will not get uploaded, and ultimately not shared.

So, I ask: how do you all think this should be handled; Any suggestions?

My thought was to require users to create a directory under their user directory named "incomplete," which they could then upload all files that are missing fields to. For now, they would just sit in the directories and remain incomplete. However, when the site goes live it will have the functionality to accept incomplete submissions and allow other users to submit changes/additions, and allow a select few (read: admins) to edit and verify the data before allowing the file to be available for download. The only thing I would ask is that the file names still conform to the naming standards, even if there are fields missing. If a field is missing, simply type out the name of the field; enter [Album] for a missing album name (for example), [####] for a missing year, or [##] for a missing track number. Still a significant amount of work, I know. Having the person submitting it do that saves me a lot of work on this side, though. The user might only have to rename a few hundred files, which sounds like a lot, but when you realize that I'd have to rename a few hundred from each user you see how fast it can add up. Am I being too exigent about this? Please feel free to express your opinion or suggestion(s).

Hmm. I could have lrctool auto-generate filenames for the output LRC files, but that only helps if people are using lrctool to export their lyrics from the MP3. If people have track numbers and album names in their MP3's, I could have lrctool add those to the filename (or even the top of the LRC file) as well. Not sure how much this helps the situation, but if everyone tells me what would help them out, as long as it's doable, I'll do it.

On a side note, I think I need to use the word 'exigent' more in my daily life.

i dunno this soudns pretty easy to write a program but i could be wrong, since most lrc files are already attached to an mp3, couldnt you just write a samll little program that would take the id3 fields and fill out the file name to the spec?

Define "attached to an MP3," please.

Uh, you mean the lrc file has been converted to SYLT id3 frames on a real mp3? It's not an lrc file anymore, and not necessarily named the same as the mp3 it was applied to. Plus, just because the mp3 is id3 tagged doesn't mean it has all the data. Mine have artist/album/songname/track number, no date.

Auto-generation of the file and file names would definitely help. I'm sure there are a lot of people that already have mp3's tagged that would just be extracting the lyrics and submitting them. If there are fields missing you can just have it do as I said above.

PS - Sorry about the ftp site being messed up for a few hours, if anyone noticed. I forgot to put something in the config file when I added the last few users. All fixed now though.

There's an odd thing happening - I can't upload anything using WS FTP, but I've just done 3 albums using the Windows command line FTP client.

Anyone have any ideas why this is happening (or not, more importantly)? I've not had any problems with any other sites.

For what it's worth, and if anyone cares, the albums are:

Lambchop - Nixon
Lou Reed - Transformer
Sparklehorse - It's A Wonderful Life

Usually, when I see something like that (can upload with FTP.EXE but not with a more complicated client) it's something in the client's settings. The big one seems to be the "passive FTP" setting. Toggle that and see if it starts working.

I think if you check my directory in the ftp you will find a small contribution. Feel free to tweak them if you wish. Most of these i had as whole albums, but to make life easier i guess i just put them all in a directory and people can find each song on their own.

I've had problem uploading with WS_FTP before, too. The problem arose when I tried upload by draging from the file explorer to the remote window in WS_FTP rather than navigating to the file in the local side of WS_FTP and using their stupid arrow up button. It worked fine when I did it WS_FTP's way but not the drag'n'drop way. I'm not sure if that's what you're actually doing - but at least it's something.

- trs

I got your PM. That is fine, any contribution as long as the lyrics are tagged correctly is greatly appreciated. I just came up with that standard so there would be something for people to work with. Any files that don't follow the standard I can always fix later, I was just trying to cut down the time spent renaming files on my end.

hehe i nice. THanks for understanding. I figured that 379 files should help you start building a database I'm gonna start working on tagging all the metallica songs ahah.

Has all this died a bit of a death now? I've only just found this post after checking the lrcdb.com web site for months. I got loads of .lrc files to upload and finding this post has renewed my interest in making more.

Emailed the link last week as well but had no reply yet.