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This thread made me have a real good look at the "My Music" part of MP. MP is fine when it comes to simply selecting an album (databased or in folder view) and playing it. However, I get tired of listening to complete albums, and would like MP to help me with intelligent playlists and make my, my girlfriend's and my guests music experience even better.

First it might be important to note that I use iTunes for my MP3 music library (and to sync my iPod). I have all albums and compilations neatly organised in Itunes, id3 tags in perfect order, and all mp3 files have album art stored in the id3 tags. Finally all files are stored by iTunes using ARTIST > ALBUM filing on my home server and in MP i have my music views configured the way i want them. So far so good, but....

1: Intelligent playlists.
As mentioned before in this thread, I too would love to see improvements to on the fly creation of intelligent and USER FRIENDLY playlists. Kind of like the iTunes Genius feature. I realise the iTunes Genious feature depends on a HUGE database, managed by Apple. However, MP can use audioscrobbler/live.fm.

I have seen that in "My Music", once you start a playlist, MP will add songs using audioscrobbler/live.fm when the scobble option is selected (on). Sometimes it works, sometimes it seems to not be able to maje up it's mind which song to select from my 7000 track database, sometimes it seems to only select tracks from 3 albums when there are much more albums that should fit the SCROBBLE > SIMULAR badge... To sum it up, it is not obvious what is going on. I don't feel like I have control.

2: Album Art
All my MP3 files have album art, added using iTunes. Sometimes iTunes won't have the artwork, but Google Images search is your friend then (copy and paste image into ID3 tag in iTunes). Naturally I frequently update my MP music database in the MP config tool. Unfortunatly MP seems to randomly use the artwork. Sometimes it will use album art from the MP3 ID3 tags to create a folder icon, sometimes it wont. Somtimes it won't display album art that is in the ID3tag. It would be nice if this was sorted out.

3: A usefull screen saver (NOW PLAYING)
When playing music it would be nice if MP would automaticly show the NOW PLAYING screen after a certain time of non activity from me. The NOW PLAYING screen shows nice info about the current playing track and also shows what track is next.

4. 5.1 (or 7.1) upmixing of music
The BASS player has the option 5.1 upmixing in the MP config. However, this does not work when you hook up your HTPC to your amp with an optical cable. It would be nice if it was possible to add a filter like AC3FILTER in the music section, so I that music played will be upmixed by AC3FILTER, for instance using the front AND back L/R speakers. This option should NOT affect any other audio, like audiostreams from TV or video files (I don't like upmixed audio for TV).

5. Better inegration with photo slideshows (maybe slighly of topic).
It is nice to listen to music when viewing photo slideshows and vice versa. However the control of next/previous song, next/previous photo and pausing audio and or photo is VERY confusing to me during a slide show. It would be nice if one could skip back and forth between the photo controls and music controls during a slideshow

6. WAF (Woman Acceptance factor)
Sombody else on this forum introduced this term to me, and boy did he hit the nail on the head! MP's MY MUSIC has a low WAF at the moment. As mentionned at the top of this post I want EVERYBODY in my house to feel comfortable using MP. So far my girlfriend has pretty well accepted MP's TV and VIDEO functions and uses these (THANK YOU!) all the time. Unfortunatly this is not the case for MP's MY MUSIC.

7. The above could be done with a plugin.. RATHER NOT
Yes, some functions could be done with a plugin. However this would split music functions over the plugin and over MY MUYSIC, which would over complicate things, unless the plugin would seemlesly fit into MY MUSIC and add functions.

Finally, I hope I have contributed useful ideas for the MUSIC part of MP. It would be great to see improvements in the MUSIC part of MP. THANKS again to all developers! MP has taken a huge roll in our home's MultiMedia experience. I can't think of any project that works as well as the complete MP + TV server combo. THANKS THANKS THANKS!

Regards,

Luke

<blockquote data-quote="Luke Roberts" data-source="post: 365594" data-attributes="member: 55351">This thread made me have a real good look at the &quot;My Music&quot; part of MP. MP is fine when it comes to simply selecting an album (databased or in folder view) and playing it. However, I get tired of listening to complete albums, and would like MP to help me with intelligent playlists and make my, my girlfriend's and my guests music experience even better.First it might be important to note that I use iTunes for my MP3 music library (and to sync my iPod). I have all albums and compilations neatly organised in Itunes, id3 tags in perfect order, and all mp3 files have album art stored in the id3 tags. Finally all files are stored by iTunes using ARTIST &gt; ALBUM filing on my home server and in MP i have my music views configured the way i want them. So far so good, but....1: Intelligent playlists. As mentioned before in this thread, I too would love to see improvements to on the fly creation of intelligent and USER FRIENDLY playlists. Kind of like the iTunes Genius feature. I realise the iTunes Genious feature depends on a HUGE database, managed by Apple. However, MP can use audioscrobbler/live.fm.I have seen that in &quot;My Music&quot;, once you start a playlist, MP will add songs using audioscrobbler/live.fm when the scobble option is selected (on). Sometimes it works, sometimes it seems to not be able to maje up it's mind which song to select from my 7000 track database, sometimes it seems to only select tracks from 3 albums when there are much more albums that should fit the SCROBBLE &gt; SIMULAR badge... To sum it up, it is not obvious what is going on. I don't feel like I have control. 2: Album ArtAll my MP3 files have album art, added using iTunes. Sometimes iTunes won't have the artwork, but Google Images search is your friend then (copy and paste image into ID3 tag in iTunes). Naturally I frequently update my MP music database in the MP config tool. Unfortunatly MP seems to randomly use the artwork. Sometimes it will use album art from the MP3 ID3 tags to create a folder icon, sometimes it wont. Somtimes it won't display album art that is in the ID3tag. It would be nice if this was sorted out.3: A usefull screen saver (NOW PLAYING)When playing music it would be nice if MP would automaticly show the NOW PLAYING screen after a certain time of non activity from me. The NOW PLAYING screen shows nice info about the current playing track and also shows what track is next. 4. 5.1 (or 7.1) upmixing of musicThe BASS player has the option 5.1 upmixing in the MP config. However, this does not work when you hook up your HTPC to your amp with an optical cable. It would be nice if it was possible to add a filter like AC3FILTER in the music section, so I that music played will be upmixed by AC3FILTER, for instance using the front AND back L/R speakers. This option should NOT affect any other audio, like audiostreams from TV&nbsp; or video files (I don't like upmixed audio for TV).5. Better inegration with photo slideshows (maybe slighly of topic).It is nice to listen to music when viewing photo slideshows and vice versa. However the control of next/previous song, next/previous photo and pausing audio and or photo is VERY confusing to me during a slide show. It would be nice if one could skip back and forth between the photo controls and music controls during a slideshow6. WAF (Woman Acceptance factor)Sombody else on this forum introduced this term to me, and boy did he hit the nail on the head! MP's MY MUSIC has a low WAF at the moment. As mentionned at the top of this post I want EVERYBODY in my house to feel comfortable using MP.&nbsp; So far my girlfriend has pretty well accepted MP's TV and VIDEO functions and uses these (THANK YOU!) all the time. Unfortunatly this is not the case for MP's MY MUSIC.7. The above could be done with a plugin.. RATHER NOTYes, some functions could be done with a plugin. However this would split music functions over the plugin and over MY MUYSIC, which would over complicate things, unless the plugin would seemlesly fit into MY MUSIC and add functions.Finally, I hope I have contributed useful ideas for the MUSIC part of MP. It would be great to see improvements in the MUSIC part of MP. THANKS again to all developers! MP has taken a huge roll in our home's MultiMedia experience. I can't think of any project that works as well as the complete MP + TV server combo. THANKS THANKS THANKS!Regards,Luke</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Luke Roberts, post: 365594, member: 55351"] This thread made me have a real good look at the "My Music" part of MP. MP is fine when it comes to simply selecting an album (databased or in folder view) and playing it. However, I get tired of listening to complete albums, and would like MP to help me with intelligent playlists and make my, my girlfriend's and my guests music experience even better. First it might be important to note that I use iTunes for my MP3 music library (and to sync my iPod). I have all albums and compilations neatly organised in Itunes, id3 tags in perfect order, and all mp3 files have album art stored in the id3 tags. Finally all files are stored by iTunes using ARTIST > ALBUM filing on my home server and in MP i have my music views configured the way i want them. So far so good, but.... 1: Intelligent playlists. As mentioned before in this thread, I too would love to see improvements to on the fly creation of intelligent and USER FRIENDLY playlists. Kind of like the iTunes Genius feature. I realise the iTunes Genious feature depends on a HUGE database, managed by Apple. However, MP can use audioscrobbler/live.fm. I have seen that in "My Music", once you start a playlist, MP will add songs using audioscrobbler/live.fm when the scobble option is selected (on). Sometimes it works, sometimes it seems to not be able to maje up it's mind which song to select from my 7000 track database, sometimes it seems to only select tracks from 3 albums when there are much more albums that should fit the SCROBBLE > SIMULAR badge... To sum it up, it is not obvious what is going on. I don't feel like I have control. 2: Album Art All my MP3 files have album art, added using iTunes. Sometimes iTunes won't have the artwork, but Google Images search is your friend then (copy and paste image into ID3 tag in iTunes). Naturally I frequently update my MP music database in the MP config tool. Unfortunatly MP seems to randomly use the artwork. Sometimes it will use album art from the MP3 ID3 tags to create a folder icon, sometimes it wont. Somtimes it won't display album art that is in the ID3tag. It would be nice if this was sorted out. 3: A usefull screen saver (NOW PLAYING) When playing music it would be nice if MP would automaticly show the NOW PLAYING screen after a certain time of non activity from me. The NOW PLAYING screen shows nice info about the current playing track and also shows what track is next. 4. 5.1 (or 7.1) upmixing of music The BASS player has the option 5.1 upmixing in the MP config. However, this does not work when you hook up your HTPC to your amp with an optical cable. It would be nice if it was possible to add a filter like AC3FILTER in the music section, so I that music played will be upmixed by AC3FILTER, for instance using the front AND back L/R speakers. This option should NOT affect any other audio, like audiostreams from TV or video files (I don't like upmixed audio for TV). 5. Better inegration with photo slideshows (maybe slighly of topic). It is nice to listen to music when viewing photo slideshows and vice versa. However the control of next/previous song, next/previous photo and pausing audio and or photo is VERY confusing to me during a slide show. It would be nice if one could skip back and forth between the photo controls and music controls during a slideshow 6. WAF (Woman Acceptance factor) Sombody else on this forum introduced this term to me, and boy did he hit the nail on the head! MP's MY MUSIC has a low WAF at the moment. As mentionned at the top of this post I want EVERYBODY in my house to feel comfortable using MP. So far my girlfriend has pretty well accepted MP's TV and VIDEO functions and uses these (THANK YOU!) all the time. Unfortunatly this is not the case for MP's MY MUSIC. 7. The above could be done with a plugin.. RATHER NOT Yes, some functions could be done with a plugin. However this would split music functions over the plugin and over MY MUYSIC, which would over complicate things, unless the plugin would seemlesly fit into MY MUSIC and add functions. Finally, I hope I have contributed useful ideas for the MUSIC part of MP. It would be great to see improvements in the MUSIC part of MP. THANKS again to all developers! MP has taken a huge roll in our home's MultiMedia experience. I can't think of any project that works as well as the complete MP + TV server combo. THANKS THANKS THANKS! Regards, Luke [/QUOTE]