@Tony_Casey I like this game. I think it can show what could and/or maybe should be done using the data structure already available to Roon.
I am using the following album as a starting point.
The works on this album have been released several times in different combinations. In my library it overlaps with the box set of Beaux Arts Philips recordings from 1967-1974
But here I am starting with an album containing a bunch of Schumann chamber works by the Beaux Arts Trio. What does Roon know about this album? The album as such is labeled with the Genres “Classical” and “Chamber Music”.
Roon knows the works on this album, being Schumann’s Piano Trios, his Piano Quartet and his Piano Quintet.
Just as an example
Roon knows the composition date (1842), the Period (Romantic), the Form (Keyboard Quintet)
Same for all the other works on the album.
Roon knows the recording dates on this album (because I have added them via my file tags). They are between 1971 and 1975.
It also knows the credits on this album.
.
Lots of input for a “Discovery” algorithm.
Similar to Tony’s observation, this is what I get:
The time period 1995-2003 is completely irrelevant for discovery. The album I’m listening to was released as a Philips Duo Twofer in 1997. It contains recordings from 1971 to 1975. Why should I discover chamber music recordings from 1995-2003 based on this album? Funnily enough, some of the albums picked by release date are even older than the one I started with. I can do the same by applying focus on my albums in two clicks.
So for sure, there is some more information used in the background, that offers me some other albums by the Beaux Arts Trio containing compositions by Brahms, Tchaikovsky, Haydn, Mozart, and Beethoven. I guess that is OK. As Tony said: it gives me some albums to click.
But there could be so many options for discovery based on this album:
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Recordings of Chamber music from 1970-1975, for example, based on the original recording dates. For classical, the release date (even the original release date) is not necesarrily a valid information of the “birth date” of the recording.
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Chamber music composed between 1840 and 1850, based on the composition date of one of the compositions
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Other keyboard quintet compositions, based on the Form of the composition
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Chamber music composed by composers being influenced by Schumann
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Chamber music composed by composers who inspired Schumann
These would be real discoveries in my opinion. And most of the data needed to make these connections is already there.
Why does the user get a very simple Genre/Release Date/Artist kind of selection that does not work very well for classical. Maybe it’s also not working very well for other genres but I’m no expert there.