Banning a Track

[David_Gibson]

What’s the easiest way to ban a track and why can’t I ban a track from the Now Playing screen?

[mjw (And I'm standing in your doorway And I'm mumbling and I can't remember the last thing that ran through my head)]

Ban is available on the Now Playing screen. Click on the vertical ellipsis, and then scroll to the bottom of the pop-up. Note that pop-ups don’t have scroll bars, so content may be below the fold.

[David_Gibson]

Thanks for the tip. Why doesn’t the heart cycle between neutral, like and ban? Didn’t it used to do that?

[Geoff_Coupe]

I do believe that it did - @support - has there been a change in behaviour here?

I can’t ban a track in an Album page listing or in the track browser any more - I have to use the Ellipsis menu to ban tracks. This is less handy than I think it used to be?

Also: albums, artists, composers and compositions all have the same two state behaviour - you can them or not, but no longer ban them via the icon.

[mjw (And I'm standing in your doorway And I'm mumbling and I can't remember the last thing that ran through my head)]

@David_Gibson

Didn’t it used to do that?

Yes, and I only discovered this change (or regression?) when you posted. IIRC, it was originally like it is now, but some time ago, changed to make it more convenient, as @Geoff_Coupe describes.

Whilst I don’t ban that often, there are times when it is needed, e.g., when a release has extra tracks to the original release, or a zillion silent empty tracks before a hidden track. However, banning is still two clicks, and is possibly more convenient when selecting multiple tracks.

[Geoff_Coupe]

Hmm - it looks as though there’s been a silent change - the Help article is now different to what it used to be…

FAQ: Global Bans

[Suedkiez (Just a fellow user like you)]

@Geoff_Coupe

Hmm - it looks as though there’s been a silent change -

@mjw

This was not a silent change and is not a regression. This was done when global banning was implemented. It’s necessary because the favorite button only applies to in-library content, but the whole point of global bans is that you can also ban things that are not in the library. So the button had to move.

It was announced together with the feature:

@vova

We’ve heard the feedback and starting today, you can ban artists, albums, tracks, composers, and compositions without adding them to your library. This allows you to curate your music collections more precisely and free your shelves of unwanted clutter.

Roon’s handling of banned content in your library has not changed, but banning has moved into the context menu:

[mjw (And I'm standing in your doorway And I'm mumbling and I can't remember the last thing that ran through my head)]

I’d forgotten about Ban the artist; something I’ll probably never use.

[Suedkiez (Just a fellow user like you)]

@mjw

I’d forgotten about Ban the artist;

It’s the same for tracks and albums so that they are never played by radio etc.

[mjw (And I'm standing in your doorway And I'm mumbling and I can't remember the last thing that ran through my head)]

Yeah, I only ban silence and those extras from deluxe versions that may be interesting first time around, but not perfect for Radio. I can’t imagine why I’d want to add an album to my library and then ban it … … okay, maybe Paddy Casey (but then, why keep the album?)

[Matthew_Bowden1 (Matthew Bowden)]

Maybe Christmas albums??

[Suedkiez (Just a fellow user like you)]

@mjw

I can’t imagine why I’d want to add an album to my library and then ban it … …

That was the old problem that was solved by global bans.

Before global bans, when the ban state was part of the favorite button (i.e., it was a tri-state of nothing/favorite/banned), you could only ban stuff that was already in the library, just like you can only favorite stuff that is already in the library.

Therefore, to ban anything, you first had to add it to the library, but that’s indeed weird.

But now with global bans you don’t have to, you can ban anything, library or not. This is precisely why the ban button had to move away from the button which still only applies to in-library stuff.

So, global bans let you avoid Roon Radio, Roon Playlists, Qobuz playlists, etc. ever playing a banned item. As you know, these might otherwise contain/play stuff that isn’t in your library, because it might think that you might like it.

Besides, it may still be useful to ban stuff in the library. Banning only means that it won’t be played automatically if you play the higher level item. E.g., some albums I have in the library contain songs that played when e.g. I broke up with someone. I still like the album, and I even still like the track, but I don’t want the track to be played without warning, by Roon Radio or even if I play the whole album. So I ban the track (and can still play it when I explicitly choose so)

[mjw (And I'm standing in your doorway And I'm mumbling and I can't remember the last thing that ran through my head)]

Thanks for the explanation, @Suedkiez. I must have missed the release notes.

PS. Who’d have thought you were a romantic!

[Geoff_Coupe]

Thanks - missed all that - must have been looking the other way…

[Suedkiez (Just a fellow user like you)]

@mjw

PS. Who’d have thought you were a romantic!

Well, there was a life and some things were nice and others hurt. The way things go.
And some artists I simply don’t want to be played even if Roon thinks I might

[David_Gibson]

I don’t ban albums but I do ban tracks. Examples include a lot of the crapola on the Beatles White Album deluxe. There are some really bad out takes on there. Also Piggies. If i never hear that song again I’ll be fine with it.

[mjw (And I'm standing in your doorway And I'm mumbling and I can't remember the last thing that ran through my head)]

@David_Gibson

… Beatles White Album deluxe

Yeah, that’s exactly the sort of thing I don’t want to listen to (unless I choose to do so.)