We’ve done some investigation and, as mentioned elsewhere, we are planning to integrate Discogs data into Roon’s database. We’re hoping to kick off this work soon, but I want to be clear about what’s involved. Discogs data is very very broad, and is likely to touch the vast majority of albums in the database, as well as adding a significant number of releases.
One of the reasons Roon requires a subscription is that as our database improves, the information we display about your library is updated automatically in the background. This will fit nicely with our forthcoming editing features, which will allow you to opt for the information in your file tags on a field-by-field basis for things like track title, album title, etc.
Since the data is stored in layers, they will update independently of each other – for example, let’s say AllMusic’s track titles for a few songs was incomplete, so you choose to prefer your file tags for tracks 3 and 4.
Later, AllMusic fixes the omission – Roon would still automatically fix the track title for, say, track 5. Alternatively, if you edit your file tags for track 3 or 4, you should see that automatically as well.
The flip side of all this automatic updating is that we have to be very careful about making big changes to our database. We know how much people want Discogs data and it’s an important priority for us. But nothing is more important than ensuring the overall stability and accuracy of the database, since that affects every single Roon user automatically. The point is that this isn’t a simple change, or one that will be undertaken without considerable care and testing.
Just want to be clear that it’s coming, but it’s not easy. I’ll keep everyone updated on our progress as the project kicks off following our 1.1 release.
And yeah, AllMusic’s data on that album is pretty weak. Looking into it…