Yes, this is by design, similar to how programs like Google Chrome have installed in recent years. It affords us a number of advantages, not the least of which is a smoother update process, as anyone who’s upgraded Roon on multiple computers with a single click can tell you.
I am, however, surprised the Roon installer didn’t create a shortcut for you – I just did a fresh install on Windows 10 and a shortcut was created for me. I’m going to talk with the team and see if we can reproduce that behavior on Windows 10, but can you confirm where you looked? All Programs? Did you search? You definitely shouldn’t have needed to create a shortcut manually.
We use a pretty complex algorithm to match your files to our database, and while track timings and file names are part of that process, there’s more to it than that. Classical collections do sometimes get a lower hit rate than popular music, often because people have developed their own system for overcoming the limitations of file tags when it comes to handling the complexities of classical music.
I don’t know the specifics of your collection, but I can tell you that Roon’s metadata is almost certainly going to be deeper and more expressive than what’s possible with simple file tags, not to mention that it’s constantly updated on the fly, as we add new data sources and refine our metadata based on the feedback we hear from members like you!
Keep in mind that while it’s possible to find albums under his name, Beethoven never actually released any albums of course. In Roon you can browse his actual output – his works! You can even filter down to only the period or form you’re in the mood for, and then browse the different performances of the work that are in your collection or available on Tidal. Would it be possible to type all that data, or find all those links, by hand? I suppose, but I don’t think anyone should have to.
I would give this a read – we’re working on some changes for the re-link process that should make it easier to use, but in general, sensible folder structure and tags should help Roon identify the box set properly with no manual editing needed. Interested to hear more about what’s gone wrong here for you.
Unfortunately Roon doesn’t support single files and .CUE sheets right now, so my recommendation would be to split those up or make a split copy for Roon (@danny talked a little bit about the reasons for this here).
Well, you’re right that a lot of Roon’s browsing functionality (including those features specifically targeted at classical music) depends on your library being identified. That said, this another area where Roon is subtly trying to improve on what other players are doing.
Composers can absolutely release albums, but in those cases they’re often functioning more like a performer (as the album is documenting a performance), and their name would likely appear in both places. Generally speaking, composers release works, which have very different properties than albums, and which we think deserve the same kind of first class treatment that popular music affords artists, albums, and tracks.
That said, In Roon you can use Focus to see albums in your collection on which a composer’s works were performed, but beyond that, I’m not sure sorting albums by composer makes sense in Roon – where would albums with multiple composers go? Or albums with no composer credits, or where a composer is credited on a single song? By using Focus to see the albums to which a composer contributed, you’re still free to add additional context by sorting them according to the year they were released, or the number of times you’ve listened to them for example. You could also use Focus to further refine your selection, to a particular label or conductor, for example.
With more of your collection matched up to Roon metadata, I think you’ll find the Composer and Works browsers to be incredibly powerful, and I can tell you we have some significant improvements to our classical product planned as well, which should make both our identification and browsing functionality even more powerful for classical fans soon.
We source data from a number of places, but the data you see in Roon is generated by our proprietary service, which is constantly being refined and updated as new albums are released, biographies are updated, existing data is improved, and errors are corrected.
Well, I appreciate the feedback here. Like I mentioned, Roon depends on getting good identifications, and generally speaking we do very well, although our hit rate can go down when people have spent significant time developing their own metadata systems to tag their files. I don’t know how well we did in your collection or how you groom your files – all I can tell you is that if we didn’t identify a significant portion of your collection, you may not be getting the full experience yet.
My point is, I think it takes time to fully appreciate the depth of Roon’s metadata and browsing functionality. Based on what I know about your feedback here, I think you’ll find significant value in how Roon allows you to interact with your library, and I would love to have your feedback as we finalize the upcoming classical work.
Finally, to answer your question about Radio: when we’ve identified a work in Roon, we get the benefit of no longer having to treat it like a couple of loose files or a few rows in a spreadsheet – we can take the 4 files that make up the work, and consider it the way the composer did. The movements can be played individually, but in most cases, you’ll want to hear the work as a whole.
Radio is designed to simply pick similar music anytime your selections have run out, so if you’ve played a complete work that is identified by Roon, Radio should kick in and start selecting similar works – you can see this is the case in this screen shot, as Roon has picked a 4 part work for me, denoted by the 4 numbered boxes on the right.
Wow, this post got long. Sorry. 
Let me know if I’ve missed any questions here @John_Walker – happy to discuss further, if you can bear it 