I wouldn’t say it “ruins music” (and neither did @Jean_Traulle in what you quoted) but there are issues with non-English/UK/US music in Roon.
The Genre system is awfully US/UK centric. Other countries are classed under “International” and are a subgenre under some “traditions” genre, such as International > Central European Traditions > German. As if every French, German, etc. music were part of some odd local music tradition.
Metadata is even more incomplete and inadequate (not only Roon’s fault but still), not just missing content but often wrong spelling, capitalization, etc.
Allmusic reviews are heavily centered on US/UK. If there even is something for music from other countries, which is rare enough, it is often hilariously wrong/misunderstood. (Wikipedia info has helped with this but is not a replacement for well written reviews)
As @Jean_Traulle wrote, Qobuz in other countries often offers well curated magazines of local music and highlight it in the weekly offers and playlists, which is less prominent in Roon or not available at all, and there is no replacement (see the above Allmusic point)
One of Roon’s biggest gaps shows up when exploring music outside the UK/US mainstream. While the app excels at surfacing metadata, links, and editorial reviews for Western rock, jazz, and pop, the same can’t be said for genres of non-UK/USA origin. Coverage of African, Asian, Middle Eastern, Latin American, and other regional styles is sparse, often reduced to a couple of lines or missing entirely. This leaves listeners without the context, history, or cultural insight that Roon provides so well elsewhere. For a platform that aims to be the definitive music discovery tool, the imbalance in global genre reviews is hard to miss.
Very well described. Thanks. Just as as example, it is not rare that I’m listening to some sort of Brazilian music (ex. Tom Jobim, Chico Buarque, instrumental jazz, acoustic guitar, like Baden Powell) and Roon radio then plays totally unrelated music from Portugal, such as Fado. It’s like listening to The Clash being followed by Keith Jarret, just because both speak english. Just as a side note, I’m a portuguese native living in Brazil, so I have nothing against music from my home country, it’s just musically unrelated. This is not just a rant. The core value of Roon is the ability to provide metadata and relate artists in a way that helps us navigate through the vast world of music in a friendly and interesting manner. Well, at least it is for me and that’s why I think it should be improved. This is even more so, given the fact that what I pay locally for Roon (in USD) is roughly the sum of a local subscription of Qobuz, Tidal and Apple Music (all in local currency). I still love Roon and will be using it for the time being.
Indeed. It’s annoying when one knows something about music from other regions and the reviews of non-mainstream stuff are full of misunderstandings (if not missing), and sad in other cases when one doesn’t know much and would like to have some correct context and info.
Another frequent source of annoyance to me is the selection of artist images for genres, which are over-weighted to credits from some popular albums. This isn’t limited to non-US/UK genres but more frequent. Like when Paul Simon is the image for African Music just because you have Graceland in the library. And I don’t know who this guy is but somehow I doubt that he’s the poster child for music from Madagascar
EinTo.Shuffle
(// Evolving "MixTape" on Shuffle with Roon //)
7
David Lindley, an American slide guitarist known for his work with Jackson Browne and Ry Cooder, also collaborated on recordings with musicians from Madagascar.
Not surprisingly the information is out there Roon (or Harmon [Samsung]) doesn’t appear to be interested in musical inclusivity & is “happy” to have massive information gaps…
@PixelPopper@Vitor_Goncalves@Suedkiez and others with valuable feedback regarding Roons core value features, please consider opening or adding to a dedicated thread in a forum section tracked by Roon staff, rather than wasting your breath and meandering into off topic territory here.
Have a nice Sunday, y’all
Just as annoying, if not worse: if you have a good review of an album or a coherent biography of an artist that Roon doesn’t know, there’s no way to manually add that info to Roon, even if it’s just for personal use.
Personal notes in the form of: 2023 I was at a great concert with this band - also not possible.
It’s a shame that Roon is closing itself off here and nailing down the metadata.
Good job keeping all these feature requests in mind and linking them accordingly!
But hmm, this one is from 2015 and has just had its tenth anniversary. Unfortunately, that says something about the chances of implementation…
