Re: ASIN Clarification

> I disagree, all ASINs are valid (be it vinyl, cassette, CD, mp3)
> provided they match the release (usually the barcode is the best way to
> confirm this).  Obviously if there is no official Amazon listing then
> there shouldn't be an ASIN, it's the same as with any other AR in the
> database.  Personally, I believe cover art is fairly irrelevant to the
> overall ASIN picture, and should be seen merely as an added benefit, not
> the primary reason for adding them to releases.
>
> Paul C. Bryan wrote:
> > Hi Christopher:
> >
> > As far as I know, an ASIN is valid to link to, as long as it correctly
> > represents the release in MB. Some are better than others; ASIN w. cover
> > art is currently preferable (per guidelines) over ASIN without.
> >
> > Personally, I think all ASINs for a release, be it vinyl, cassette, CD,
> > SACD, whatever should ideally be linked, but the practice is not to link
> > to all, so that we get the benefits of Amazon official cover art. In the
> > future, when MB's ASIN/cover art handling is refined, hopefully we can
> > do so.
> >
> > Paul
> >
> > On Mon, 2009-04-20 at 11:06 +0100, Christopher Key wrote:
> >  
> >> Hello,
> >>
> >> I'm hoping to get some clarification on the exact requirements for
> >> making an ASIN suitable to link to.
> >>
> >> Quite a lot of releases, especially singles, are only available second
> >> hand through third party sellers, and the data on their Amazon page is
> >> often quite lacking, with no official cover art, or no art at all, and
> >> occasionally no tracklisting.  I do however feel that linking to such
> >> releases does provide useful information.
> >>
> >> Firstly, if someone is attempting to acquire a specific release, the
> >> lack of information from Amazon may well make this very difficult.  A
> >> correct tracklisting / Catalog # / barcode from MusicBrainz pointing to
> >> a specific ASIN would be very useful.
> >>
> >> Secondly, whilst no coverart may be available via AWS, end users can
> >> still acquire coverart directly, or via some suitable scripted method.
> >> Moreover, Amazon may in the future add official coverart, and this would
> >> then automatically become available to MusicBrainz.
> >>
> >> Finally, it provides a useful replacement for the large number of
> >> incorrect ASINs currently in the system.  There are a lot of cases where
> >> a set of identically titled albums (with different tracklistings) have
> >> all been attached to the same ASIN.  My concern is that should these
> >> simply be removed, they will end up getting reattached by users wanting
> >> coverart.
> >>
> >> Obviously some care needs to be taken to ensure correct data.  Simply
> >> having bought a item with a given ASIN from a 3rd party seller perhaps
> >> isn't sufficient.  However, AWS does allow UPC lookups, and I guess that
> >> this probably is sufficient.  The second problem is that MusicBrainz
> >> assumes that the presence of an ASIN means that cover art is available,
> >> and ends up displaying an ugly box in cases where it isn't.  I guess
> >> this should however be a relatively easy fix.
> >>
> >> Any feedback / clarification would be nuch appreciated.
> >>
> >> Regards,
> >>
> >> Christopher Key
> >>
> >>
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> >
> >
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