Re: ASIN Clarification

> I for one add every valid ASIN I find since the guidelines make no
> mention that this is undesired.
>
> -cooperaa
>
> On Mon, Apr 20, 2009 at 4:42 PM, Paul C. Bryan <email@...> wrote:
>> You disagree with my point that it's currently the practice, or you
>> disagree with the practice itself?
>>
>> On Mon, 2009-04-20 at 21:31 +0100, Paul Jarvis wrote:
>>> 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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>>> >
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