Author Topic: please help me make the switch  (Read 8590 times)

Penn

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Having used MediaMonkey Gold for several years I have a database of 10k songs which I want to play and organise with MusicBee.

It's important to me that the data about when the tracks were added and how often they've been played is copied over to the corresponding fields in the MusicBee database.

MediaMonkey uses an SQL database.  MusicBee can't directly import MediaMonkey's database but can import iTunes XML files, there's a third-party script which is supposed to export the MediaMonkey library as an iTunes XML file but it doesn't work properly. Details like playcount don't get exported correctly.

Nevertheless I imported my music and the XML file into MusicBee but in MusicBee the "date added" value gets changed to the date (such as yesterday) when I did the actual import.

I like to know how long I've had a track for and how many times I've listened to it. I did start organising files in MediaMonkey by year added thinking if I import them a set at a time into MusicBee the most recently added files would kind of correlate (even if they were only hours apart instead of years apart).

It's so frustrating as all of the data is there in the MediaMonkey database and MusicBee has corresponding fields and I want to switch programs as I much prefer the way MusicBee does certain things (better AutoDJ, streaming integration etc.)

I think it's possible to get the MediaMonkey database into Access or Excel, so therefore into CSV and possibly formatted as XML. I feel as if I'm tantalisingly close to the answer but am now going in circles. Any ideas guys?

psychoadept

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Welcome to the forum!

This is not my strongest area, but I'm pretty sure what you want can be achieved, it just might be kind of convoluted. 

First, you will need to get your MediaMonkey data into a text file.  Actually, an excel spreadsheet that you can copy bits and pieces of into a text file as needed might be the best thing.

Second, you will need the Additional Tagging & Reporting Tools plugin for MusicBee: http://musicbee.wikia.com/wiki/Additional_Tagging_and_Reporting_Tools

Finally, take a look at this guide and adjust it for your situation: http://getmusicbee.com/forum/index.php?topic=9149.0

I suggest taking it VERY slowly at first, until you're sure things are working as desired.  redwing or boroda74 may be able to offer more specific help along the way.
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boroda

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I'm afraid its not possible to copy any value *to* 'Date added' tag.

Penn

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Got it to work!!  :) :) Date Added works but last played comes up as unknown! Think I'll settle for this

This is how I did it:

1) Deleted the current MusicBee library in order to start afresh.

2) Went to MediaMonkey and moved all podcasts and audiobooks elsewhere so that only regular music was left.

3) Used the MediaMonkey script that exports the database to an iTunes formatted XML file.

4) Checked the XML file in Notepad++ and found playcount and other data to be accurate.

5) Started up MusicBee and chose create new library but did not tell it to scan any folders

6) Went to menu item "import from Library", selected the XML file and chose "do not update" for existing files (as there were none anyway) and chose "add to the Library - files will be linked to their existing location"

I did lose my grouping and some other metadata but I think I can get MB to infer it from the track location

psychoadept

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That's great news!  Would you consider writing this up as a guide for other Media Monkey users?
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Penn

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Yes I could do. I'll wait til I'm sure that I'm doing it in the most efficient way and when I'm a bit more used to MusicBee and when I feel confident that my library is intact, initial checks suggest it is but I need to run it for a few days after recreating my favourite Auto Playlists.

To fix the grouping (which is saved in the ID3v2 tags of mp3s and the comments of Flacs) I just had to rescan those files

psychoadept

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To fix the grouping (which is saved in the ID3v2 tags of mp3s and the comments of Flacs) I just had to rescan those files

Oh, good.  MB also allows configuration of custom tags. I used media monkey briefly before settling on MB and was able to import my custom tags pretty easily.
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serendip1959

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Hi,

I can confirm that this method works almost perfectly (thank you).  There are, however, two issues with the MM script.  The first is that it doesn't export Last Played dates, it needs to be modified to write Play Date UTC into the output to get this data into MB.  The other which I think is also a script issue is that the script does not handle special characters well, so any song, artist, album with letters with accents (eg Emile Sande), or with apostrophes, on import will show as not found (as MB cannot match the data imported to the file).  I found it easier to use MB to find the file than to modify the script so can't help with a solution.

The MM script is also intended to run every hour by default and the output takes a bit of hunting down.  I found changing the settings so it ran on shutting down MM was the easiest way to know it had extracted the data as there is no dialog only a progress bar.  Once it is extracted it imports into MB sweetly with Date Added, Last Played (if script modified) and Play Count intact.

yahalome

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Can some link to the script that does " Used the MediaMonkey script that exports the database to an iTunes formatted XML file." be provided?
This will save other people trying to make the transition much smoother since this is the only unclear part of the migration steps.

Clancy

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Short manual:

http://www.mediamonkey.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=31680&start=15#p168587



Latest version (which contains an error):

http://www.mediamonkey.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=31680&start=60#p272344

Insert the second line of this segment:
 
  location = replace(location, "\", "/")
  location = replace(location, "&", "&")
  encodeLocation = scriptControl.Run("encodeURI", location)
end function



The script was also discussed here:

http://www.getmusicbee.com/forum/index.php?topic=3229.0



It worked quite well for me, although I had issues importing tracks containing number signs:

http://www.getmusicbee.com/forum/index.php?topic=17764.0