by rvonder » Thu Jun 06, 2019 12:57 am
I'm guessing you haven't tried tagging from Amazon for awhile? Unfortunately, this isn't a MM issue: Amazon changed its rules and no longer allows API access to its music metadata from any third-party products like MM. So rather than simply show an error message from Amazon, MM now displays that "Auto-Tag from Web" page. (And to MM's credit, if you read that Auto-Tag page, it
does provide info about why Amazon is no longer available for auto-tagging, and suggests alternatives.)
Just for kicks, I did a little searching and found that as of around Feb. 2019, Amazon apparently re-enabled the music API. But it now carries so many restrictions that it's basically no longer usable as a metadata source. Paraphrased from comments on SourceForge for an open-source product called DataCrow:
Amazon's exposed docs and their support phone folks say that they have tightened this up, and API access now has to be driven by sales websites. Here are the new requirements:
- You have to be apply and be accepted as an Amazon Affiliate in each region to get access to that region's API.
- You have to have a sales-oriented website (i.e., one that refers buyers to Amazon for purchases) to become an Affiliate.
- You have to generate x number of monthly Amazon sales via referrals from your site, and for each region, to remain an Affiliate and continue to have API access in each region.
- You have to have a tax ID number, and collect and pay taxes on the fees they pay you for pushing sales their way via your website. So this becomes an income and tax issue too.
Based on their policy changes, it's pretty clear that Amazon is not interested in acting as a metadata source. Their API access is now only useful to someone trying monetize their own website.
Sad, because auto-tagging via Amazon was so much easier, quicker, and more flexible than the current add-ons for Discogs and MusicBrainz. But the MM devs are promising that MM 5 will improve on these, and perhaps add other sources as well. I can hardly wait, because robust tagging capabilities are (or, at least,
were) one of the primary reasons MM was superior to anything else I've found - and I think I've tried them all by now!
I'm guessing you haven't tried tagging from Amazon for awhile? Unfortunately, this isn't a MM issue: Amazon changed its rules and no longer allows API access to its music metadata from any third-party products like MM. So rather than simply show an error message from Amazon, MM now displays that "Auto-Tag from Web" page. (And to MM's credit, if you read that Auto-Tag page, it [i]does [/i]provide info about why Amazon is no longer available for auto-tagging, and suggests alternatives.)
Just for kicks, I did a little searching and found that as of around Feb. 2019, Amazon apparently re-enabled the music API. But it now carries so many restrictions that it's basically no longer usable as a metadata source. Paraphrased from comments on SourceForge for an open-source product called DataCrow:
Amazon's exposed docs and their support phone folks say that they have tightened this up, and API access now has to be driven by sales websites. Here are the new requirements:
[list]You [i]have[/i] to be apply and be accepted as an Amazon Affiliate in [i]each [/i]region to get access to that region's API.[/list]
[list]You [i]have[/i] to have a sales-oriented website (i.e., one that refers buyers to Amazon for purchases) to become an Affiliate.[/list]
[list]You [i]have[/i] to generate [i]x[/i] number of monthly Amazon sales via referrals from your site, and for each region, to remain an Affiliate and continue to have API access in each region.[/list]
[list]You [i]have[/i] to have a tax ID number, and collect and pay taxes on the fees they pay you for pushing sales their way via your website. So this becomes an income and tax issue too.[/list]
Based on their policy changes, it's pretty clear that Amazon is not interested in acting as a metadata source. Their API access is now only useful to someone trying monetize their own website.
Sad, because auto-tagging via Amazon was so much easier, quicker, and more flexible than the current add-ons for Discogs and MusicBrainz. But the MM devs are promising that MM 5 will improve on these, and perhaps add other sources as well. I can hardly wait, because robust tagging capabilities are (or, at least, [i]were[/i]) one of the primary reasons MM was superior to anything else I've found - and I think I've tried them all by now!