Archive.org Music and Streaming App

[IamHydrogen]

I hope someone out there knows of archive.org. It's a tremendous site with all sorts of good info, music being a big part of it. They have a Live Music archive with a collection of shows from bands that allow taping at their gigs. For example The Grateful Dead, the band with the most shows up, has a collection of almost 7,000 live shows free for download or stream. This is in no way limited to the Jam Band scene as there are many bands that participate in this, the Dead just happen to have the most. At any rate, I don't know if their streaming app operates on Flash or what, but you can also download shows in VBR .mp3 format, a good portion of newer shows are great quality.

My question is, has anyone thought (or would like to attempt) to develop an app for this? Something that would offer direct access, easy browsing, and possibly even streaming. I'm going to send an email to the archive.org team as well regarding this. This could be a huge boon to our webOS community as it would further strengthen our devices musical prowess, with which you could gain alot of converts from the ipod/iphone community or even 1st time smartphone owners. Personally, I don't even carry my ipod anymore as my Pre handles the music excellently and is ultimately the only device I need.

So....thoughts? I'm no programmer but would welcome the chance to provide input for and learn from a developer willing to take this challenge on.

[IamHydrogen]

BTW...information on archive.org and all its efforts can be found here:

Internet Archive: About IA

[SirWill]

Now I can honestly say I didn't now about everything there. I have used archive.org many times to look at web sites as they were in the past. As for everything else on there, until I saw your post I never looked! Sure enough there is tons of stuff.

[SirWill]

Looks like the Audio is in FLAC

[IamHydrogen]

Originally Posted by SirWill

Now I can honestly say I didn't now about everything there. I have used archive.org many times to look at web sites as they were in the past. As for everything else on there, until I saw your post I never looked! Sure enough there is tons of stuff.

Ya, its absolutely huge. Personally, I use it as an avenue to discover all different types of great bands that don't receive any sort of radio airplay (with the exception of a few specialty satellite radio stations). Obviously, its so much more then just music and would be a tremendous source to have access to via webOS. In the open spirit of the platform, this could be a huge plus.

[IamHydrogen]

Alot of them post in multiple formats. These are the most common and you have a choice of the whole show in each by individually downloading the songs. The entire shows can usually be downloaded in vbr .mp3 or 64kbps .mp3. Flac is up there cause alot of people who collect or are music geeks (such as myself) want the highest quality possible while still maintaining a reasonable file size.
These are the formats:
Flac Ogg Vorbis 64Kbps.MP3 VBR.MP3

[IamHydrogen]

Just sent an email to the archive.org team regarding webOS and development of an app. Hopefully I'll get a response. I sent a link to this thread so if anyone out there believes in this project like I do, please speak up.

[BoatShoeDude]

This would definitely make for a great app!

[davis.rob]

So ... I just tried this and it looks like the VBR MP3 encoded stuff streams fine, just using the Browser and clicking on the MP3 links (or the M3U playlist streams).

Not sure an app gives you much over just using the browser. The site is actually pretty friendly for a mobile browser, although it might be nice if they could provide an alternate format for Pre/iPhone style smart phones.

Of course, you can always download the MP3s to your computer and then sync them via USB (for off-line listening).

[IamHydrogen]

Originally Posted by davis.rob

So ... I just tried this and it looks like the VBR MP3 encoded stuff streams fine, just using the Browser and clicking on the MP3 links (or the M3U playlist streams).

Ya, i'm ultimately just hoping to streamline the experience to get others to readily use it. I think that an app will increase exposure, make searching easier (so you don't have to zoom in and out alot) and help foster the openness of the platform. Like you said...a page properly formated for the mobile devices would help alot too.

[parout]

I have expressed interest in someone developing an app for Wolfgang's Vault. Similar to the site you are requesting.

[IamHydrogen]

Originally Posted by parout

I have expressed interest in someone developing an app for Wolfgang's Vault. Similar to the site you are requesting.

Just checked this out...had no idea it existed. But WOW...I'm glad I do now. I see they have developed an iphone app for it already, maybe the developers would be will to port it to webOS. Great site...its hard to find classic shows like this.

[jhodnettejr]

did anything ever come of this??? when using the browser i can't get anything on archive.org to stream more than the first song of the playlist...

[IamHydrogen]

As far as i've seen, no, nothing has come of it. I have the same issue, can listen to the 1st track but that's it. I'm no developer, but it does seem like it would take much to have an app search the database and stream the tunes. Then again, that could just be me being nieve on how much actual programming it takes. I sent a request to the site to see if any plans are in their works to develop an app and the short of it is "No". Hopefully more people will jump on after the acquistion...

[jhodnettejr]

I don't get it....this is a no-brainer....

[IamHydrogen]

I checked archive.org the other day...they seem to be migrating to a html5 player. I can get the player to load but the controls don't load and then it says that it can't play the file type. Its a step in the right direction, but still not quite there :-/

[jhodnettejr]

...bump...

[xfrdxdvoko]

I have an app that does this.....works on linux, windows, mac, iphone, android, wii, ps3, etc

it is so awesome at finding great music that....i cant help but want to make some money on it. through advertising at least.

anyone still interested? if anyone responds i will PM a link and get some feedback

note: i have no idea what webOS is...but it probably works there too...or it will once i implement HTML5 streaming vs the current M3U files

[hrminer92]

Originally Posted by IamHydrogen

The entire shows can usually be downloaded in vbr .mp3 or 64kbps .mp3.

That is if the taper who uploads the show gives archive.org permission to stream it. Some tapers do not want their recordings distributed in any lossy formats. There are still quite a few older shows that are in Shorten format, but I think Flac has become more standard since it can handle 24 bit audio and it is open source.

[hrminer92]

Originally Posted by davis.rob

So ... I just tried this and it looks like the VBR MP3 encoded stuff streams fine, just using the Browser and clicking on the MP3 links (or the M3U playlist streams).

When you click on the M3U playlist, does the streaming app play all the songs or just the first one? I've been only able to get it to play the first song and then it stops.