[SERIOUS] Problem with mp3 tags (our buyers suffer from it)

This has been brought to attention several times before. Truly hope that Envato implement proper file names with tags asap.

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Good idea +1

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Excellent idea +1

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Question partially simplifies the installation of add-ons to Chrome.

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does it work when you edit the details on your mp3 preview? i mean, putting there your name, composer, etc?

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All tags should remain as I’ve seen them on preview files I downloaded. This isn’t a tag issue. I think it relates to how the site was coded. It uses and the HTML 5 download attribute and this is probably what’s happening:

  • If you left click a regular hyperlink, the browser just opens the file and doesn’t prompt you to save. The download attribute makes it so that a left click saves the file without trying to open it. HOWEVER, you still have to right click to tell it where to save or it goes to your default download folder. That takes us to the next point relating to why the file is called “preview” if you left click…

  • You can set a variable so that when you’re prompted to save the file, it automatically gets renamed to a certain formatted name. This renaming takes place when you right click to save. Envato set this up so that it will automatically prompt you to save the file with the following naming convention: “item ID_author’s name_ title of song.mp3”. That’s what @fortepianoman saw. Since most people probably do right click so they can set the download location, normally, this isn’t a problem. But it is a problem if they left click because the name replacement doesn’t get triggered.

Why was this done? Probably to automate the process of adding the item ID to the file name and create a consistent downloaded file title format. They would have assumed most people knows to right click when saving a file. Honestly, I think probably 80% of the people right click, if not more than 80%. While they could tell you to name your file “author’s name_song title.mp3” before your upload, they can’t give you the item ID before the song is uploaded. So, it’s automated to replace the file name with the naming convention once the item ID is generated and a download request is made. That way, they don’t need to do it manually for every file. But, instead of leaving your original file name, it appears to have been replaced with the generic name of “preview.mp3” when placed in your song’s folder.That was also probably automated during the upload. Therefore, if you do not use right click, the request to rename the song with the item ID, etc, doesn’t happen and the person just gets a file named “preview.mp3”. Why? Perhaps that’s because if they can’t rely on the uploader to use a suggested naming convention, they would rather have it be something generic that they can control in the event that the person requesting the download doesn’t use right click. If you added tags, they are there, but have no effect.

Now - I’m not a coder and didn’t program this site. But, I know a little about a few things and I looked at the code. So, everything I just said could be wrong. It’s just a somewhat educated guess while trying to be helpful. If someone is a coder and can explain this better, please do.

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Yes, good idea, guys. But i guess mostly buyers who came across this site long time ago just before downloading preview writing down to “Text note” name of the track and author’s username, or just save the link of the track as simple as that and this is good as well. Just assume if you want to rename you track later on, so you’ll need to rename your mp3 data tags each time. So may be it is better way do not tag our mp3 files data. Just my opinion.

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@FFMusic Thanks for the link. But how buyers will find it? I don’t think that we need a special extesion for the thing that should be a normal part of the site. I’m talking about the saving files with a correct file name.

@legnazeg Yes, just tested it again. All the ID tags work great even if you are using “Download Preview” button. Even url of the track can be added there.

@AAMediaMusic Thaks for your thoughts regarding this issue. Interesting assumptions. No doubts that Envato know how it works. But is there any data proving that most of the people use “Save link as” button? Even if no, “Download Preview” button is still need to be fixed to make the process convenient to our buyers. Right?

@rospianoden Yes, that’s why automated process would be a better option for all of us. If you changed the name of the track, it will automatically change in ID3 tags. But now I think that correct file name is what will solve the problem. When buyer clicks “Download Preview” button, file name must be “%author% - %name of the track% - %ID%” instead of useless “preview.mp3”.

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That might exist if someone wants to look for it. My opinion is based on the fact that AJ serves a market that consists largely of people doing media projects as part of their business. Such people are generally computer savvy and the right click menu is a very basic thing for downloading files.

BUT, two things I forgot to mention. The download attribute does not work with Internet Explorer, nor does it work with older versions of Firefox - both being commonly used. This incompatibility might be another reason for the generic name “preview” as well if they are going for consistent names and don’t want to manually rename to add the item ID. It seems like the original file name would have been better, but who knows how some people are naming their files to be uploaded. The second thing is that, normally, the download attribute should perform the requested name replacement regardless of which mouse button you click. But, again, I’m not a coder. Perhaps there are other things way over my head and the left click doesn’t perform the name replacement due to other factors they are aware of, but cannot overcome. Maybe it’s a security issue. On the other hand, there could be a way to resolve this issue, so let’s see what they do. I think the whole thing relates to a desire to rename files consistently without doing it manually.

Was tech support contacted already?

Yes, contacted them recently. Probably it will take a several days to recieve an answer from support.

This thread should show them that the problem needs to be solved as soon as possible. I’m also not a coder, but it doesn’t look like a difficult thing to do :slight_smile:

+1 for the automatic download or save with the item number.

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I was writing about this on forums long ago but nobody pay attention…I honestly hope this will be changed…Who knows how much buyers “skipped” our items because they just could not find them again…
Big +1

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All sellers should include tags in mp3s, it’s only better for them as a promotion and branding means.
As for downloading preview - I don’t get why it’s still not being named automatically like “Author-Title”.

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Here’s a reply from Support. Work-arounds… Buyers still need to think and care how to find a track on the market. It shouldn’t work this way! File names must be correct by default. Many buyers are busy people and they have no time and desire to search for the work-arounds to the site bugs.

Update

A new letter from the support.

Looks like they have a real intention to do that. Hope the problem will be solved really soon :slight_smile: Thanks everybody for the support in this thread. The letter proves that we can make Envato a better place together :+1:

@DoubleLion @AurusAudio @Octopusic @FASSounds @sodasi_web @sodasi_web @MorningLightMusic @SpinToneMusic @RockItPro @MotionAudio @Hyperprod @AndrVlad @fortepianoman @dtbaker @Synchrotron @SkinnyAtlasMusic MusicDog FFMusic AAMediaMusic rospianoden AASMusicWorks Mega_Music McMillenium

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Great work @AudioTrend!

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Yeah, this is long overdue. Good to hear Envato listens to us.

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In php they can use the function
id3_set_tag($filename, $array_id3info);
http://php.net/manual/en/function.id3-set-tag.php so is very easy to implement

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Wow it looks so easy! I think it is a good idea, but probably correctly named preview file could be enough.

Just tried to click “Download Preview” to check if something changed. Miracle didn’t happen. Everything still the same. 10+ days since this thread started.

Two versions here:
a) Nobody did anything to solve the problem so far.
b) The problem is too complicated to solve it quickly.

I think that the first version is more realistic, but probably I’m wrong :slight_smile:

Glad it is solved now! Envato is listening :+1:

Thanks everyone who supported this and similar topics :tada:

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