Portable Music Player Online Database

There are a *lot* of different mp3 players, especially flash based ones. As a 3rd party application and an open source software project, it should be a goal of Songbird to support as many different mp3 players out of the box as possible.. Moreover, the MSC specifications state that

"The icon for the node should be specific to the device model and sized at 16x16 pixels. As a fall back, take the full size image and shrink it down. The fall back to the full size icon should be the generic device icon that ships with the application."

Ideally, very few mp3 players would have to fall back to a generic device icon, but how can Songbird support a different icon for so many devices?

Likewise, the mass storage class is supposed to know other information for each device such as its model name, capacity, and even what types of music/video formats are supported and at what bit rates.

I propose that Songbird set up a website similar to http://musicbrainz.org/ only for portable music players. That is, an online database of portable music players with information such as supported bit rates and file types, manufacturer, latest firmware version, and even perhaps a suggested icon. When a device is attached and opened in Songbird for the first time, it would query the website and download the appropriate information. If information is not already available for the device then Songbird would present the user with a dialog saying that it cannot recognize the device, and would ask the user if they want to enter some of the information manually (such as supported music types.) This information would be uploaded to the website, and maintained there for future users. They could also submit a suggested 16x16 icon, and incorrect information could be modified by other users. Eventually, if Songbird is a success, the website might be automatically updated by the manufacturers before their devices are released.

Another item which could be stored in the database is whether or not the device uses a folder hierarchy view. I have an Iaudio 7, a small flash based music player in which you have the option to view your music in a menu like on an iPod or alternatively, you can browse through your library in a directory structure. On older versions such as the Iaudio 5 and 6, the menu view was not available. There is already a bug report requesting that the new mass storage class "have a feature called Folder View which allows users to navigate the music on the device using the directory structure on the device." If a device does not support a menu view, then Songbird would know this and would by default present the user with the folder view. This would mean that music on the device would appear in Songbird in a way consistent with how it appears on the device. Either way, this is not the kind of information that can be detected from the device alone. In order for songbird to distinguish this kind of information, it would have to be enter manually by a human being and stored in a database somewhere.

Maybe, something like this already exists or is already planned for the Jackson 5 release. Either way, just wanted to get this idea out there in case no one else has thought of it.