ID3v2 -- Now there is an idea! Jul 15, 2009
In my professional life I've recently been dealing with ID3 tags in some weird ways. It really is an interesting specification. What's even more interesting is where it could be headed.
Friends, think back to the days of Napster. This is around the time that ID3v1 tags were becoming a standard. Since then, the official specification has evolved significantly, but it is still the most commonly used technique for tagging music files. MP4 is expected to be the eventual successor to those old MP3s, but interestingly, the iTunes Music Store settled on M4A. (a proprietary Apple-designed format) The closest comparison to iTunes that I've used has been rhythmbox. It is an excellent project... but not quite the experience of iTunes. Personally I love Genius -- it is Pandora for my own personal music. Especially now that Pandora is limiting the time users listen to their service.
Either way the steadily increasing grip of M4A has me worrying about the open-source communities ability to keep with up with Media Software. With the increased number of podcasts and videos being available on iTunes how long before I am Genius'ing Video's on iTunes? iTunes already forces videos on me when I am buying from the iTunes store. ( With Gift Cards -- not my own money -_- ) How long before they are forcing Video/Audio advertisements in that bundle? It has worked pretty well for the movie industry.
Just as great as MP4 is though, it has its proprietary restrictions. The open-source community's answer has been OGG, a free format that anyone can use! "Well," you may ask, "if it is free why isn't anyone using it?" I believe the main reason is that companies can't capitalize on open-source software.