If this is a digital release, I suppose I incorrectly set the media format to “CD” (before it was not set, and Amazon contains both digital and CD releases). Should I revert my edit and remove the media format?
If MB has releases with no supporting information (no links, no discID’s, no unique cat numbers, barcodes, sources…) that you can’t confirm the existence of, it means no-one else can either.
This kind of thing I always merge with no regrets, or change into the most similar existing release I can find.
The database becomes less confusing, nothing valuable is lost, someone might pipe up in the edit comments/vote, and the release might be added again later in a way that’s actually useful (if it does actually exist).
I 'm calling that linked Amazon page as a"digital release" on the basis that:
The ?(from memory) “download now” box is highlighted.
When I click on the “CD” box I get taken to a different page with a different ASIN (Amazon Standard Identification Number) in the URL.
If you can change just CD to “digital” now then good. Or just wait till the edit goes through (6 days) and then change. (It was a surprise to me at first but there seems a general acceptance on MB that “things take time”.)
I have tried, but it is impossible: I got an error message “This medium has a disc ID, pregap track, or data track, so you can only change the format to one that can have disc IDs.” And indeed, a disk ID is available.
It looks like the release https://musicbrainz.org/release/f72cdee5-47fd-4d17-a4ed-76bbc4e91ff6 is entered as a mix of two releases: a CD release (it contains the CD ID), and a digital release (it contains ASIN of a digital release). I will do the following to separate two releases:
Change the ASIN to the CD release.
One week later, when the merge is complete, I will create a new digital release in the same release group, linked to ASIN of the digital release.
If you disagree with my approach, feel free to veto my ASIN edit.
The physical CD on Amazon has ASIN B00000E4L7 which erwinmayer relates to EAN 0028943024624
This is the EAN equivalent of the Discogs UPC barcode.
My current understanding:
The Discogs release and the Amazon release appear the same release on the basis of having the same EAN and indistinguishable cover art. This could be revised in the future if the cover art of one is show to have an EAN (13 digits) and the other a UPC (12 digits), or any other difference.
ASIN B01KAU19YU seems the common ASIN for the Amazon digital releases of this album.
I am a bit confused.
When I open this ASIN on Amazon, I see not a digital, but a physical release (“Format: Audio CD” directly under the CD name). Strangely enough, for this ASIN Amazon does not show any meta-info, such as label, release date etc.
When I open B00000E4L7, I see a physical release as well, but this time with a label (L’oiseau-Lyre) and release date (November 8, 1991)
I could access a digital release with B0051U6JWC. For this ASIN Amazon shows a label (Decca) and a release date (May 31, 2011).
Based on Amazon meta-info, it looks like the right ASIN for a physical release is B00000E4L7, and for a digital release B0051U6JWC.