[SleepyP]

I posted this before, but I've got a lot more artists done now. Basically I made a copy of the "library" files from my music library and then zipped them up and stuck the whole thing on mediafire.com. The "library" files are just jpeg images and .nfo XML files. The NFO files were exported by XBMC after running a complete scan using the AllMusic scraper, and are generally pretty good.
Zipped this collection of stuff is 328 MB, and unzipped its 342 MB.

Why would anybody want to download this?
Basically, if you're looking for a quick & easy way to get a lot of nice artwork for your library, this is one way you can do it. All of my artist thumbnails and album artwork is 500x500 pixels square. I have fanart pictures for most of the artists, though not all of them of course.
My file layout is like this:
<root>\<artist name>\<artist name>-<album year>-<album title>\
Here is a list of all the artists in this "pack":
16 Volt
2Pac
36 Crazyfists
3OH!3
50 Cent
7 Year Bitch
808 State
A Perfect Circle
A Tribe Called Quest
Aaliyah
ABBA
Action Figure Party
Adam Sandler
Adema
AFI
Agnostic Front
Aimee Mann
Air
Akemi Kimura
Akira Yamaoka
Al Green
Alan Silvestri
Alela Diane
Alice In Chains
Alicia Keys
Alien Ant Farm
Alien Sex Fiend
All American Rejects, The
All That Remains
Alphaville
American Head Charge
Amon Tobin
Amor For Sleep
Amy Winehouse
Ana Rita Simonka
Anatomy Of A Ghost
Anberlin
Andrea Bocelli
Andrew Lloyd Webber
Angel Dust
Angel Tears
Angela Morley
Angelo Badalamenti
Angels And Agony
Ani DiFranco
Animal Alpha
Annie Lennox
Anthony And The Johnsons
Aphex Twin
Apocalyptica
Apoptygma Berzerk
Apparat
Aqua
Architecture in Helsinki
Aretha Franklin
Ari Pulkkinen
Art Blakey & The Jazz Messengers
Art Of Trance
Arthur B. Rubinstein
Assemblage 23
Astrud Gilberto
Atari Teenage Riot
Ataris, The
Atmosphere
Atom And His Package
Atomic Planet
Augustus Pablo
Avalanches
Avenged Sevenfold
Azoic
B-52's, The
Bad Religion
Bahamadia
Bangles, The
Barrington Levy
Basil Poledouris
Bassnectar
Bat For Lashes
Bayside
Beastie Boys, The
Beat Junkies
Beat, The
Beatles, The
Beatnuts, The
Beautiful Mistake, The
Beck
Beirut
Belle And Sebastian
Belly
Ben Folds
Ben Folds Five
Benedictine Monks Of Santo Domingo De Silos
Benny Goodman
Bernard Herrmann
Beth Orton
Bette Midler
Bettie Serveert
Between The Buried And Me
Big Pun
Big Sleep, The
Big Soul
Billie Holiday
Billy Idol
Bing Crosby
Bjork
Black Eyed Peas
Black Light Burns
Black Mages, The
Black Rebel Motorcycle Club
Black Tape For A Blue Girl
Blackalicious
Blind Guardian
Blindside
Blink 182
Blondie
Bloodsimple
Blue Man Group
Blue October
Blur
BoA
Bob Dylan
Bob Marley & The Wailers
Bobby Brown
Bobby Montez
Bomb The Bass
Bon Jovi
Bonnie Raitt
Bouncing Souls, The
Box Car Racer
Boy George
Boys like Girls
BoySetsFire
Brad Fiedel
Brand New
Brazilian Girls
Break The Silence
Breeders, The
Brian McKnight
Brian Setzer
Bright Eyes
BT
Bullet For My Valentine
Busta Rhymes
Butterfly Boucher
Butthole Surfers, The
Buzzcocks, The
Cabaret Voltaire
Cake
Caliban
Capcom
Cardigans, The
Carlo Siliotto
Carnivore
Carole King
Cars, The
Cassandra Wilson
Casual
Cat Power
Cat Stevens
Catch 22
Charles Mingus
Cheb I Sabbah
Chemical Brothers, The
Cherry Poppin' Daddies
Chet Baker
Chimaira
Chris Isaak
Chris Rezanson
Cibo Matto
CKY
Clancy Bounds
Clint Mansell
Coal Chamber
CocoRosie
Cocteau Twins
Colbie Caillat
Coldplay
Collide
Cooper And Bounds
Copeland
Counting Crows
Craig Armstrong
Craig Armstrong And AR Rahman
Cranberries, The
Crystal Castles
Crystal Method, The
Cub
Cure, The
Cyndi Lauper
Daft Punk
Daisuke Ishiwatari
Dandy Warhols, The
Dane Cook
Danger Mouse
Danny Elfman
Dario Marianelli
Darkness, The
Dashboard Confessional
David Bowie
David Cross
Dead By Sunrise
Dead Can Dance
Deadmau5
Death Cab For Cutie
Death In Vegas
Deftones
Delerium
Demon Hunter
Denis Leary
Depeche Mode
Dethklok
Detroit Cobras, The
DevilDriver
Devin Townsend
Dido
Disturbed
DJ Babu
DJ Cam
DJ Dean
DJ Hurricane
DJ Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince
DJ Krush
DJ Quik
DJ Revolution
DJ Shadow
DJ Z-Trip & DJ P
Dog Fashion Disco
Dope
Doves, The
Dr. Dre
Dreaming, The
Dresden Dolls, The
Dropkick Murphys
Electric Hellfire Club, The
Electric Six
Eminem
Enduser
Enigma
Enya
Esthero
Evanescence
Faith No More
Faithless
Fall Out Boy
Fannypack
Fant“mas
Fatboy Slim
Faunts
Fear Factory
Fever Ray
Fiend
Filter
Finch
Fiona Apple
Five Finger Death Punch
Flight Of The Conchords
Flogging Molly
Flyleaf
Foo Fighters, The
Fort Minor
Front 242
Front Line Assembly
Frou Frou
Future Sound Of London, The
Garbage
Garry Schyman
Ghostface Killah
Glen Hansard & Mark‚ta Irglov*
God Is An Astronaut
Godflesh
Godhead
Goldfrapp
Gorillaz
Green Day
Groove Armada
Haujobb
Hideaki Kobayashi
Hideki Naganuma
Hideki Okugawa
Hidenori Maezawa & Misao Senbongi
Hideyuki Fukasawa
Hiromi Mizutani
Hitoshi Sakimoto
Hives, The
Hole
Hollywood Undead
Howard Drossin
Icon Of Coil
Ill Nino
Imogen Heap
Incubus
Innerpartysystem
Ippo Yamada
Ivy
Jay-Z
Jem
Jesper Kyd
Jimmy Eat World
John Lennon
John Mayer
Johnny Cash
Julien-K
Jun Senoue
Junichi Nakatsuru
Junkie XL
Jupiter One
Justin Timberlake
Kanye West
Katatonia
Kate Havnevik
Kazunori Miyake
Kevin Manthei
Kid Cudi
Kidneythieves
Kill Hannah
Killswitch Engage
Klaus Badelt
KMFDM
Koji Kondo
Korn
Kota Suzuki & Wataru Hokoyama
Kou Ootani
Kraftwerk
La Roux
Lacuna Coil
Lady Gaga
Laibach
Lamb
Lauryn Hill
Leonard Cohen
Lil Jon & East Side Boyz
Linkin Park
Lisa Gerrard
Lisa Miskovsky
Lonely Island, The
Lostprophets
Madonna
Marco Beltrami
Marilyn Manson
Masafumi Ogata & Naofumi Hataya
Masafumi Takada
Masaki Kurokawa
Masami Ueda
Masato Kouda
Masato Nakamura
Massive Attack
Master P
MC Chris
Megadeth
Men At Work
Michael Jackson
Michael Kamen
Michiko Naruke
Milosh
Mindless Self Indulgence
Ministry
Misfits, The
Missy Elliott
Mix Master Mike
Moby
Morcheeba
Motoi Sakuraba
Motoi Sakuraba & Hibiki Aoyama
Mr. Bungle
mum
Muse
My Chemical Romance
N.W.A
Nakamura Masato
NaS
New Order
Nickelback
Nine Inch Nails
Nirvana
Nitrada
No Doubt
Nobuo Uematsu
Norikazu Miura
Noriko Matsueda & Takahito Eguchi
Noriyuki Iwadare
Offspring, The
OneRepublic
Oomph!
Orgy
Outkast
Panic! At the Disco
Paradise Lost
Paramore
Pati Yang
Pearl Jam
Photek
Piebald
Pink Floyd
Pizzicato Five
PJ Harvey
Plumb
Poe
Pogues, The
Portishead
Postal Service, The
Prince
Prodigy, The
Queen
R.E.M
Radiohead
Raekwon
Rage Against The Machine
Rasputina
Ratatat
Red Hot Chili Peppers
Richard Cheese
Rise Against
Roadrunner United
Sachio Ogawa & Hideaki Miyamoto
Sade
Saitama Saisyu Heiki
Scarling
Senses Fail
Sergio Mendes & Brasil '66
Sevendust
She Wants Revenge
Shiny Toy Guns
Shoji Meguro
Shusaku Uchiyama
Sia
Sigur R¢s
Silent Civilian
Silversun Pickups
Simon Viklund
Sirenia
Skinny Puppy
Slipknot
Snow Patrol
SOiL
Soilwork
Sonic Team
Spencer Nilsen
Spineshank
Static-X
Story Of The Year
Sunny Day Real Estate
SyncToy_12649a88-d6cf-46fd-a4c3-2eeb2776d98c.dat
SyncToy_c4443083-fcda-4be7-ac1f-fee26d6e72c4.dat
Taishi Senda & Yoshito Hirano
Takayuki Iwai, Hideki Okugawa
Takeharu Ishimoto
Takenobu Mitsuyoshi
Takeshi Miura, Hijiri Anze & Sanae Kasahara
Takuya Yasuda
Tapping The Vein
Tegan And Sara
Telefon Tel Aviv
T‚l‚popmusik
Theory Of A Deadman
Timbaland
Tool
Toru Minegishi
Trivium
Underworld
Veronicas, The
Verve, The
Vines, The
Violent Femmes
Viva Voce
VNV Nation
Voltaire
Von Bondies, The
Weezer
Wesley Willis
White Zombie
William Shatner
Winona
Wire
Wojciech Kilar
Wumpscut
Wu-Tang Clan
Wyclef Jean
X
X-Ecutioners, The
Xzibit
Yann Tiersen
Yasuhisa Watanabe
Yasunori Mitsuda
Yazoo
Yeah Yeah Yeahs
Yello
Yellowcard
Yoko Kanno
Yoko Shimomura
Yoshida Brothers, The
Yoshitaka Hirota
Yoshito Hirano
Young Bleed
YTCracker
Yuki Kajiura
Zao
Zap Mama
Zero 7
Zeromancer
Zombie Nation
Zwan
My overall library stats:
500 artists, 2103 albums, 32849 tracks totaling 82 days, 17:27:34 of audio.
242 compilation / various artists discs.
177GB of data, 38000 files and 2873 folders.
Because I don't want to pay MediaFire, I made a split archive (split every 209715200 bytes or 200MB), so you will need to download both parts before unzipping it.
Part One: http://www.mediafire.com/?g0rtdhqxlvn
Part Two: http://www.mediafire.com/?tkujndj1jyu
Enjoy!

[rcoops]

Downloading them now, thanks for the hard work I am sure that my music crazy girlfriend will be very happy with it.

Just out of curiosity and because I know already that there are a few obscure artists that are in her collection which you will not have in yours, where did you get the original material from for all this art? Did you simply browse the web and create is all from available material or did you use some other less time intensive trick?
Basically I would like to add some artists because I refuse to have to listen to her whine about how ugly it is that some artists don't have a image while others do...

[SleepyP]

wurd, see my thread on the subject:
http://forum.xbmc.org/showthread.php?tid=60352
Album Art Downloader is awesome but doesn't do the "per-artist" thumbnails. For those you either have to hope somebody else made one and put it on htbackdrops.com (all of mine are also uploaded there), or you'll have to make one yourself. One of my roommate's has a ridiculous video game soundtrack collection, and some of those obscure Japanese game composers were impossible to find pictures of. For guys like that where I couldn't get a picture of them and I only had one album by them, I "cheated" and used the album artwork as the artist thumbnail also. This works surprisingly well.
I might have some of the same artists, do you have a list of who you're missing art for?

[rcoops]

Yeah, sorry about that read your other post just after I posed that question, should have looked first...

I don't have a list just yet still working on album art and artists but I fear the worst as the artists I am talking about are French, Dutch, Czech, German and a few other countries, of which some never got beyond that first album. But I'll do my best a few of these people I know personally which always helps getting a artist image.

Once I have my collection (well her collection done) I'll upload the stuff to htbackdrops.com so that that collection grows a bit further.

For now though I have to re-org all the music into a per artist folder structure like you advised as this seems to be the best way to get the library to show the images for the artists without having to jump trough to many hoops getting it all in the right place.

Oh, one more question though I know I did this in the past but I couldn't figure it out yesterday evening how on earth do I get XBMC to rescan the folder.jpg. Even removing the entire music collection from sources cleaning up the library and adding it back again did not result in the images being rescanned. It was after midnight so maybe that had something to do with me not being able to get this sorted

[SleepyP]

its not picking up any of your artist thumbnails at all?

[grey]

i am new to XBMC, and i got a question:

i need to unzip it to my xbmc box, and then xbmc automagically searches for these images or i must do it manually, for every music folder apart ?

thanks!

[SleepyP]

Generally, the way people use these kind of files is by placing them in their media library, so in this case you would be putting these files alongside your music files. The "XBMC-friendly" way to organize is by having one directory for each artist. The per-artist art files go in this folder (which is how they are in my pack) and then XBMC should use them when scanning your library. For albums, each album should have its own folder, and and you'll want to place the cover art for each album inside that folder, named folder.jpg (again this is how my pack is). You will also want to "embed" the cover art into the actual music files themselves. Mp3tag can do this as a "batch" operation, meaning you should only need to do it once. That utility is free and can be found here:
http://www.mp3tag.de/en/

[grey]

thanks!

[marcozd]

Looks like a great selection - I am also *slowly* compiling a list of artists (I have a lot of old 50s and 60s artists that I am trying to compile, as well as country and western artists and lounge singers).


IMPORTANT QUESTION: do you HAVE to embed the album art file into the mp3 file, or is there a way to force XBMC to use the "folder.jpg" file in each album directory as the album art? Does anyone know if this is possible?

Thanks.