# Music Choice is Live!



## mtchamp (May 15, 2001)

I'm loving my TiVo a little more this morning. I've been downloading music videos for the last hour and it's flawless. Hundreds of videos FREE! A commercial or two on some of them, but they can be skipped. A pretty good selection for starters. I was goosebump happy to call up a a video from my couch and have it in just a few minuets. TiVo Central > Find Programs > Download TV & Movies. This section also has a new menu with Amazon, Music Choice and One True Media featured at the top of the list.


----------



## gonzotek (Sep 24, 2004)

mtchamp said:


> I'm loving my TiVo a little more this morning. I've been downloading music videos for the last hour and it's flawless. Hundreds of videos FREE! A commercial or two on some of them, but they can be skipped. A pretty good selection for starters. I was goosebump happy to call up a a video from my couch and have it in just a few minuets. TiVo Central > Find Programs > Download TV & Movies. This section also has a new menu with Amazon, Music Choice and One True Media featured at the top of the list.


I'm enjoying it as well, however I went to browse by genre and even though the prior screen said there would be "genres like 80's, 90's, Hip Hop, Kidz Only, and Adult Alternative", when I got into the menu, the genres only went from "Hip Hop and R&B" to "Today's Country", alphabetically. So no 80s, 90s, or adult alt for me . Or whatever other genres fall alphabetically outside "hi"-"to".

Searching for a word like "The" returned three results, none of them "The Cars". "Car" gets me Carrie Underwood, and some other people. Maybe the Cars is a bad choice. "Video" (as in video killed the radio star): no result. Madonna: No result. "Pe" (Pearl Jam) returns just 4 results, none of them Pearl Jam.

It's looking like only a slice of the whole catalog is available, for me at least.

After downloading and watching a few videos, I went into "More Options" for one(Feist -1234), and it offered to find upcoming episodes (but couldn't, of course) as well as had the standard entry point into Swivel Search. I was hoping the Music Choice content would be populated in USS, but alas, "There was an error and this program could not be found in Swivel Search. Go back to the program in Now Playing, or search for another program." Hanging my head in dejection, I headed back out to the NPL to drown my sorrows in some MMMBop.

One last note before I head off to work, the restricted Keep Until dates are apparently following some twisted logic of their own: Of the three videos I have in front of me now, one can only be kept until 12/10, one until 3/3, and one until 3/17. The one that can only be kept until next week has flag next to it in the list, but the other two have no indicator icons. All have the little flag beneath "Press info for details" in the program details.

All in all, some rough edges, but if they can sand them down, this could be nice to have.

/last edit: The videos looked and sounded good, although I haven't spend much time with them yet.


----------



## ZeoTiVo (Jan 2, 2004)

batch play, now needed more than ever.


very cool Guitare hero III commercial at the begining of "Holy Diver" video but still a commercial none the less, but free is a good tradeoff I guess


----------



## gonzotek (Sep 24, 2004)

ZeoTiVo said:


> batch play, now needed more than ever.


+1000


----------



## minckster (Aug 31, 2006)

Minor bug: Change the "keep until" date until the longest possible date, and lose that video's Music Choice logo in the Now Playing List.  Can anyone replicate?


----------



## MickeS (Dec 26, 2002)

Awesome! I had no idea this was in the works.

Some really good choices there too right off the bat (first download for ms was Arch Enemy "Revolution Begins", great song and video ), hopefully they'll update this frequently.

Not only is batch play needed, but TiVo REALLY needs to start thinking about a complete redesign of their interface. The "Download" section can't be buried like this if they want to be serious about it.


----------



## Carlos_E (Mar 12, 2007)

Can I program music choice from a computer and have it download to my Tivo?


----------



## ajwees41 (May 7, 2006)

gonzotek said:


> I'm enjoying it as well, however I went to browse by genre and even though the prior screen said there would be "genres like 80's, 90's, Hip Hop, Kidz Only, and Adult Alternative", when I got into the menu, the genres only went from "Hip Hop and R&B" to "Today's Country", alphabetically. So no 80s, 90s, or adult alt for me . Or whatever other genres fall alphabetically outside "hi"-"to".
> 
> Searching for a word like "The" returned three results, none of them "The Cars". "Car" gets me Carrie Underwood, and some other people. Maybe the Cars is a bad choice. "Video" (as in video killed the radio star): no result. Madonna: No result. "Pe" (Pearl Jam) returns just 4 results, none of them Pearl Jam.
> 
> ...


If it's the same as on cable the music lables set how long the videos are avalable.


----------



## BlackBetty (Nov 6, 2004)

This is very cool! I tried it this morning and was very impressed!!! MTV who?


----------



## ZeoTiVo (Jan 2, 2004)

MickeS said:


> The "Download" section can't be buried like this if they want to be serious about it.


yah, that was another thing - no one is going to find it there unless they use UNBOX from the TiVo or go into TiVoCast settings.

this one would seem worthy of a message from TiVo on the DVR I think


----------



## MickeS (Dec 26, 2002)

ZeoTiVo said:


> yah, that was another thing - no one is going to find it there unless they use UNBOX from the TiVo or go into TiVoCast settings.
> 
> this one would seem worthy of a message from TiVo on the DVR I think


Even finding Unbox videos is IMO too much work. If TiVo wants to compete with download services, they need to make that as easy to access as the "Now Playing" list is. I like how "TTCB" is right there on the "Now Playing" page - these download service offerings should be too.


----------



## rainwater (Sep 21, 2004)

MickeS said:


> Even finding Unbox videos is IMO too much work. If TiVo wants to compete with download services, they need to make that as easy to access as the "Now Playing" list is. I like how "TTCB" is right there on the "Now Playing" page - these download service offerings should be too.


I agree. I think part of the issue is them using HME apps for everything now. It would be nice if somehow they integrated some of these services into the software. I know they don't want to do it, but the performance of the Unbox app and some of the other big apps is just frustrating. Personally, I never use the TiVo app to download unbox movies, I just do it on the web since it so much quicker and TiVo is losing out of money when I do that.


----------



## Carlos_E (Mar 12, 2007)

Carlos_E said:


> Can I program music choice from a computer and have it download to my Tivo?


Does anyone have an answer to this?


----------



## TiVoStephen (Jun 27, 2000)

Hi folks!

I was going to post an announcement this morning when our press release hit at 8:30, but you guys beat me to it. 

Glad to hear people are enjoying this.



minckster said:


> Minor bug: Change the "keep until" date until the longest possible date, and lose that video's Music Choice logo in the Now Playing List.  Can anyone replicate?


Hmm. We're investigating this one.



Carlos_E said:


> Can I program music choice from a computer and have it download to my Tivo?


Afraid not. The only way to choose a video is from the DVR. Sorry!


----------



## TiVoStephen (Jun 27, 2000)

gonzotek said:


> I'm enjoying it as well, however I went to browse by genre and even though the prior screen said there would be "genres like 80's, 90's, Hip Hop, Kidz Only, and Adult Alternative", when I got into the menu, the genres only went from "Hip Hop and R&B" to "Today's Country", alphabetically. So no 80s, 90s, or adult alt for me . Or whatever other genres fall alphabetically outside "hi"-"to".


I'm looking into this one. I suspect either the description is wrong, or the 80's/90's/Adult-Alt genres don't happen to have any videos in them at the moment.



> Searching for a word like "The" returned three results, none of them "The Cars". "Car" gets me Carrie Underwood, and some other people. Maybe the Cars is a bad choice. "Video" (as in video killed the radio star): no result. Madonna: No result. "Pe" (Pearl Jam) returns just 4 results, none of them Pearl Jam.


While there are nearly a thousand videos available at launch, there are many artists and songs that aren't included at the moment. Unfortunately there aren't any videos from those artists you mention at the moment. But the selection will change frequently, so keep an eye out!



> It's looking like only a slice of the whole catalog is available, for me at least.


Correct, not all videos are available.



> After downloading and watching a few videos, I went into "More Options" for one(Feist -1234), and it offered to find upcoming episodes (but couldn't, of course) as well as had the standard entry point into Swivel Search. I was hoping the Music Choice content would be populated in USS, but alas, "There was an error and this program could not be found in Swivel Search. Go back to the program in Now Playing, or search for another program." Hanging my head in dejection, I headed back out to the NPL to drown my sorrows in some MMMBop.


Unfortunately, Universal Swivel Search is designed to support movies and TV shows that have been broadcast. Since these videos have never been broadcast as TV shows, they don't have the necessary information to allow them to be swiveled at this time. This is something we'd like to investigate for a possible future release, but no promises.



> One last note before I head off to work, the restricted Keep Until dates are apparently following some twisted logic of their own: Of the three videos I have in front of me now, one can only be kept until 12/10, one until 3/3, and one until 3/17. The one that can only be kept until next week has flag next to it in the list, but the other two have no indicator icons. All have the little flag beneath "Press info for details" in the program details.


The rights-holders set limits for Music Choice that are passed along to us about how long the video can be retained in Now Playing. Unfortunately there's not any good way to predict how long a particular video can be kept. I believe the flag will appear when the deletion time is within 7 days.


----------



## gonzotek (Sep 24, 2004)

TiVoStephen said:


> I'm looking into this one. I suspect either the description is wrong, or the 80's/90's/Adult-Alt genres don't happen to have any videos in them at the moment.
> 
> While there are nearly a thousand videos available at launch, there are many artists and songs that aren't included at the moment. Unfortunately there aren't any videos from those artists you mention at the moment. But the selection will change frequently, so keep an eye out!
> 
> ...


Thanks for the reply Stephen. I hope my reporting of the issues I experienced hasn't made you (or your team) think I am not impressed with the service, because even with the rough edges I think it's great. Kudos on another big TiVoCast milestone!

A couple of thoughts...could a future update allow us to do swivel-like activities with the music videos..ie. Instead of tying it directly with USS, let a user go to more options...then find more of the same artist, genre, or similar artists.

Also, perhaps I missed it this morning, but regarding the expirations dates, I understand why they are unpredictable, but would it be possible (or is it already possible) to show how long a video could kept around before downloading it? ie show text somewhere on screen either reading something like "In accordance with copyright holder policy this progam will be deleted 5 days after it is downloaded." or "To comply with copyright policy with program will can only be kept until Dec. 10, 2007" Like I said, I may have missed that you're already doing that.


----------



## TiVoStephen (Jun 27, 2000)

Thanks gonzotek. Both are good suggestions.

Right now there's no way to tell when it will expire until you download it.


----------



## HDTiVo (Nov 27, 2002)

This is excellent content for TiVoCast. It is broadly appealing to the user base which adds measureable value to the TiVo "service." The brief ads are fine, even interesting to many.

A fine example of the use of ad insertion and product sales in conjunction with an added feature of the TiVo.

Progressive download off the bat. :up: Music Choice is more of the "Unbox" category of TiVoCast.

We will need subscriptions to artists and other search/metadata features to make this a heavily used feature.


----------



## richsadams (Jan 4, 2003)

Just dropped by this a.m. Thanks for the tip...how cool is this? :up: :up:

Stephen, please let the folks there know that this new feature is a hit! Get it...music...a hit?  Never mind.


----------



## Joe3 (Dec 12, 2006)

I would hate to see this die on the vine like some others (Yahoo), but they really need to expand


----------



## Rucker (Sep 21, 2006)

I tried a few videos last night. The video quality was about what I expected, but the audio quality was awful. Is it just me?


----------



## TiVoStephen (Jun 27, 2000)

Rucker, sorry to hear. I've not heard any complaints and the videos I've watched have had very high audio quality. Can you specify which videos you had a problem with?


----------



## BlackBetty (Nov 6, 2004)

Rucker said:


> I tried a few videos last night. The video quality was about what I expected, but the audio quality was awful. Is it just me?


no problems here. Video and audio were top notch.


----------



## BlackBetty (Nov 6, 2004)

HDTiVo said:


> This is excellent content for TiVoCast. It is broadly appealing to the user base which adds measureable value to the TiVo "service." The brief ads are fine, even interesting to many.
> 
> A fine example of the use of ad insertion and product sales in conjunction with an added feature of the TiVo.
> 
> ...


+1


----------



## minckster (Aug 31, 2006)

Bug: Deleting a video while downloading another leads to multiple folders after recovering the deleted videos.

I accidently deleted two of my eight videos while downloading a ninth. After recovering the two deleted videos, I now have two Music Choice folders, one with seven videos and one with nine. As you may deduce, the seven are the seven I never deleted. I'm not sure if I ever extended the Keep Until date before deleting the two videos. I extended them to the maximum date when recovering them.

Edit to add: I recovered the two videos while the ninth was still downloading. Neither of the deleted and recovered videos have the flag logo to their left.


----------



## shady (May 31, 2002)

HDTiVo said:


> We will need subscriptions to artists and other search/metadata features to make this a heavily used feature.


That would be cool. Let me set up season passes for an Artist, and have them downloaded when they release a new video!!


----------



## rainwater (Sep 21, 2004)

minckster said:


> Bug: Deleting a video while downloading another leads to multiple folders after recovering the deleted videos.


I don't believe this is specific to Music Choice but TiVoCasts in general.


----------



## MickeS (Dec 26, 2002)

Rucker said:


> I tried a few videos last night. The video quality was about what I expected, but the audio quality was awful. Is it just me?


All 11 videos I've downloaded have had great audio.


----------



## scrutman (Mar 15, 2006)

So I was looking forward to this exciting feature when I got home only to find that the tivo has been taylored to Canadian audiences. The Find programs does not have swivel search listed and the swivel search is now located under Music, Photos, Prodcust and More and listed as Pivot (???). Noweher to be found is the new Music Choice. I also see a tivo cast heading under Music, Photos, Products and More as well and both these new headings has "(Canada)" beside them.

Is the new Music Choice only for US customers?

Pls assist.


----------



## TiVoStephen (Jun 27, 2000)

Yes, sorry. As our press release mentioned, this Music Choice feature is for US customers only. Music Choice does not have permission from the rights holders to distribute in Canada, and so therefore neither do we.


----------



## BiloxiGeek (Nov 18, 2001)

Just tried to check out this new feature and all of a sudden I have no "Download TV & Movies" menu under Find Programs. It's just gone. I've checked all 3 Tivo's I have (Tivo HD, Tivo DT and Tivo Series 2). No joy for any of them. I restarted the Tivo HD and that didn't fix it.

Did something get broke? And before anyone asks; I double checked on tivo.com and both transfers and downloads are enabled on all 3 Tivos. All have lifetime subscriptions.

I'd like to check this out and getting denied. Just realized that this problem also effects Unbox and all that other stuff under that menu.


----------



## rainwater (Sep 21, 2004)

BiloxiGeek said:


> Just tried to check out this new feature and all of a sudden I have no "Download TV & Movies" menu under Find Programs. It's just gone. I've checked all 3 Tivo's I have (Tivo HD, Tivo DT and Tivo Series 2). No joy for any of them. I restarted the Tivo HD and that didn't fix it.
> 
> Did something get broke? And before anyone asks; I double checked on tivo.com and both transfers and downloads are enabled on all 3 Tivos. All have lifetime subscriptions.
> 
> I'd like to check this out and getting denied. Just realized that this problem also effects Unbox and all that other stuff under that menu.


It most likely means that none of your boxes can connect to the internet. You should verify that you can force a manual connection to the TiVo services under the Phone & Network settings. It could also be a TiVo issue if the HME services are down.


----------



## BiloxiGeek (Nov 18, 2001)

rainwater said:


> It most likely means that none of your boxes can connect to the internet. You should verify that you can force a manual connection to the TiVo services under the Phone & Network settings. It could also be a TiVo issue if the HME services are down.


Wish it were that easy. All three are configured for static IP through my wired network to a cable modem. They can connect to the Tivo service just fine. I can ping all three from my fedora box. It's not a network issue.


----------



## rainwater (Sep 21, 2004)

BiloxiGeek said:


> Wish it were that easy. All three are configured for static IP through my wired network to a cable modem. They can connect to the Tivo service just fine. I can ping all three from my fedora box. It's not a network issue.


I think it is just a global issue since all other HME services are up except the Download app. Btw, some of these services require working DNS so even if test connection works, HME apps can fail.


----------



## Rucker (Sep 21, 2006)

My video download option was gone for a bit, but has come back.


----------



## Rucker (Sep 21, 2006)

TiVoStephen said:


> I've not heard any complaints and the videos I've watched have had very high audio quality. Can you specify which videos you had a problem with?


I watched Feist "1234", Interpol "No I in Threesome", and Natalie Imbruglia "Torn". None of them are listed tonight, so I can't replay them, unfortunately. I watched more tonight (Interpol NYC & Evil, Gorillaz Feel Good Inc, and others) and they seemed better than what I remember, but not particularly good either. Most of the songs I listened to today I have on CD, though, so maybe my impression is biased from previous listening. Considering that everyone else thinks it is good, maybe I'm just too picky


----------



## wmcbrine (Aug 2, 2003)

The audio seems OK to me; the video quality varies a lot. Two of the ones I picked were unwatchable due to flicker. (One of those was Kelly Clarkson's "Miss Independent"; I forget the other.)

Anyway, great feature. :up:


----------



## pdhenry (Feb 28, 2005)

Billy Joel's "My Life" was very muddy sounding.


----------



## BiloxiGeek (Nov 18, 2001)

The menu was back to normal this morning. Briefly looked through the offerings didn't see much of interest there.

I did notice on one of the first screens it says you can browse by genre and it lists a few like 80's. 90's etc. But when you actually start browsing those options aren't there.


----------



## Bsteenson (Jul 30, 2000)

Something strange is happening with mine. Both times I tried to select a video to download my TiVo HD immediately went into a restart. Anyone else experiencing this or know what the problem might be?

BS


----------



## pdhenry (Feb 28, 2005)

BiloxiGeek said:


> I did notice on one of the first screens it says you can browse by genre and it lists a few like 80's. 90's etc. But when you actually start browsing those options aren't there.


TiVoStephen suggests an explanation upthread a bit.


----------



## AaronCP (Nov 29, 2007)

With the introduction of Music Choice, I see that Live365 is no where to be found. Is this correct? Has Live365 been axed, TiVoStephen?

Yeah Music Choice is okay, but if it this is supposed to be some kind of replacement for Live365's radio streams, boy TiVo missed the mark.


----------



## TiVoStephen (Jun 27, 2000)

Bsteenson, sorry to hear about the reboots -- can you check to see if other TiVoCast content causes the same problem? Either way, please send me an e-mail ([email protected]) with your 15-character TiVo Service Number so we can investigate.

AaronCP, I answered in your other thread but just in case other people see, no, Live365 was not removed -- but the menu item order did change.


----------



## hummingbird_206 (Aug 23, 2007)

First one I tried is Nickelback "Rockstar" and at first I thought it had audio problems, but then I realized that the video had some of the words edited out. Like "[email protected]" "drug", and maybe a few others. Is this how the original video sounded or did someone at Music Choice perform editing to make it PC?


----------



## qunewsguy (Sep 19, 2006)

Loving the music videos. Any chance of TiVo adding the music choice audio channels into the lineup somewhere? I don't care about the visual information other than title/artist, but having the audio streams would be verrrrry nice.

I went from a cable DVR (and digital cable) to analog cable with my Tivo and one of the things I miss most is the Music Choice streams. Yeah I know we've got Live365 and some of those with digital cable would double-receive MC, but some of Live365's streams aren't really reliable and to be frank the music selection can be hit or miss on a lot of choices there. But MusicChoice was really great listening for me!


----------



## wmcbrine (Aug 2, 2003)

I downloaded Avril Lavinge's "Hot" and accidentally deleted it unwatched (I meant to check how long I could keep it, ironically). So I went back the next day to download it again, and everything seemed to go fine ("it's in your queue"), but it never was redownloaded. Tried a third time, same result.


----------



## djones18 (Jan 6, 2006)

I really like this feature. I showed it to my grandma (60+) who has a TIVO and she is "fired up" about it. However, we kept looking for Adult-Alternative tunes or something suited to her listening tastes...nothing! She's into 40s, 50s, 60s, 70s, jazz, classical, and easy listening. Everything seems geared to the below 30 yr old and country music crowd. We'll be waiting and hoping TIVO adds something for my grandma.


----------



## TiVoStephen (Jun 27, 2000)

wmcbrine, is it still in your Recently Deleted folder? It won't re-download if it's still there.


----------



## dylanemcgregor (Jan 31, 2003)

Just got my network up and running and I queued up a bunch of videos to download. I've noticed that the download is pretty slow (less than real time on my 3mbps DSL connection) and there has been a lengthy pause between each video download. I think I queued up 10 videos or so, and so far 2 have downloaded in about 30 minutes, and the third one has not started yet.

At first I thought it might be a full hard drive, but I deleted a couple of movies and cleared them out of the recently deleted folder as well. After I did that the second video started downloading, but now it has been 10 minutes or so and the third one has not started yet.

Anyone else experiencing these kind of lags?


----------



## rainwater (Sep 21, 2004)

djones18 said:


> I really like this feature. I showed it to my grandma (60+) who has a TIVO and she is "fired up" about it. However, we kept looking for Adult-Alternative tunes or something suited to her listening tastes...nothing! She's into 40s, 50s, 60s, 70s, jazz, classical, and easy listening. Everything seems geared to the below 30 yr old and country music crowd. We'll be waiting and hoping TIVO adds something for my grandma.


I think music videos in general are geared toward a younger audience. So I'm not sure how much content they can provide. I mean how many music videos were made in the 40s


----------



## tootal2 (Oct 14, 2005)

I like music choice on tivo but it needs more 80s videos. Like a flock of seagulls and Aldo Nova. I sure wish the tube was still around.


----------



## wmcbrine (Aug 2, 2003)

TiVoStephen said:


> wmcbrine, is it still in your Recently Deleted folder? It won't re-download if it's still there.


It might've been, the first time I tried; I can't say for sure. But it's definitely not there now, and I still can't get it to come back. (And I _can_ still get new videos.)


----------



## zand94 (May 20, 2002)

hummingbird_206 said:


> First one I tried is Nickelback "Rockstar" and at first I thought it had audio problems, but then I realized that the video had some of the words edited out. Like "[email protected]" "drug", and maybe a few others. Is this how the original video sounded or did someone at Music Choice perform editing to make it PC?


I saw this happen on a number of videos and was a bit disconcerting that they have been edited and there is not any notation of that in the descriptions. Even on Comcast's Music Choice list of music channels (music mind you not videos) they have that in the descriptions of the channels and songs (un-edited or edited version)

TivoStephen - any chance you could look into this and find out the reasons for the edited versions of videos and no notice?


----------



## Adam1115 (Dec 15, 2003)

I would've NEVER found this if it weren't for this thread.

:down::down::down:

I doubt this will get used much until they make it more obvious.


----------



## TiVoStephen (Jun 27, 2000)

wmcbrine, can you check your Recording History under the To Do list? If there's nothing suspicious there, please e-mail me your 15-digit TiVo Service Number ([email protected]).


----------



## restart88 (Mar 9, 2002)

HDTiVo said:


> This is excellent content for TiVoCast. It is broadly appealing to the user base which adds measureable value to the TiVo "service." The brief ads are fine, even interesting to many.
> 
> A fine example of the use of ad insertion and product sales in conjunction with an added feature of the TiVo.
> 
> ...


Wait! You mean artists aren't playing just because they like to play? 

Sometimes I wonder if I don't just work for the sake of getting out of the house after payroll deductions. Why would they want that extra tax burden? 

Anyhoo I realize it's a technical problem but just so that someone mentions this (I don't recall anyone mentioning it) it would be nice if the Music Choice videos had a play list and the option of random play within the list. Maybe just a toggle button or something.

It would be great for parties!


----------



## TiVoStephen (Jun 27, 2000)

FYI, the fabulous folks at Music Choice published 200+ Latino, 300+ R&B Soul and 200+ Today's Country videos today.


----------



## cherry ghost (Sep 13, 2005)

We want more '80s


----------



## nrc (Nov 17, 1999)

Starting with "some '80s" would be great. I downloaded what was supposed to be Queen's "We Are The Champions" ('70s, I know), and got some mess with Brian May and Paul Rogers.


----------



## qcpw256 (Jun 17, 2005)

Wish you could download movies and select a playlist so I could watch a bunch of them. Otherwise I have to play the next one by pressing the buttons on the remote.


----------



## Chew (Jan 22, 2003)

cherry ghost said:


> We want more '80s


Ditto: more '80's please.


----------



## TiVoStephen (Jun 27, 2000)

FYI, folks -- we had a minor release of the app this morning, and you can now search by either an artist's first or last name, and you can search by any word in the song's title (instead of just the first word, as it worked previously).


----------



## TiVotion (Dec 6, 2002)

That's a nice enhancement. I'm loving Music Choice so far. It is very addictive.

+1 for more 80's and expanded categories!


----------



## nrc (Nov 17, 1999)

TiVoStephen said:


> FYI, folks -- we had a minor release of the app this morning, and you can now search by either an artist's first or last name, and you can search by any word in the song's title (instead of just the first word, as it worked previously).


Is this just a behind the scenes change in the way it works, because I don't see any change in the interface.

I also see something odd, which may just be the result of the way they're adding tracks. When I browse a category I see a small batch of tracks in alphabetical order, followed by a longer batch of tracks in alphabetical order. But the second batch ends part way through the alphabet - just 'B' in the Alternative/Rock category? Is this just because they're adding tracks in alphabetical order?

If you added a random play from the Music Choice folder feature this could be a killer app once the content fills out.


----------



## stern_howie (Dec 3, 2007)

sorry to be such a noob but where is it found...under what menu?


----------



## pdhenry (Feb 28, 2005)

TiVo Central -> Find Programs -> Download TV & Movies -> Music Choice


----------



## TiVoStephen (Jun 27, 2000)

nrc, the genre lists currently stop at 50 titles for performance reasons; there is some ranking based on popularity, followed by alphabetical tracks. All the artists and titles are listed under the Search menu.


----------



## Distortedloop (Dec 6, 2007)

dylanemcgregor said:


> ...I've noticed that the download is pretty slow (less than real time on my 3mbps DSL connection) and there has been a lengthy pause between each video download. I think I queued up 10 videos or so, and so far 2 have downloaded in about 30 minutes, and the third one has not started yet...
> 
> Anyone else experiencing these kind of lags?


I wish the performance I had was that good!

I queued up about 5 videos last Thursday, only one has come through, despite requeing the other 4 multiple times.

It is not a networking issue..hardwired gigabit ethernet to a high speed (8mbps) cablemodem, with no issues transferring files both ways (TivoToGo and TivoComeBack).

I was just getting ready to post a message asking if this Music Choice was some kind of joke when coming across this thread...


----------



## wmcbrine (Aug 2, 2003)

TiVoStephen said:


> nrc, the genre lists currently stop at 50 titles for performance reasons;


It's unfortunate... there are too many videos to list them all, but not enough to do a search. What I mean is, if you enter a random artist or song title, most likely you'll come up with nothing. So it would be nice to be able to get a full list, and pick from it; but that's not happening either. When you've got as many songs as Rhapsody, it's OK if the only way to find something is by searching, because most searches will be successful. But Music Choice needs maybe 100 times as many videos as they have before I'd put them in that category. (And seeing as Rhapsody costs $10+ a month, and Music Choice is no extra charge (and takes a lot more bandwidth per song), that's probably not going to happen.)

I did try the search-by-first-letter, but it was clear that it also left out a lot. For example, a Styx song appeared in one of the genres, but not in an "S" search. (Two appeared when I typed the whole name.)


----------



## gonzotek (Sep 24, 2004)

Distortedloop said:


> I wish the performance I had was that good!
> 
> I queued up about 5 videos last Thursday, only one has come through, despite requeing the other 4 multiple times.
> 
> ...


It could still possibly be network related, just for example, TiVoCasts require working DNS resolution. Do you get any other downloads from the other TiVoCast sources? Another thing to look at, in order to rule out anything on your end of the equation, is free space.



wmcbrine said:


> I did try the search-by-first-letter, but it was clear that it also left out a lot. For example, a Styx song appeared in one of the genres, but not in an "S" search. (Two appeared when I typed the whole name.)


It should request more hits as you browse, as in this ajax demo: http://demos.openrico.org/livegrid.

I found this at AjaxPatterns:


> What will happen when there are too many results to show at once?
> 
> You can usually show only a fraction of results at once, typically up to 50 or 100 results. Probably much less than that if bandwidth and server processing are critical constraints. However, there could be thousands of results. In the worst case, before the user has specified anything, there are no constraints and every item is a candidate. So you'll need to decide what happens when there are too many results to show.
> 
> ...


----------



## nrc (Nov 17, 1999)

TiVoStephen said:


> nrc, the genre lists currently stop at 50 titles for performance reasons; there is some ranking based on popularity, followed by alphabetical tracks. All the artists and titles are listed under the Search menu.


Thanks for clarifying that. I'd have to say that's not exactly intuitive. If I'm browsing it's because I don't have anything in mind to search for. I understand that there are challenges there, just giving feedback.


----------



## Distortedloop (Dec 6, 2007)

gonzotek said:


> It could still possibly be network related, just for example, TiVoCasts require working DNS resolution. Do you get any other downloads from the other TiVoCast sources? Another thing to look at, in order to rule out anything on your end of the equation, is free space.


Hmmm...thanks for the reply!

My network settings are fixed ip on the proper subnet (192.168,1.70, 255.255.255.0) but DNS is set to the host router's 192.168.1.1 (which has worked for every other device on the network). I'll try plugging in the actual DNS server I use off the host router's settings straight into the Tivo and see what I get. These settings work as far as going through the Guided Setup to get channel lists...I know for sure because I got my cablecards installed last night and had to run through it again. (Cablecard installation went smooth and easy - 10 mins or so which was a big surprise given the horror stories I've read).

Well, two videos I marked for download yesterday morning were waiting for me when I got home, so that was encouraging, but I don't have nearly the list of categories to browse that I see others talking about here. There's only HipHop, Hit List, Kidz, Latino, Soul, Rock Alt, and Country showing. I see others posting like there are far more categories.

As far as other TivoCasts - yes and no. It's been a bit disappointing, and hit and miss. Geekbrief downloads fairly quickly, Cranky Geeks has not downloaded once in two weeks, David Pogues' stuff all downloaded on demand but nothing new shows up, some others (Rocketboom) all on schedule.

The TivoCast issues seem more producer related than network. I read another thread on here where the Geek Brief producer mentioned she was not getting the episodes on here up as quickly as on iTunes.

I'll post back if changing DNS server number addresses any of these issues for me.

Maybe I should cycle power on the box - or force a phone home to the mothership?


----------



## rainwater (Sep 21, 2004)

Distortedloop said:


> I'll try plugging in the actual DNS server I use off the host router's settings straight into the Tivo and see what I get. These settings work as far as going through the Guided Setup to get channel lists...


Working DNS isn't required for daily/guide updates.


----------



## Distortedloop (Dec 6, 2007)

Distortedloop said:


> My network settings are fixed ip on the proper subnet (192.168,1.70, 255.255.255.0) but DNS is set to the host router's 192.168.1.1 (which has worked for every other device on the network). I'll try plugging in the actual DNS server I use off the host router's settings straight into the Tivo and see what I get.
> 
> I'll post back if changing DNS server number addresses any of these issues for me.


Got two videos I started right away no problem, but changed the DNS servers just in case. Now I can't get into the Download TV & Movies, Guru Guides, or Swivel Search menus at all, even after resetting back to my original settings. They just flash the screen and dump me back to the Find Programs menu.

Network Test menu shows no problems. Maybe TiVo service is down on their end at the moment?


----------



## Distortedloop (Dec 6, 2007)

rainwater said:


> Working DNS isn't required for daily/guide updates.


Really? How would the local TiVo find the service on the internet to download the updated information without some sort of DNS resolution? Are you saying the ip address for the service is fixed ip and "hardcoded" into the TiVo.


----------



## bluesubaru (Nov 10, 2007)

+1 for random play or play all feature.


----------



## stern_howie (Dec 3, 2007)

pdhenry said:


> TiVo Central -> Find Programs -> Download TV & Movies -> Music Choice


its not showing up as an option under this menu for me....any ideas?


----------



## pdhenry (Feb 28, 2005)

Is your TiVo connected to broadband Internet?


----------



## kb7oeb (Jan 18, 2005)

This is one of my favorite features, I would like to have some sort of season pass or some way to know when new stuff is added.


----------



## Enrique (May 15, 2006)

How do I go about letting Tivo know which Artist I would like to see added?


----------



## nrc (Nov 17, 1999)

TiVoStephen said:


> Unfortunately, Universal Swivel Search is designed to support movies and TV shows that have been broadcast. Since these videos have never been broadcast as TV shows, they don't have the necessary information to allow them to be swiveled at this time. This is something we'd like to investigate for a possible future release, but no promises.


Just noticed that TiVoCasts are in Swivel Search. I'm pretty that sure most of that hasn't been broadcast.


----------



## stern_howie (Dec 3, 2007)

pdhenry said:


> Is your TiVo connected to broadband Internet?


Yes, connected and functional to broadband. I listen to podcasts etc. so I am all good there.


----------



## pdhenry (Feb 28, 2005)

The only other thing I can think of is that in the DVR preferences page in the TiVo.com online account management section, there is an option to "enable video downloads"


> Use this setting to enable a DVR to download TV shows, movies, and other video content from the TiVo service over your broadband Internet connection.


Hope this helps.


----------



## TiVoStephen (Jun 27, 2000)

stern_howie, what are the bottom three menu items you have under the Find Programs menu?


----------



## TiVoStephen (Jun 27, 2000)

Enrique said:


> How do I go about letting Tivo know which Artist I would like to see added?


Suggest some here, and I'll pass along those suggestions to the fine folks at Music Choice.


----------



## TiVoStephen (Jun 27, 2000)

nrc said:


> Thanks for clarifying that. I'd have to say that's not exactly intuitive. If I'm browsing it's because I don't have anything in mind to search for. I understand that there are challenges there, just giving feedback.


Thanks for the feedback; this is something we're working on improving for the future.


----------



## TiVoStephen (Jun 27, 2000)

Distortedloop said:


> Really? How would the local TiVo find the service on the internet to download the updated information without some sort of DNS resolution? Are you saying the ip address for the service is fixed ip and "hardcoded" into the TiVo.


Yes, most of the service uses numeric IP addresses. Amazon Unbox, Music Choice, and the rest of TiVoCast (except One True Media) use domain names (for load balancing purposes). If you have a working network connection to the TiVo Service but you can't receive TiVoCast, check your DNS settings first. Most likely the DNS address you put in is invalid.


----------



## TiVoStephen (Jun 27, 2000)

nrc said:


> Just noticed that TiVoCasts are in Swivel Search. I'm pretty that sure most of that hasn't been broadcast.


Well, some have, but your point is valid. We hope to add Music Choice videos to Swivel Search in a future release. (It took us quite a few months after the launch of TiVoCast to be able to set up a process whereby each TiVoCast partner had enough information to be able to use Swivel search; it's a bit complicated.)


----------



## TiVoStephen (Jun 27, 2000)

Thanks all who have suggested random play and queue play as a feature, as well as some way of being able to get a Season Pass to a particular artist, and/or notified when new videos appear. These are features we'd love to add in a future release, but there's no particular timeframe at present.


----------



## kas25 (Mar 10, 2003)

nrc said:


> Thanks for clarifying that. I'd have to say that's not exactly intuitive. If I'm browsing it's because I don't have anything in mind to search for. I understand that there are challenges there, just giving feedback.


Totally agree. Not enough out there to spend the type tying in artist after artist hoping one hits.


----------



## kas25 (Mar 10, 2003)

TiVoStephen said:


> Suggest some here, and I'll pass along those suggestions to the fine folks at Music Choice.


Didn't see any David Gray or Dave Matthews.


----------

