[quote]When I go into a song that has no artwork, I still get the spinning wheel and it connects the first and "best" artwork to that file. I have no control over which file is associated and I am not able to choose. I also cannot remove this by any other means than to add another artwork.[/quote]

Are you sure that you really disabled the checkboxes in Options > Metadata lookup > Background metadata lookup ?

If I disable the auto-lookup then MM5 no longer auto-lookups the mages and there is just the 'Lookup' button in the Preview panel, see: https://www.dropbox.com/s/n0ljblkxbtvze9n/Screenshot%202022-01-03%2019.02.54.png?dl=0
Also in the Playing node the imges remains empty/unassigned as expected: https://www.dropbox.com/s/emssjvkv06hbch1/Screenshot%202022-01-03%2019.05.15.png?dl=0

Or maybe you are using another view/node?

Or isn't it that just the "unsaved images" cache isn't cleared as MiPi suggested above as workaround?
i.e.
[quote]In the meantime, I recommend to remove Portable\Temp\AlbumImages folder (for not portable version it will be in AppData/Local/Temp/MediaMonkey5).[/quote]

There needs to be a way to turn off all the "smart" or automatic things MM now does without user input. I am mostly talking about album art lookup.

[b]But in principle, I don't feel that anything should happen without user input and I don't want MM to go online at all, for any other reason than checking for updates.
[/b]

Though wikipedia lookup and all that is a nice feature if you want it, I don't And I want to be able to turn all that stuff completely off.

And yes, I am also slightly concerned by the security implications. Though not a programmer, I know a lot of "nice" features can have bugs in them and when it comes to online traffic you don't have control over, that is where you should be concerned.

There needs to be a way to turn off all the "smart" or automatic things MM now does without user input. I am mostly talking about album art lookup.

[b]But in principle, I don't feel that anything should happen without user input and I don't want MM to go online at all, for any other reason than checking for updates.
[/b]

Though wikipedia lookup and all that is a nice feature if you want it, I don't And I want to be able to turn all that stuff completely off.

And yes, I am also slightly concerned by the security implications. Though not a programmer, I know a lot of "nice" features can have bugs in them and when it comes to online traffic you don't have control over, that is where you should be concerned.

[quote=Barry4679 post_id=490728 time=1637851405 user_id=28275]
I don't think it is a bug. It is working as they designed it.
[/quote]

I think this is a bad design.

[url=https://www.mediamonkey.com/wiki/index.php/WebHelp:Getting_Track_Information_from_the_Internet/5.0#Auto_Metadata_Lookup]see here[/url]

[quote=Barry4679 post_id=490728 time=1637851405 user_id=28275]
As described there, you can turn off [i]most [/i]art acquisition via Tools>Options>Library>MetadataLookup.
[/quote]

No, this doesn't work. It still does it even if you turn EVERYTHING off.

[quote=Barry4679 post_id=490728 time=1637851405 user_id=28275]
It is a bit coy about the "certain Locations" where art is looked up regardless of your setting. I have mostly seen it in the Album and Artist detail panels, when MM has already looked up the Wikipedia entry for the entity. I agree your point that seems a bit overbearing that you can't turn it off entirely, although I would happily leave it on for my own use.
[/quote]

It is the lack of user control that is most annoying. It seems like a messy implementation in general.

[quote=Barry4679 post_id=490728 time=1637851405 user_id=28275]
The art is cached but not saved into the tracks or your file folders, so it doesn't impact file or database backups.
[/quote]

Whether it is cached or not..well it does make a difference. But it is not important in the regard that it "messes" with how your database is displayed. And you can't delete or remove it.


[quote=Barry4679 post_id=490728 time=1637851405 user_id=28275]
You say that the art that is chosen is mostly inappropriate for the album ... that is not my experience.
[/quote]

It just picks the first and the best art and you cannot choose. So sometimes it is actually a very low rez image or one that is not centered or...you get my point. It picks for you. You don't have a choice.

This seems not to have been resolved in 5.0.2.2531.

When I go into a song that has no artwork, I still get the spinning wheel and it connects the first and "best" artwork to that file. I have no control over which file is associated and I am not able to choose. I also cannot remove this by any other means than to add another artwork.

Also when I go into a file/song with no album cover. MM still looks up images related to that artist for the banner on top. This has on several occasions been added to a file with no artwork. It is a banner, it's not a square. Not good.

I have removed all the sources in automatic lookup and off course removed all boxes for lookup. It still does it. Perhaps not a "serious" bug, but it is EXTREMELY annoying.

I am on the other hand extremely worried with this implementation where I as a user is not in control of what my software does. I just don't want MM to do anything on it's own without user input.

You need to implement a way to completely "cut off" MM going online to look for stuff without the user specifically pushing a button to get it done.

I can't use MM as it is now or recommend MM to anyone.

All I really want is a dumb player who doesn't screw up my DB. I can do that just fine on my own... ;)

It was removed, because auto-lookup always restores the artwork again, so removing it had no impact.
But there are things to do, setting no image to album is tracked as: https://www.ventismedia.com/mantis/view.php?id=18399.
Currently there is no way to remove already cached images from MM5, it will be implemented probably later.

In the meantime, I recommend to remove Portable\Temp\AlbumImages folder (for not portable version it will be in AppData/Local/Temp/MediaMonkey5).

Removing was chosen to be disabled: https://www.ventismedia.com/mantis/view.php?id=17252

[quote=Lowlander post_id=490754 time=1637941770 user_id=262]
In that case make sure you don't display Artwork in MediaMonkey (like setting the Filelisting to Details). Anytime MediaMonkey is set to display Artwork it will do the background lookup.
[/quote]

Perhaps you actually didn't understand what I was trying stumblingly to explain...

- For those files that have YET to have album art, when I scroll through "Entire Library - Album/Album Artist/Artists etc.", either Grid or List (by album art)

- For the files that doesn't have any album art, MM5 automatically just finds an image, most likely via the "Lookup" feature without prompting me.

- It seems to pick the first image it finds, then attaches that to the file, without saving it, adding a "save" icon in the image.

- Sometimes that image is wrong. Sometimes that image is poor quality.

- In either case, it is impossible to remove and it is impossible to stop this action.

I am cleaning up my library since all the way back to 2000. It's like mowing the lawn, it's like meditating.

Some files have bad filenames, some have no ID3 tags, some have wrong tags, some have conflicting information. This is also part of why I am using MM, the CONTROL it gives me over my stuff.

When MM5 does this automatic behavior, it all becomes a mess. And I am for sure not the one in control.

Either this is a bug or just poor implementation. If it is a feature, it certainly does not feel like how I percieve the "ideology" behind MM.

Well, then that should definitely be worthy of a settings toggle.

In that case make sure you don't display Artwork in MediaMonkey (like setting the Filelisting to Details). Anytime MediaMonkey is set to display Artwork it will do the background lookup.

So, I've tried turning all that off. It's why I thought I was incompetent hehe. It STILL does it.

These are my related settings.

[url=https://postimg.cc/FksNmKsj][img]https://i.postimg.cc/zvTBCLsP/Screenshot-2021-11-26-110401.jpg[/img][/url]

So one album, actually also single files, that has no art, MM5 does this lookup in the background and just displays the artwork. Which I DEFINITELY do not want as standard behavior. My second gripe is that I then can't remove it. I can only save it to the file.

There must be a way to turn this off completely and there must be a way to remove the associated artwork.

I want and NEED my empty albumart to be empty. It's also how I see which albums I need to edit.

I don't think it is a bug. It is working as they designed it.

[url=https://www.mediamonkey.com/wiki/index.php/WebHelp:Getting_Track_Information_from_the_Internet/5.0#Auto_Metadata_Lookup]see here[/url]

As described there, you can turn off [i]most [/i]art acquisition via Tools>Options>Library>MetadataLookup.

It is a bit coy about the "certain Locations" where art is looked up regardless of your setting. I have mostly seen it in the Album and Artist detail panels, when MM has already looked up the Wikipedia entry for the entity. I agree your point that seems a bit overbearing that you can't turn it off entirely, although I would happily leave it on for my own use.

The art is cached but not saved into the tracks or your file folders, so it doesn't impact file or database backups.

You say that the art that is chosen is mostly inappropriate for the album ... that is not my experience.

Unsure if this is a feature, a bug or just my incompetence in figuring out how to turn it off.

MM5 (current release) looks up cover images without prompting me!

If there is an album which I don't have album art for, MM5 looks up this and randomly selects a cover it thinks is correct (which usually isn't correct). This is then permanently associated with the album, but it's not saved to the mp3/tag. The disc logo is displayed in the corner to save to tag, but I can't remove this (delete). It is REALLY annoying.

I actually extremely dislike MM having any traffic without my explicit consent. I don't want any background stuff goings on