14

I noticed that ID3 has a list of types of images that can be embedded in an audio file:

The TYPE must be one of the following: OTHER, ICON, OTHER_ICON, FRONT_COVER, BACK_COVER, LEAFLET, MEDIA, LEAD_ARTIST, ARTIST, CONDUCTOR, BAND, COMPOSER, LYRICIST, RECORDING_LOCATION, DURING_RECORDING, DURING_PERFORMANCE, VIDEO, BRIGHT_COLORED_FISH, ILLUSTRATION, BAND_LOGO, PUBLISHER_LOGO.

That’s from the help screen of eyeD3, but many web pages mention it without reference to ID3

Most of them have a use I can understand.  But why "BRIGHT_COLORED_FISH"?  In the cited web search, I found several mentions, including two Reddit posts asking the same question, but no answer.  Adding "why" to the search got the same results.

I couldn’t find an appropriate tag.

Improve this question
0

1 Answer 1

Reset to default
6

Upon following your search link, I found that the BRIGHT_COLORED_FISH image type is also shared with the Ogg Vorbis format. This gives an immediate answer!

The Ogg container format and Vorbis codec are maintained by the Xiph.org foundation, which takes its name from Xiphophorus hellerii, the Swordtail fish.

The real fish looks something like this:

Xiphophorus hellerii

(image source)

Its depiction in the logo of Xiph.org is this:

Xiph.org logo

So I think the answer is, quite literally, a brightly-colored fish.

Edit, in response to PiedPiper's comments:

Admittedly, my explanation is a long shot. To be fair, I did call it an "immediate answer", not a thoroughly-researched plausible one.

But, the ID3 tag is defined by a standard without a standards body. The id3.org website has been down for years. Even when it was up, it apparently didn't explain the meaning of "a bright coloured fish", or much else for that matter.

The surviving specification on github doesn't explain.

It's almost certainly an inside joke by the author. Maybe they were a fan of Captain Beefheart's Trout Mask Replica and wanted a picture type just for that.

Trout Mask Replica Album Artwork

Improve this answer
8
  • 2
    Where in the ogg/vorbis documentation is this found?
    – PiedPiper
    Commented Jan 5 at 20:59
  • 1
    All of those are just references to the existing ID3 format, that's not evidence that the Xiph people had any influence on that format.
    – PiedPiper
    Commented Jan 5 at 22:04
  • 3
    Fast and Bulbous!
    – Elements In Space
    Commented Jan 5 at 22:46
  • 1
    One of the web pages I looked at claimed (or implied) that this was in ID3 before Xiph or Ogg existed. So, it could be that Xiph picked that logo because it was in the spec. Or it was added to the spec at Xiph's request (or to accomodzte Xiph putting it in files in spite of the spec). I was unable to find an actual specification. One link that claimed to be wasn't.
    – WGroleau
    Commented Jan 6 at 0:24
  • 1
    Agreed, it's an inside joke, but who did it?Xiph has existed since about 1994, the ogg vorbis format since about 2000. The fish reference has been in the ID3 spec since at least 1998 (it's in id3v2-00 dated March 1998). The most likely culprit for putting it in is Chris Montgomery, the founder of Xiph who had been working on multimedia formats since about 1993.
    – PiedPiper
    Commented Jan 6 at 9:41

Your Answer

By clicking “Post Your Answer”, you agree to our terms of service and acknowledge you have read our privacy policy.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged or ask your own question.