Bug 194209

Version:           2.0.90 (using KDE 4.2.3)
OS:                Linux
Installed from:    Ubuntu Packages

Amarok will not play Shorten (shn) files. Attempts to add shn files to the playlist fail; attempts to browse files looking for shn files produce empty listings.

Phonon/Xine 0.2.60 back end. xine supports shn; they play without a problem in gxine.

shn is an older lossless format used by folks who trade live band recordings (such as Grateful Dead, Phish, and Dave Matthews Band fans). While flac is superior in many ways, and creation of new shn files is deprecated within the trading community, custom prevents widespread conversion of shn to flac, and thus shn support for playing is important for these users.

Googling this issue suggests that: a) it is not new, dating back to at least 2007, and b) that the problem is that Amarok requires that sound files support tags. shn does not support tags (which is one reason why its use is deprecated within the communities that use it).

A sample shn file has been attached to an unrelated bug in the Ubuntu bug tracking system for xine-lib, and you can pick up that shn to test with. https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/xine-lib/+bug/164442/comments/2

If you want additional tracks to play with, they can be provided. I have tens of thousands. :-)