# Approaches to folder structure for multi-disc albums **URL:** \ **Category:** Support\ **Created:** [March 29, 2013, 8:19pm UTC](https://community.mp3tag.de/t/approaches-to-folder-structure-for-multi-disc-albums/14595 "2013-03-29T20:19:43Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![fers](https://community.mp3tag.de/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/f/b487fb/32.png) [@fers](https://community.mp3tag.de/u/fers)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2013, 8:19pm UTC](https://community.mp3tag.de/t/approaches-to-folder-structure-for-multi-disc-albums/14595/1 "2013-03-29T20:19:43Z")
Hello, wondering if i could get peoples thoughts on the following: What are peoples approaches to organising folders for multi-disc albums. Is it better to seperate the discs into seperate folders i.e: Artist/Album/disc1(tracks), disc2(tracks) or keep them together i.e: Artist/Album/all tracks. Thanks ---
**Author:** ![Carl](https://community.mp3tag.de/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/c/ee7513/32.png) [@Carl](https://community.mp3tag.de/u/Carl)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2013, 1:32am UTC](https://community.mp3tag.de/t/approaches-to-folder-structure-for-multi-disc-albums/14595/2 "2013-03-30T01:32:22Z")
Hi I keep all the tracks in the same folder and use the "Discnumber" tag to identify which disc the racks belong to. When I rip the discs initially they end up in separate sub folders like this: F:\Music -Artist --Album name Disc#1 --Album name Disc#2 --etc I renumber the tracks in each folder and rename them so that don't have any duplicate track numbers in the album folder: %track% - %title% - %artist% Then I move them all into the first Album folder, delete the empty folders and remove any unnecessary text from the remaining folder e.g. "Album name ~~**Disc 1**~~" There are probably easier ways of doing this and I expect I'll work them out as time goes on but it works for me at the moment. Carl ---
**Author:** ![poster](https://community.mp3tag.de/user_avatar/community.mp3tag.de/poster/32/4881_2.png) [@poster](https://community.mp3tag.de/u/poster)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2013, 8:53am UTC](https://community.mp3tag.de/t/approaches-to-folder-structure-for-multi-disc-albums/14595/3 "2013-03-30T08:53:08Z")
I make my decision depending on how many tracks are involved. In any way I use 3-dgit tracknumbers where the first digit stands for the disk number. Generally I keep all the disks in one folder. If the consequence is that there are too many tracks in the folder that makes it difficult to overlook handle on a screen, I decide to make subfolders for the disks. If the disks have seperate album names, I use subfolders too. ---
**Author:** ![garym](https://community.mp3tag.de/user_avatar/community.mp3tag.de/garym/32/4822_2.png) [@garym](https://community.mp3tag.de/u/garym)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2013, 11:39am UTC](https://community.mp3tag.de/t/approaches-to-folder-structure-for-multi-disc-albums/14595/4 "2013-03-30T11:39:56Z")
all methods equally useful...just a matter of taste. I use: artist\album\disc1\tracks.... .....\disc2\tracks One benefit I see from this. If I want to check a disk back to ACCURATERIP database (using foobar2000 \> utilies for example), one must do this disc by disc (not the entire multidisc set). So in a browsing window, I can easily right click on just the "disc1", load up in foobar2000, and then check for match back to accuraterip database. Of course if all are in the same folder, I can open the entire album, just select in foobar2000 the disk1 files, and do the same thing. Again, just a matter or preference. ---
**Author:** ![poster](https://community.mp3tag.de/user_avatar/community.mp3tag.de/poster/32/4881_2.png) [@poster](https://community.mp3tag.de/u/poster)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2013, 1:03pm UTC](https://community.mp3tag.de/t/approaches-to-folder-structure-for-multi-disc-albums/14595/5 "2013-03-30T13:03:12Z")
> [@garym](#): > > One benefit I see from this. If I want to check a disk back to ACCURATERIP database (using foobar2000 \> utilies for example), one must do this disc by disc (not the entire multidisc set). So in a browsing window, I can easily right click on just the "disc1", load up in foobar2000, and then check for match back to accuraterip database. Of course if all are in the same folder, I can open the entire album, just select in foobar2000 the disk1 files, and do the same thing. Again, just a matter or preference. Well that is just a step to the final solution. Ripping, tagging and so on come before and during that work I have a lot of different working folders. When I am talking about my folder structure I mean the final folder structure when all work is done. ---
**Author:** ![garym](https://community.mp3tag.de/user_avatar/community.mp3tag.de/garym/32/4822_2.png) [@garym](https://community.mp3tag.de/u/garym)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2013, 1:36pm UTC](https://community.mp3tag.de/t/approaches-to-folder-structure-for-multi-disc-albums/14595/6 "2013-03-30T13:36:17Z")
> [@poster](#): > > Well that is just a step to the final solution. > Ripping, tagging and so on come before and during that work I have a lot of different working folders. > > When I am talking about my folder structure I mean the final folder structure when all work is done. I'm talking about my final folder structure as well. Keep in mind that some of the CDs I rip don't end up showing up in the database (except for my rip) for years afterwards (i.e., artists that are not widely known). So I might be checking AccurateRip results on previously ripped CDs several years later..... but like I said....there is no right answer here, only personal preferences. ---
**Author:** ![MrSinatra](https://community.mp3tag.de/user_avatar/community.mp3tag.de/mrsinatra/32/5574_2.png) [@MrSinatra](https://community.mp3tag.de/u/MrSinatra)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2013, 3:04pm UTC](https://community.mp3tag.de/t/approaches-to-folder-structure-for-multi-disc-albums/14595/7 "2013-03-30T15:04:51Z")
I agree with Gary, one CD (or physical album source) = one folder. I haven't found anything yet that doesn't work well with. I have found problems using other ways. but it is a matter of personal preference. in my case, I always want multiple artworks for multiple CDs, so for example, a box set would show 4 times the same art in browsing my collection if there were 4 CDs. ---
**Author:** ![poster](https://community.mp3tag.de/user_avatar/community.mp3tag.de/poster/32/4881_2.png) [@poster](https://community.mp3tag.de/u/poster)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2013, 3:34pm UTC](https://community.mp3tag.de/t/approaches-to-folder-structure-for-multi-disc-albums/14595/8 "2013-03-30T15:34:34Z")
> [@MrSinatra](#): > > but it is a matter of personal preference. in my case, I always want multiple artworks for multiple CDs, so for example, a box set would show 4 times the same art in browsing my collection if there were 4 CDs. I alsways embed the front-cover in the tags. ---
**Author:** ![garym](https://community.mp3tag.de/user_avatar/community.mp3tag.de/garym/32/4822_2.png) [@garym](https://community.mp3tag.de/u/garym)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2013, 3:37pm UTC](https://community.mp3tag.de/t/approaches-to-folder-structure-for-multi-disc-albums/14595/9 "2013-03-30T15:37:17Z")
> [@poster](#): > > I alsways embed the front-cover in the tags. I use a single "cover.jpg" file (try for 1000x1000 size) in the album subdirectory for my FLAC files, but I do have one within each "disc #" subfolder. For my lossy library (mp3) I embed the front cover (reduced to 300x300). This makes the mp3 files show cover art no matter how I might end up using them in some other folder, etc. ---
**Author:** ![fers](https://community.mp3tag.de/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/f/b487fb/32.png) [@fers](https://community.mp3tag.de/u/fers)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2013, 5:51pm UTC](https://community.mp3tag.de/t/approaches-to-folder-structure-for-multi-disc-albums/14595/10 "2013-03-30T17:51:32Z")
Thanks for the reply guys i like this: > [@](#): > > one CD (or physical album source) = one folder nice logical sense. As does this: > [@](#): > > Generally I keep all the disks in one folder. > If the consequence is that there are too many tracks in the folder that makes it difficult to overlook handle on a screen, I decide to make subfolders for the disks. > If the disks have seperate album names, I use subfolders too. Think i may do a mix so if its just two discs keep them in the same folder but if its 3+ (or if the discs have seperate names) make seperate folders. ---
**Author:** ![fers](https://community.mp3tag.de/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/f/b487fb/32.png) [@fers](https://community.mp3tag.de/u/fers)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2013, 5:54pm UTC](https://community.mp3tag.de/t/approaches-to-folder-structure-for-multi-disc-albums/14595/11 "2013-03-30T17:54:01Z")
So the next question what are peoples approaches to file naming. I know in players naming of tracks is usually controlled by tags, but when browsing in windows its nice to have them in some kind of format. What do you use? ---
**Author:** ![garym](https://community.mp3tag.de/user_avatar/community.mp3tag.de/garym/32/4822_2.png) [@garym](https://community.mp3tag.de/u/garym)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2013, 6:41pm UTC](https://community.mp3tag.de/t/approaches-to-folder-structure-for-multi-disc-albums/14595/12 "2013-03-30T18:41:13Z")
non-compilations: 01 - tracktitle 02 - tracktitle compilations: 01 - tracktitle - trackartist 02 - tracktitle - trackartist (my compilation CDs are in folder structure like: x:\music\compilations\album name\tracks.... ---
**Author:** ![fers](https://community.mp3tag.de/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/f/b487fb/32.png) [@fers](https://community.mp3tag.de/u/fers)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2013, 8:27pm UTC](https://community.mp3tag.de/t/approaches-to-folder-structure-for-multi-disc-albums/14595/13 "2013-03-30T20:27:32Z")
Do you find that is substantial information for filename? I like it because its small and clean not artist - album - track - title. Just a worry that i may run in to issues with it further down the line. What if an album has multiple discs? wont it organise like 01 - name 01 - name 02 - name 02 - name? How do you tell windows to organise by cd in correct track number without having a file name like artist - album - disc - track - title ---
**Author:** ![garym](https://community.mp3tag.de/user_avatar/community.mp3tag.de/garym/32/4822_2.png) [@garym](https://community.mp3tag.de/u/garym)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2013, 9:22pm UTC](https://community.mp3tag.de/t/approaches-to-folder-structure-for-multi-disc-albums/14595/14 "2013-03-30T21:22:02Z")
No, this is plenty because all that other data I already have as part of the tag (metadata). Perhaps you didn't realize that with mp3tag, one can always select your files, choose CONVERT \> tag to filename, enter the info you want it to use (the "mask") and recreate filenames, directories, subdirectories, etc. For example, a mask like this: .\%artist%\%album%$num(%track%,2) - %title% For example, I could dump all 225,000 tracks I have into one single directory. And even change the name of every file to be just, randommusic.flac. But with mp3tag, I could use the convert function to automatically move all the files back into the correct directory, subdirectory, multialbum disk subdirectory, with the correct track number, track name file name. ---
**Author:** ![fers](https://community.mp3tag.de/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/f/b487fb/32.png) [@fers](https://community.mp3tag.de/u/fers)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2013, 9:49pm UTC](https://community.mp3tag.de/t/approaches-to-folder-structure-for-multi-disc-albums/14595/15 "2013-03-30T21:49:00Z")
Yeah im currently trying to work out the correct way of getting it to do exactly what i want though ---
**Author:** ![garym](https://community.mp3tag.de/user_avatar/community.mp3tag.de/garym/32/4822_2.png) [@garym](https://community.mp3tag.de/u/garym)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2013, 9:50pm UTC](https://community.mp3tag.de/t/approaches-to-folder-structure-for-multi-disc-albums/14595/16 "2013-03-30T21:50:25Z")
It's pretty powerful. One can use REG EXPRESSIONS and make it do almost anything you want. ---
**Author:** ![MrSinatra](https://community.mp3tag.de/user_avatar/community.mp3tag.de/mrsinatra/32/5574_2.png) [@MrSinatra](https://community.mp3tag.de/u/MrSinatra)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2013, 2:47am UTC](https://community.mp3tag.de/t/approaches-to-folder-structure-for-multi-disc-albums/14595/17 "2013-03-31T02:47:55Z")
I use EAC to rip, it detects comps from regular albums based on artist mismatch. normal: %albuminterpret%\%albumtitle%\%artist% - %tracknr2% - %title% VA: %albuminterpret%\%albumtitle%\%albumtitle% - %tracknr2% - %artist% - %title% ---
**Author:** ![fers](https://community.mp3tag.de/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/f/b487fb/32.png) [@fers](https://community.mp3tag.de/u/fers)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2013, 9:41am UTC](https://community.mp3tag.de/t/approaches-to-folder-structure-for-multi-disc-albums/14595/18 "2013-03-31T09:41:55Z")
Was wondering how i could make it create a seperate folder for albums with more than two discs? Ive got this so far: C:\Music\%artist%\%album%\%artist% - %album% - $num(%track%,2) - %title% (but like you say it may be better just to use track - title for filename) But i want to say if there are more than 2 discs create seperate folders here: C:\Music\%artist%\%album%\DISC1 DISC2 DISC3 (etc)\%artist% - %album% - $num(%track%,2) - %title% What does this do? %albuminterpret% ---
**Author:** ![garym](https://community.mp3tag.de/user_avatar/community.mp3tag.de/garym/32/4822_2.png) [@garym](https://community.mp3tag.de/u/garym)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2013, 10:24am UTC](https://community.mp3tag.de/t/approaches-to-folder-structure-for-multi-disc-albums/14595/19 "2013-03-31T10:24:52Z")
> [@MrSinatra](#): > > I use EAC to rip, it detects comps from regular albums based on artist mismatch. > > normal: > > %albuminterpret%\%albumtitle%\%artist% - %tracknr2% - %title% > > VA: > > %albuminterpret%\%albumtitle%\%albumtitle% - %tracknr2% - %artist% - %title% Yep, my dynamic naming string in dbpoweramp (how I rip) does the same thing automatically as well. ---
**Author:** ![garym](https://community.mp3tag.de/user_avatar/community.mp3tag.de/garym/32/4822_2.png) [@garym](https://community.mp3tag.de/u/garym)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2013, 10:31am UTC](https://community.mp3tag.de/t/approaches-to-folder-structure-for-multi-disc-albums/14595/20 "2013-03-31T10:31:28Z")
> [@fers](#): > > Was wondering how i could make it create a seperate folder for albums with more than two discs? > Ive got this so far: > C:\Music\%artist%\%album%\%artist% - %album% - $num(%track%,2) - %title% > (but like you say it may be better just to use track - title for filename) > > But i want to say if there are more than 2 discs create seperate folders here: > C:\Music\%artist%\%album%\DISC1 DISC2 DISC3 (etc)\%artist% - %album% - $num(%track%,2) - %title% > > What does this do? %albuminterpret% I think %albuminterpret% is something based on EAC not on mp3tag. but not sure. Anyhow, for how to do a mask based automatically on whether there are multidisks, I'm not sure. This takes a bit of reg expression programing in the mask or similar. Some members around here like Ohrenkino or DetlevD will know how to do this. Maybe you should start a new thread on this particular issue (subject: automatic detect multidisk in "tag to filename" conversion) [Next page](https://community.mp3tag.de/t/approaches-to-folder-structure-for-multi-disc-albums/14595.md?page=2)