# Artist, artists, artistsort, albumartistsort
**URL:** https://community.mp3tag.de/t/artist-artists-artistsort-albumartistsort/51232
**Category:** Support
**Created:** [December 16, 2020, 12:05pm UTC](https://community.mp3tag.de/t/artist-artists-artistsort-albumartistsort/51232 "2020-12-16T12:05:13Z")
**Posts on this page:** 8
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@Alfie\_Solomon84](https://community.mp3tag.de/u/Alfie_Solomon84)
#### Post date: [December 16, 2020, 12:05pm UTC](https://community.mp3tag.de/t/artist-artists-artistsort-albumartistsort/51232/1 "2020-12-16T12:05:13Z")
1. What is the difference between ARTIST and ARTISTS in Extended Tag?
2. When filling ARTISTSORT, it should be only a single field, correct?
Example:
Artist: Calvin Harris; Rihanna
Artists: Calvin Harris
Artists: Rihanna
**[Artist Sort: Calvin Harris, Rihanna]**
instead or
**[Artist Sort: Calvin Harris]**
**[Artist Sort: Rihanna]** (multi field)
1. Which one leads to proper artist separation, ARTIST or ARTISTS?
Also, where can I read all the available fields in MP3TAG?
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### Author:  [@ohrenkino](https://community.mp3tag.de/u/ohrenkino)
#### Post date: [December 16, 2020, 12:13pm UTC](https://community.mp3tag.de/t/artist-artists-artistsort-albumartistsort/51232/2 "2020-12-16T12:13:38Z")
> [@Alfie\_Solomon84](#):
>
> Also, where can I read all the available fields in MP3TAG?
To see the fields that are already in a file, see the extended tags dialogue (Alt-T).
To get a list of all supported fields see the help:
> **[Tag Field Mappings – Mp3tag Documentation](https://docs.mp3tag.de/mapping/)**
>
> Overview of all available tag fields, their names in Mp3tag, and how they are mapped to the internal structures of the different tag formats. Mp3tag is the universal Tag Editor.
In respect to the fields that you mentioned:
ARTISTS is a user-defined field and will only be shown by players that support such fields.
Even though it is possible to create multi-value fields with MP3tag (several fields with the same name), such fields find hardly any support in players.
So the answer to 3: I don't know this depends on the player and its features.
The purpose of the sort fields is mainly to group names together that may vary like "Beatles" and "The Beatles". And as the purpose is grouping, it would be counterproductive to have several sort criteria.
On the problem of separation of artists, please see also this thread:
> [@Should I use ";" or "\\\\" or "-" as a separator?](https://community.mp3tag.de/t/should-i-use-or-or-as-a-separator/45708/16):
>
> Ohrenkino, you raise a good point with the "/". I do use the " / " and, as I recall, I believe the reason why I added the spaces is for bands like AC/DC. I think I went with the "/" because some programs used it as a separator, and WMP may have been the one that convinced me, even if I do not use it as of yet. In the CD Ripper from dBpoweramp you indicate multiples with ; which means that the program writes multiple fields but the ; itself is not written into the metadata, it's just an indica…
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### Author:  [@LyricsLover](https://community.mp3tag.de/u/LyricsLover)
#### Post date: [December 16, 2020, 12:29pm UTC](https://community.mp3tag.de/t/artist-artists-artistsort-albumartistsort/51232/3 "2020-12-16T12:29:14Z")
> [@Alfie\_Solomon84](#):
>
> What is the difference between ARTIST and ARTISTS in Extended Tag?
Some real examples:
I would not say that "Erick the Architect" should be sorted as "Architect, Erick the".
But this is the way my source (MusicBrainz) collect it...
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### Author:  [@Alfie\_Solomon84](https://community.mp3tag.de/u/Alfie_Solomon84)
#### Post date: [December 16, 2020, 1:57pm UTC](https://community.mp3tag.de/t/artist-artists-artistsort-albumartistsort/51232/4 "2020-12-16T13:57:22Z")
Noted. Thank you for your input. I was looking for the ultimate way to metadata my library and have it work if i plug it into any player in the future. That said, presently there is no player that support multiple things yet
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### Author:  [@ohrenkino](https://community.mp3tag.de/u/ohrenkino)
#### Post date: [December 16, 2020, 4:38pm UTC](https://community.mp3tag.de/t/artist-artists-artistsort-albumartistsort/51232/5 "2020-12-16T16:38:52Z")
> [@Alfie\_Solomon84](#):
>
> there is no player that support multiple things
Foobar2000 supports multi-value fields
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### Author:  [@Alfie\_Solomon84](https://community.mp3tag.de/u/Alfie_Solomon84)
#### Post date: [December 18, 2020, 10:07am UTC](https://community.mp3tag.de/t/artist-artists-artistsort-albumartistsort/51232/6 "2020-12-18T10:07:35Z")
Yes, you are right. I checked. Personally, what player do you use? I know loads of audio dudes prefer Foobar2000 but I just can't seem to get past the UI
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### Author:  [@ohrenkino](https://community.mp3tag.de/u/ohrenkino)
#### Post date: [December 18, 2020, 10:25am UTC](https://community.mp3tag.de/t/artist-artists-artistsort-albumartistsort/51232/7 "2020-12-18T10:25:43Z")
> [@Alfie\_Solomon84](#):
>
> Personally, what player do you use?
For serious audio-ing: Foobar. There are so many extensions, more or less one for each purpose. And you can adapt the GUI so that it shows just that what you need in the way you like. It takes a little to get used to but from then on you never want to have another player (personal opinion).
Foobar is also available for Android.
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### Author:  [@system](https://community.mp3tag.de/u/system)
#### Post date: [February 9, 2026, 12:28pm UTC](https://community.mp3tag.de/t/artist-artists-artistsort-albumartistsort/51232/8 "2026-02-09T12:28:58Z")