Right now I am adding Vocalists and Performers at the end of the Artists tag (example):
Artist: Angelo Badalamenti; Vocals - Julee Cruise
And I am adding Lyricists to the end of the Composer tag (example):
Composer: Angelo Badalamenti; Lyricist - David Lynch
Is there a better, more elegant way to format this information that will be also be properly displayed by the majority of software/music players out there? Or is this as good as it is going to get with the current metadata tagging standards that we have right now?
I am not even sure that COMPOSER will be displayed by the majority of players.
The best field to store
is the field INVOLVEDPEOPLE
It also depend on if you want it displayed when you play or just somewhat available. Comment and description tags are also available for the latter, and will not poison your artist/title tags. I would not waste time on finding some minimum multiplum however, find what works with the software you use (eventually your friends, colleagues and family you plan to share the music).
I'll be listening to these files via VLC Media Player on both my computer and my phone. I'll be happy as long as the information is "somewhat available" so long as it is "properly" tagged and can be viewed somehow (either via VLC, MediaInfo, or dBpoweramp's ID-Tag extension for Windows). It looks like the LYRICIST and INVOLVEDPEOPLE tags just might fit the bill as far as that goes!