OK, i use exclusively m4a (AAC) audio files. And i've been using Tag&Rename to tag them for years... now i was thinking of switching to mp3tag, but then i go into mp3tag (love it because i can use filter to search through my files and locate missing info , or information that isn't specifically formatted to my satisfaction...
for instance, all my tags have been completed with album artists and i prefer the contributing artists field in the format of "Artist1 / Artist2" so forth and so on..
So I've done so in Tag&Rename.
I run a search in MP3Tag and it tells me that my entire 50 Cent folder is not like i want (at least one)
I edit the last tag on the list in the folder, then it hits me i've already done this folder.... so i fire up tag and rename and sure enough... my info is already properly formatted.
Now its obvious to me that mp3tag and tag and rename are reading from two separate tags in the file... because even the song titles in mp3 tag still have "featuring etc" which i edit out and put into the Artist Field. So i figured reading extended tags will show me where Tag And rename is storing its tags (which by the way i must point out have worked flawless with every media app that i play my files in).
Apparently no such luck. I obviously have two sets of tags in my files that have conflicting info now. ok so i figured i'd just fix the files with mp3tag and maybe it will set it right.... still no luck now XBMC reads that the files have no album artist... same for Winamp.... oddly enough when i edit my files with puddletag (on linux) i have no trouble it reads all the properly formatted tags i made in Tag&rename and editing files with it causes no problems with xbmc or itunes (back in windows).
Now all this has me concerned, is mp3tag writing/reading improper m4a tags in my aac audio. or is the fault with Tag&Rename? if so how do i clear out one or the other as they seem determined to exist side by side.
The files seem to be encoded with the nero aac encoder.
So it's possible they have two tag sets. The normal "itunes" tags and neros own tag format.
Most programs don't know the nero format so when you edited your tags with t&r it only changed the itunes tags.
But Mp3tag can read nero tags and displays them instead of the itunes tags.
That explains the different tag displays.
The best thing to do here is to get rid of the nero tags.
2 scenarios:
-Freshly converted files (itunes and nero tags are the same)
-Older files with tags changed by other programs (tags are different)
Case 1 is easy. Just tag the files first with Mp3tag. It should remove the nero tags automatically.
Case 2 is more difficult. When you change the tags in Mp3tag it should also remove the nero tags, but you will also loose the changes you made to the itunes tags with other programs because it overwrites the itunes tags with the content of the nero tags.
To solve case 2 you need to backup the tags first with a program that reads the itunes tags, then use Mp3tag to remove the nero tags. Finally let the other program write the old tags back.
Or if maybe the other program can export to a text format that could be directly imported by Mp3tag.
So nero has its own tag specification and the nero tags are set as default in mp3tag? So here's the problem, finding a program that will output all the tags themselves to text files (possibly with the same name as the file).... we're talking 20,000+ music files, and damn near a week's worth of remanaging.
however i found this reply by you in another post and it seems like a better way to do it (since my folder structure is indicative of 90 percent of my tagging..
gonna try this on a few and then if that works out i'll just have to find a way to export only artist field (with the artist1 / artist2 format i use) all this would be so much easier if rappers would learn how to make an album on their own with out inviting all thier buddies to join in!!!
Better not mix that topic in here, it doesn't offer a better solution.
Note: Mp3tag should remove the nero tags already if you just Save the tag
So the question is do you need the complete tags preserved or only certain fields?
Maybe you could store that extra info in the filenames by renaming the files with t&r
But t&r also has an export feature.
Or try the neroAacTag.exe program with the list-meta command and look what tags it exports. Mp3tag could import that output with its actions.
I'm not sure, but if want to discuss that you should open a new thread or maybe you can find one with the same topic.
Hm not the perfect solution with the filenames.
I also looked at the export wizard of t&r and that should also work (even for multiple files)
Tell me if you wanna try that and I'll help you.
yeah i'd like to try the tag and rename export option
i'm just not sure how to go about making the actions actions to retag all my files as well as add in cover images... i suck at scripting
I could send you a sample of the export info (whichever it is you want and you can give me a good idea of how to go about it
i tried expotring all info to filenames, that worked pretty well but its still gonna be time consuming if i don't learn how to script, for example, there are two different filename->tag format's i'd have to use one for single disc albums, and one for multi-disc albums.
now i'm thinking about the export with tag and rename, and thinking it might be a better idea.
"File path";"File name";"Artist";"Album";"Title";"Year";"Genre";"Comment";"Track #";"Disc number";"Album Artist";"Label";"Music Video Kind"
"Y:\MUSIC\PUBLIC\Albums\2Pac\[1996-02-13] All Eyez On Me\";"2Pac - 01-01 - Ambitionz Az A Ridah.m4a";"2Pac";"All Eyez On Me";"Ambitionz Az A Ridah";"1996-02-13";"Rap";"";"01";"";"2Pac";"Koch";"Normal"
"Y:\MUSIC\PUBLIC\Albums\2Pac\[1996-02-13] All Eyez On Me\";"2Pac - 01-02 - All Bout U.m4a";"2Pac / Nate Dogg / Snoop Dogg / Dru Down / Fatal / Yani Hadati";"All Eyez On Me";"All Bout U";"1996-02-13";"Rap";"";"02";"";"2Pac";"Koch";"Normal"
this is the output from tag&rename csv export (only showing two files for cleanliness sake)
these are all the important tags i need...
mapping is self explanitory other than Music/Video Kind which should be mapped to "iTunes Media Type" (this is also from a multi-disc album) each file is delimited by ";" (which is not something that typically appears in any of my tags, in fact i'm almost certain not one of my tags contain a ";".)
You can get help with scripting/actions but you have to describe exactly what you want to do.
Also take a look at the FAQ
Your export output looks good. File path + File name is important because Mp3tag can use it to match each line of the csv file with the right audio file.
The " and ; could be a problem if you have them in your tags.
The "Tab delimited text" config is probably safer.
And the tag fields must have no line breaks.
To import the data with Mp3tag you first have to delete the header line.
Then open "Convert > Textfile - tag"
Add the text file.
Now the important part the format string.
For semi colon csv and tab delimited text:
No guarantee it's 100% correct, check the Preview first.
Try it first with a copy of your files
If you use the tab delimited text you have to past the whole string from the forum here or from a text editor because you cannot manually enter a tab in the edit field in Mp3tag.
Your export output looks good. File path + File name is important because Mp3tag can use it to match each line of the csv file with the right audio file.
The " and ; could be a problem if you have them in your tags.
The "Tab delimited text" config is probably safer.
And the tag fields must have no line breaks.
To import the data with Mp3tag you first have to delete the header line.
Then open "Convert > Textfile - tag"
Add the text file.
Now the important part the format string.
For semi colon csv and tab delimited text:
No guarantee it's 100% correct, check the Preview first.
Try it first with a copy of your files
If you use the tab delimited text you have to past the whole string from the forum here or from a text editor because you cannot manually enter a tab in the edit field in Mp3tag.
can't you enter a tab by $char(whatever the number for tab)? however doesn't matter tested import and everything came up roses, and checked all my files, only "Wierd Al" Yankovic is going to have to be managed individually because there are quote's in his name.
I'll let you know the result when i finish modifying over 23,000 files
Your export output looks good. File path + File name is important because Mp3tag can use it to match each line of the csv file with the right audio file.
The " and ; could be a problem if you have them in your tags.
The "Tab delimited text" config is probably safer.
And the tag fields must have no line breaks.
To import the data with Mp3tag you first have to delete the header line.
Then open "Convert > Textfile - tag"
Add the text file.
Now the important part the format string.
For semi colon csv and tab delimited text:
No guarantee it's 100% correct, check the Preview first.
Try it first with a copy of your files
If you use the tab delimited text you have to past the whole string from the forum here or from a text editor because you cannot manually enter a tab in the edit field in Mp3tag.
one more concern is there a way to automatically reinsert cover art? (all my cover art is named either folder.jpg or cover.jpg (more often "cover.jpg" and more preffered as the folder.jpg is usually a 1000x1000 and the cover.jpg is 600x600)
ok i'm about 1/10 of the way through my library (thanks to the majority of it not being rap and artists that can stand on their own)
and oh, i did find the import cover art action
i'm importing all new cd's without nero tagging, and importing info from MusicBrainz bow, which plays out better keep me from having to redo files with dual tags. Plus with a simple action i can format the artist tag like i like it (considering musicbrainz actually has supporting artists in the "artist" field
OK I appreciate all your help, it usually takes me longer to get acquainted with a program that offers so much flexibility, i think i can find my way around mp3tag pretty well now.
