Contributing Artist

Support
#1

I organize my songs with multiple artist with the standard "; " separator, and in File Explorer you can just right click and group by "Contributing Artist". This method works in File Explorer, and it translates well when opening the file on MusicBee & iTunes. The files that behave properly are obtained via spoti ripper, and has a ID3v2.4.

However, since I started downloading files via Deemix, the Contributing Artist doesn't translate "; " separator into "/" which it should do. I noticed that the tags are ID3v2.3 so I tried to change that to ID3v2.4 via Mp3Tag. The results are the same. I still get (Eminem; JuiceWRLD) instead of (Eminem/JuiceWRLD) like it should.

Does anybody have the explaination? This is driving me nuts.

#2

This is not the forum for Mp3Tagger.
I predict that you will have better results with Mp3tag, which is the application this forum is all about.

1 Like
#3

Sorry, my bad. Mp3Tag not Mp3Tagger.

But sir, under the same pretense, ";" will translate into "/" in the sense that the said player reads the separator properly. The only variable is that I changes download sources that probably changes the ID3 version.

#4

You could compare a file that behaves the way it should with one that doesn't.
I would compare them with a look at the extended tags dialogue (Alt-T) to see if there are real multi-value fields or just a single one.
And then it could be that you need " / " instead of just "/ " or something similar.

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#5

I'll give it a try, and will let you know.

#6

Screenshot 2020-11-29 191027

This untouched file downloaded from Deemix. What does the info entails? is it separated?

#7

As soon as you see more than one entry with the same field name, you have real multi-value-fields. The screendump shows multi-value-fields for ARTIST and COMPOSER
It could be that the player cannot cope with these or that it uses its own separator.
In MP3tag you can join such fields with an action of the type "Merge duplicate fields" in which you can define a separator. You will end up with just one entry per field but with a longer string with the contents of the formerly individual fields.

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#8
  1. This file has a real multi-value fields.
  2. The file should work fine, judging by the above statement, correct?
  3. How do I "merge duplicate fields"? and if I comprehend this, that means that for every field of metadata, I can only save one value, right?
#9

Yes.

I don't know whether your player can cope with such files.

Use an action (quick) of the type "Merge duplicate fields" and set which field you want to merge. Also, set the separator which should not be \\ as this is used by MP3tag to create multi-value fields.
Check if the files now behave the way you want.

As the display of the field data is up to the player, it could be that the player interprets a ; or a / as separator and shows the file for each of the parts of the field data. THis means, that you enter all the data into one field but with the separator between each part.
So, e.g. for the track by Pitbull and Tjr you would use a single field of the type ARTIST and enter:
Pitbull; Tjr

1 Like
#10

Thanks! it works.

Still, I'm trying to unravel the root to the problem, because I hate having to painstakingly edit each and every one of my song.

Stay Safe,
A. Solomon

#11

I think that this is what most mp3tag users do ...
You can filter for files that match certain criteria, e.g.
´artist HAS "; "or if you look for multi-value-fields:"$if($neql($meta(TAGFIELDNAME,1),%DUMMY%),1,0)" IS 1`
With that filter you only have to treat the files that actually may cause problems with multi-value-fields.

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#12

From your original post you mention MusicBee and iTunes as your playback software. Note that iTunes still does not support multiple Artist tags, so your only choice there is to merge the line as suggested above to see all Artists.

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#13

I see.

  1. I've been running experiment to determine whether iTunes use Contributing Artist or Album Artist to display artist in their now playing, and so far the result has been really confusing.

  2. Musicbee on the other hand detects separator "; " in File Explorer and translates them to "/" and if the files shows ths behaviour in MB then it will behave accordingly in Android. And the reason why I need it to behave so is because I'll be transfering it to my phone therefore I need the file to be able to be read and display properly.

But just to clarify, #1 how does iTunes behave with Contributing/Album Artists?

#14

Again, I need help with this action because I am of poor knowledge in MP3Tag.

#15

Same answer. iTunes doesn't use multi artists, no matter how you try to separate it.

#16

I understand the fact that multiple posts suggest that iTunes doesn't separate Artists, but can I know why, like I'm itching to know the reason whether its the tag reading or just the way iTunes read it and display etc etc.

Also, my solution via mp3Tag is:

  1. Standard: "remove: ARTISTS"
  2. Only keep ARTIST as oppose to ARTISTS
    so I have in the ARTIST extended tag Pitbull/Tjr

I tested it on Musicbee, iTunes and Oto Music Player(android) and it works again!

I got artist1/artist2/artist3 and more importantly in File Explorer the configuration is (artist1; artist2; artist3) and it is really important I do it that way so that I can just right click and sort by Contributing Artist

Therefore, I'd like to thank both of you kind sir for taking your time to generously help me in my 2 day quest to solve a small problem.(really, I can't sleep last night because of this small problem)

#17

Well, who knows...?
You would have to ask the people at Apple why they implement features or leave out others, why they invent tag fields and ignore standard ones.
The only thing I know for sure: MP3tag supports multi-value fields and helps you to adapt the tag data so that it probably fits the features of your preferred player.
If that player lacks functions then it is up to you to find a more suitable player for you.

2 Likes
#18

Hmmmm... Another mystery.

But its all fine now. Atleast with the problem fixed, my library is in order again.

ALBUM
Album Artist°Year

  1. Song name 1 [Artist1/Artist2]
  2. Song name 2
  3. Song name 3[Artist1/Artist2/Artist3]
  4. Song name 4

Is what it will show consistently in both Musicbee and iTunes and Android once i solved it.

#19

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