# Double Artist Removal
**URL:** https://community.mp3tag.de/t/double-artist-removal/12604
**Category:** Support
**Created:** [October 17, 2011, 5:28pm UTC](https://community.mp3tag.de/t/double-artist-removal/12604 "2011-10-17T17:28:55Z")
**Posts on this page:** 9
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@snowboarder\_1603](https://community.mp3tag.de/u/snowboarder_1603)
#### Post date: [October 17, 2011, 5:28pm UTC](https://community.mp3tag.de/t/double-artist-removal/12604/1 "2011-10-17T17:28:55Z")
Not that great at mp3 tag. I have a lot of files that are formated as such %artist%/%artist% and would like them to be only %artist%
E.g.
Chicago/Chicago
changed to
Chicago
How would i do this? Thanks
---
### Author:  [@ohrenkino](https://community.mp3tag.de/u/ohrenkino)
#### Post date: [October 17, 2011, 5:39pm UTC](https://community.mp3tag.de/t/double-artist-removal/12604/2 "2011-10-17T17:39:01Z")
Have a look at the actions.
Ther is one that removes duplicate fields.
---
### Author:  [@pone](https://community.mp3tag.de/u/pone)
#### Post date: [October 17, 2011, 5:47pm UTC](https://community.mp3tag.de/t/double-artist-removal/12604/3 "2011-10-17T17:47:02Z")
> [@ohrenkino](#):
>
> Have a look at the actions.
> Ther is one that removes duplicate fields.
the "remove duplicate fields" removes multivalue tags. they have to be separated by `\\` and it doesn't matter if they actually have the same value.
for
Chicago/Chicago
to
Chicago
i would use:
Action: Format Value
Field: `%artist%`
Formatstring: `$regexp(%artist%,(.+)/.+,$1)`
that removes everything from the frist "/" to the end.
or, maybe easier because without regular expressions:
Action: Guess Values
Sourceformat: `%artist%`
Guessing pattern: `%artist%/%dummy%`
---
### Author:  [@snowboarder\_1603](https://community.mp3tag.de/u/snowboarder_1603)
#### Post date: [October 17, 2011, 6:03pm UTC](https://community.mp3tag.de/t/double-artist-removal/12604/4 "2011-10-17T18:03:45Z")
Tried both of your strings and they do infact remove everything after / but some artist are written like this t-pain/jay-z/50 cent and i want to keep those ones. How do i make it for exactly the same before and after /?
---
### Author:  [@pone](https://community.mp3tag.de/u/pone)
#### Post date: [October 17, 2011, 6:05pm UTC](https://community.mp3tag.de/t/double-artist-removal/12604/5 "2011-10-17T18:05:03Z")
or even better (and more complicated)
Action: Format Value
Field: ARTIST
Formatstring: `$if($eql($regexp(%artist%,^(.+)/(.+)$,$1),$regexp(%artist%,^(.+)/(.+)$,$2)),$regexp(%artist%,^(.+)/(.+)$,$1),%artist%)`
That only removes what comes after "/" if it is exactly the same as befor the "/"
So:
Chicago/Chicago to Chicago
but
AC/DC stays AC/DC
by this, you can use this for a mass renaming without checking every file for it's content.
---
### Author:  [@ohrenkino](https://community.mp3tag.de/u/ohrenkino)
#### Post date: [October 18, 2011, 7:45am UTC](https://community.mp3tag.de/t/double-artist-removal/12604/6 "2011-10-18T07:45:11Z")
> [@pone](#):
>
> ...but
> AC/DC stays AC/DC
@pone: you are right of course in repect to mp3tag that you would need a double backslash.
In WMP, though, the slash is interpreted as separator and you will get a group AC and one called DC.
So my advice would be to eliminate all slashs completely and replace them with similar looking character but one with a completely different one like ⁄ (U+2044).
Does not help a lot with the basic problem but should dampen any enthusiasm.
---
### Author:  [@DetlevD](https://community.mp3tag.de/u/DetlevD)
#### Post date: [October 18, 2011, 10:12am UTC](https://community.mp3tag.de/t/double-artist-removal/12604/7 "2011-10-18T10:12:41Z")
> [@snowboarder\_1603](#):
>
> ... I have a lot of files that are formated as such %artist%/%artist% and would like them to be only %artist%
> E.g.
> Chicago/Chicago
> changed to
> Chicago
> How would i do this? Thanks
Apply the filter expression:
**ARTIST MATCHES "(.+?)/\1"**
This should display only those files having ARTIST content like 'Chicago/Chicago'.
To change an ARTIST content like 'Chicago/Chicago' to 'Chicago' apply an action:
Action: Format value
Field: ARTIST
Formatstring: **$regexp(%ARTIST%,'(.+?)/\1','$1')**
DD.20111018.1414.CEST
---
### Author:  [@pone](https://community.mp3tag.de/u/pone)
#### Post date: [October 18, 2011, 3:39pm UTC](https://community.mp3tag.de/t/double-artist-removal/12604/8 "2011-10-18T15:39:13Z")
> [@DetlevD](#):
>
> **ARTIST MATCHES "(.+?)/\1"**
>
> ...
>
> **$regexp(%ARTIST%,'(.+?)/\1','$1')**
thanks Detlev, a good one to know. i alread stumbled about the \1 somewhere, but I thought it's the same as $1 . now i see the difference.
---
### Author:  [@system](https://community.mp3tag.de/u/system)
#### Post date: [January 6, 2021, 5:50pm UTC](https://community.mp3tag.de/t/double-artist-removal/12604/9 "2021-01-06T17:50:58Z")
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