# How to automate removing items from artist field
**URL:** https://community.mp3tag.de/t/how-to-automate-removing-items-from-artist-field/67256
**Category:** Support
**Created:** [January 24, 2025, 12:13am UTC](https://community.mp3tag.de/t/how-to-automate-removing-items-from-artist-field/67256 "2025-01-24T00:13:20Z")
**Posts on this page:** 7
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@steveoat87](https://community.mp3tag.de/u/steveoat87)
#### Post date: [January 24, 2025, 12:13am UTC](https://community.mp3tag.de/t/how-to-automate-removing-items-from-artist-field/67256/1 "2025-01-24T00:13:20Z")
Hi,
I have a lot of jazz recordings and use online databases to fill out the artist field for recordings. Here is an example of a recording artist field:
Donald Byrd (tp) Hank Mobley (ts) Duke Pearson (p) Doug Watkins (b) Lex Humphries (d)
I would like an automated way to remove each of the instruments in parentheses since they don't really belong in the artist field. For example I would like to replace (tp) with a comma and any item in parentheses with a comma.
Is there any way to do this?
---
### Author:  [@Casual\_Tea](https://community.mp3tag.de/u/Casual_Tea)
#### Post date: [January 24, 2025, 12:57am UTC](https://community.mp3tag.de/t/how-to-automate-removing-items-from-artist-field/67256/2 "2025-01-24T00:57:18Z")
An action of the type: `Replace with regular expression` containing:
Field:
`ARTIST`
Regular expression:
` \(.*?\)`
Replace matches with:
`,`
Would do the trick. However that would replace ANYTHING in braces with a `,` which might be unwanted.
If you know exactly which instruments are possible, a more specific way would be to use a regex like this:
```auto
\((?:tp|ts|p|b|d)\)
```
Which matches the instruments in braces and nothing else:
---
### Author:  [@steveoat87](https://community.mp3tag.de/u/steveoat87)
#### Post date: [January 24, 2025, 12:27pm UTC](https://community.mp3tag.de/t/how-to-automate-removing-items-from-artist-field/67256/3 "2025-01-24T12:27:35Z")
> [@Casual\_Tea](#):
>
> `\((?:tp|ts|p|b|d)\)`
This worked nicely. However, is it possible to get the comma closer to the name. For example:
Donald Byrd , Pepper Adams , Herbie Hancock , Doug Watkins , Teddy Robinson
Notice that there is a space between the last letter of the name and the comma. I would prefer:
Donald Byrd, Pepper Adams, Herbie Hancock, Doug Watkins, Teddy Robinson
Is there a way I could do this?
---
### Author:  [@LyricsLover](https://community.mp3tag.de/u/LyricsLover)
#### Post date: [January 24, 2025, 12:40pm UTC](https://community.mp3tag.de/t/how-to-automate-removing-items-from-artist-field/67256/4 "2025-01-24T12:40:24Z")
Are you sure you haven't forgotten the LEADING space in the regular expression?
` \(.*?\)`
↑
It is necessary in both variants, also in
` \((?:tp|ts|p|b|d)\)`
↑
---
### Author:  [@steveoat87](https://community.mp3tag.de/u/steveoat87)
#### Post date: [February 4, 2025, 10:53pm UTC](https://community.mp3tag.de/t/how-to-automate-removing-items-from-artist-field/67256/5 "2025-02-04T22:53:36Z")
One additional question:
I have a new way of importing this same data and it shows in the following format in this same Artist field:
`Mickey Roker\\Ray Bryant\\Sonny Rollins\\Walter Booker` (should be two backslashes)
How can I automate replacing the `\\` (two backslashes)) with a comma and space: ,
Note that I am using the double backslash only as a separator.
Thanks,
Bruce
---
### Author:  [@ohrenkino](https://community.mp3tag.de/u/ohrenkino)
#### Post date: [February 5, 2025, 5:58am UTC](https://community.mp3tag.de/t/how-to-automate-removing-items-from-artist-field/67256/6 "2025-02-05T05:58:55Z")
Several things:
- If a problem has been solved, then tell us as we tried to find the solution and want to know whether we were successful.
- If you have another and different problem, please open a new topic thread.
- Before you do so, please use the forum search function as a lot of questions have already been answered. See e.g. here:
> [@Replaceing \\\\ in a field](https://community.mp3tag.de/t/replaceing-in-a-field/67326):
>
> Hi, Some of my genre fields have \\ in them ie blues\\rock I want to change the \\ with an action but I assume the software thinks the first \ has special meaning. I can't make it work anyway. Is there a way of writting \\ so that mp3tag knows it is a double backward slash that needs replacing. I have hunted the forums but can't spot anything that I can make work yet. Thanks
and if you still have a new question, then please follow
> [@Hints for asking Support Requests](https://community.mp3tag.de/t/hints-for-asking-support-requests/56190):
>
> If you need support using Mp3tag, you can help the community members that are about to support you in finding a solution or workaround to your problem, by following these simple guidelines. Be descriptive, also in what you’ve already tried Please give a short explanation what’s not working as expected or what you’re trying to achieve. It’s best to know any details about the problem at hand and especially, what steps you’ve already tried to solve it by yourself. Helpful information also includ…
esp. in this case the part about "Formatting".
---
### Author:  [@system](https://community.mp3tag.de/u/system)
#### Post date: [March 7, 2025, 5:59am UTC](https://community.mp3tag.de/t/how-to-automate-removing-items-from-artist-field/67256/7 "2025-03-07T05:59:19Z")
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