# Metadata from online databases eg freedb
**URL:** https://community.mp3tag.de/t/metadata-from-online-databases-eg-freedb/68571
**Category:** Support
**Created:** [May 21, 2025, 12:00pm UTC](https://community.mp3tag.de/t/metadata-from-online-databases-eg-freedb/68571 "2025-05-21T12:00:21Z")
**Posts on this page:** 8
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@Robbyell](https://community.mp3tag.de/u/Robbyell)
#### Post date: [May 21, 2025, 12:00pm UTC](https://community.mp3tag.de/t/metadata-from-online-databases-eg-freedb/68571/1 "2025-05-21T12:00:21Z")
Afternoon! My mp3 collection's really taking shape now thanks to MP3Tag and particularly ohrenkino on here :). Next step is to see if I can fill a few gaps of info I hadn't bothered about until now - thinking particularly of:
date of release of song
genre
and whilst I'll obviously curate the genre fields to my own use, it'd be good to get a starting point of something vaguely "official".
I understand there are a number of online db's with this sort of info (MusicBrainz, Discogs, freedb), some supported by MP3Tag, some possibly not. I think I'd rather sift and check the data using Excel rather than apply it directly to the files, though am open to applying direct if I can be sure it's safe.
Simple question: how do I do it? I've obviously used such db's when ripping CDs, but a fair bit of my collection is not from CD eg old radio shows, so I won't have anything but (my version of) the artist, title and album to help the db identify the song, and give me the info I need. I suspect MP3Tag can help in this, but also suspect I may need to interrogate db's myself external to MP3Tag.
Thanks in advance!
---
### Author:  [@LyricsLover](https://community.mp3tag.de/u/LyricsLover)
#### Post date: [May 21, 2025, 12:06pm UTC](https://community.mp3tag.de/t/metadata-from-online-databases-eg-freedb/68571/2 "2025-05-21T12:06:41Z")
> [@Robbyell](#):
>
> I suspect MP3Tag can help in this, but also suspect I may need to interrogate db's myself external to MP3Tag.
You can use Web Source Scripts (WSS) for this purpose. Start with the built-in Tag Sources for MusicBrainz and Discogs for example. You can find more in [this section](https://community.mp3tag.de/c/development/web-sources-scripts/12).
> [@Robbyell](#):
>
> to get a starting point of something vaguely "official".
GENRE is not something that can be calculated. If you ask 3 people about a song, you will get at least 4 GENRE suggestions.
There is no "official" source for GENRE.
> [@Robbyell](#):
>
> date of release of song
Some of the existing WSS may help you to find the release date of a song on external databases. I suggest that you first find such an external source for your collection style, and then see if there is a ready-made WSS for it in the section mentioned.
---
### Author:  [@Robbyell](https://community.mp3tag.de/u/Robbyell)
#### Post date: [May 21, 2025, 12:24pm UTC](https://community.mp3tag.de/t/metadata-from-online-databases-eg-freedb/68571/3 "2025-05-21T12:24:57Z")
Thanks @Lyricslover - I'll investigate. Yes, Genre's in the eye of the beholder, but when I've got nothing in that field, even "Jazz" v "Punk" will be a starter 😀
---
### Author:  [@LyricsLover](https://community.mp3tag.de/u/LyricsLover)
#### Post date: [May 21, 2025, 12:33pm UTC](https://community.mp3tag.de/t/metadata-from-online-databases-eg-freedb/68571/4 "2025-05-21T12:33:31Z")
> [@Robbyell](#):
>
> even "Jazz" v "Punk" will be a starter
I know what you mean.
But the starter is exactly the problem. Even "Jazz" or "Punk" is not the correct GENRE for a EDM song.
Personally, I would never rely on an external source for GENRE.
Do a test yourself and ask different sources for the same song.
---
### Author:  [@Robbyell](https://community.mp3tag.de/u/Robbyell)
#### Post date: [May 21, 2025, 1:36pm UTC](https://community.mp3tag.de/t/metadata-from-online-databases-eg-freedb/68571/5 "2025-05-21T13:36:08Z")
Well, I've looked into this a bit and it doesn't really seem doable en masse - think I'm right in saying that even MP3Tag can only do it album by album. I've read that freedb (for example) had 2m albums even back in 2006 - if I'm wanting to do this track by track, that would mean downloading and interrogating a db of at least 20m tracks, even if there was such a thing...
---
### Author:  [@LyricsLover](https://community.mp3tag.de/u/LyricsLover)
#### Post date: [May 21, 2025, 1:41pm UTC](https://community.mp3tag.de/t/metadata-from-online-databases-eg-freedb/68571/6 "2025-05-21T13:41:04Z")
> [@Robbyell](#):
>
> ...think I'm right in saying that even MP3Tag can only do it album by album.
Yes, most WSS are written to work best with a complete album.
**freedb** was shut down on June 13, 2020.
If you're looking for an alternative, you might want to check out [gnudb.org](http://gnudb.org), which has taken over many of freedb's functions.
Mp3tag also supports [freedb/gnudb](https://docs.mp3tag.de/customization/options/tag-sources/freedb/):
---
### Author:  [@ohrenkino](https://community.mp3tag.de/u/ohrenkino)
#### Post date: [May 21, 2025, 2:53pm UTC](https://community.mp3tag.de/t/metadata-from-online-databases-eg-freedb/68571/7 "2025-05-21T14:53:27Z")
> [@Robbyell](#):
>
> and it doesn't really seem doable en masse
I think that the program for Musicbrainz Picard has a function to search for metadata for a lot of files in 1 go.
The result is, admittedly, sometimes fairly surprising but it may help to get the gist.
Yet, I do not think that any data retrieval will update only a single field but add more or less all available data.
---
### Author:  [@system](https://community.mp3tag.de/u/system)
#### Post date: [August 31, 2025, 1:09pm UTC](https://community.mp3tag.de/t/metadata-from-online-databases-eg-freedb/68571/8 "2025-08-31T13:09:29Z")
This topic was automatically closed 30 days after the last reply. New replies are no longer allowed.