Mp3 tags not displaying in Properties/Details of the audio file

[Dennis1954]

I have a large number of mp3 files which have suddenly lost all their metadata. Consequently, they are unplayable on any of the media players installed on my windows laptop. When the file is right clicked, and Properties is selected from the dropdown menu, and Details is chosen from the tabs, no metadata appears in any of the fields displayed e.g. Title/Album/Artist/Album Artist etc. I have used Mp3tag v3.34 to attach metadata to an number of these files. Mp3tag app indicates that the metadata was attached successfully. However, when the file is right clicked after this process, and Properties is selected from the dropdown menu, and Details is chosen from the tabs, still no metadata appears in any of the fields displayed e.g. Title/Album/Artist/Album Artist etc., and the audio file remains unplayable. I have spent a good number of hours endeavouring to solve this problem. Has anyone experienced this issue? And if so, have you found a successful solution? I’d be very grateful for any and all advice. Many thanks, Dennis

[ohrenkino]

@Dennis1954

which have suddenly lost all their metadata

They had the metadata before? What happened in the meantime?

In general: please follow these hints:

Hints for asking Support Requests

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. as a first analysis the check of files for errors.
And for further suggestions, screenshots, what kind of file format causes the problems and descriptions what you have done so far are really helpful.

[Dennis1954]

@Dennis1954

“They had the metadata before? What happened in the meantime?” That’s a great question to which I knew the answer. I have 1,233 albums in my digital music collection. Recently, for some unknown reason, the songs in 57 of the albums ‘lost’ their metadata. It is the songs in these 57 albums that I am endeavouring to restore the metadata. Here’s a few screenshots of my most recent attempt.

Thanks … appreciate any assistance you can offer.

[ohrenkino]

What does the file check reveal?
(You would have to download Mp3diags and run a test)

The last screenshot shows metadata - so those files are OK (again)?

What did you expect to happen between the screenshots "before MP3tag used" and "after MP3tag still no tags"
What did you do in MP3tag to get to the state of "after"?

[LyricsLover]

Please show us a screenshot of one of your songs that show the TITLE and ARTIST and ALBUMARTIST in Mp3tag by pressing Alt +T (View -> Extended Tag).

To be sure:
In Mp3tag you see all the metadata.
But you don't see the same metadata in Windows Explorer, right?

[Dennis1954]

That’s correct … in Mp3tag the metadata are all present. However, the same metadata are not present or visible in Windows Explorer. Here’s a screenshot.

[ohrenkino]

It is a little suspicious that besides the missing metadata, there is also no data for bitrate, channels and audio-sample rate.

So please check the files for integrity as suggested before.

[LyricsLover]

In addition to @ohrenkino's adive:

Can you confirm that you are using genuine MP3 files and not music files from another format, such as WMA or FLAC, that have been incorrectly named?

You can use tools like MediaInfo to identify such files.

[Dennis1954]

Thanks ohrenkino and LyricsLover … you have both been very helpful. I downloaded MediaInfo and employed to test the problematic mp3 files, and now believe them to be corrupted in some way. I can see no option other than to delete them from my music library and replace them with non-corrupted mp3 files. Thanks again for your help. I’ll be continuing to use Mp3Tag.