MP3Tag Grouping tags not showing in other programs

[dadarkman808]

Hi all,

So, a few days ago, I decided to start using the Grouping tag to add subgenres to my files, that way I could keep the Genre field with one main tag. By doing so, (I believe that) I discovered a situation between MP3Tag and other programs that read, edit, and display MP3 tags.

After noticing that I couldn't see the tags in one program, I decided to run the files in all available programs I have on my PC. The result confirmed that Grouping tags modified and written in MP3Tag are not showing in the following apps: Tag&Rename, Media Monkey 5, J River Media Center 30, TagScanner, Mixed in Key, Beatunes and SeratoDJ Pro. The Grouping tag in MP3Tag only shows in one other program I have: AudioRanger.

So, I tried a different program afterward. I added Grouping tags through Tag&Rename and checked them in all the other programs. The result is that all the programs mentioned above show the Grouping tags done in Tag&Rename; However, Tag&Rename haven't been able to write its Grouping tag to MP3Tag; Whatever tags MP3Tag had, stays unmodified.
Interestingly, the program AudioRanger is the only program that can see BOTH the Grouping tags from MP3Tag and Tag&Rename.

• When time permits, can anyone else run a test with whichever other programs they have to compare with my findings? That way we could figure if it's an isolated issue just in my system.
• Am I the first to report this or is that a known issue? And more importantly, is there a fix or workaround? Well, hopefully!

Thanks

[ohrenkino]

It would be easiest, if you checked in the extended tags dialogue Alt-T into which field Tag&Rename wrote the data. Good candidates are GROUPING and CONTENTGROUP.

[MotleyG]

Are you using mp3 or m4a files? See here for a recent discussion.

How to visualize iTunes "group" column on MP3tag?

@Fabio A word of caution! I use the grouping field extensively in iTunes. Please note that this is saved in different tags, depending on your file types. mp3 files use the tag field %grouping% m4a files (lossy or ALAC) use the tag field %contentgroup%

[dadarkman808]

Wow Yes! Tags written in Grouping in Tag&Rename ends up in ContentGroup inMP3Tag. But wait, Iooking at it, it's not just a situation between MP3Tag and Tag&Rename, it's more MP3Tag vs. most of other programs. Any other programs with content in Grouping ends in ContentGroup in MP3Tag; I ended up doing the test with all the other ones too.
So, I'm curious why most other programs (SeratoDJ, TagScanner, Media Monkey, etc...) Grouping field is matching ContentGroup when there's a Grouping tag in MP3Tag that's not matching almost no other programs in reverse? Doesn't that render the Grouping field in MP3Tag kind of useless in most usage outside of MP3Tag? Honestly, I don't think you know the answers, it's just that I had to wonder aloud!

Sort of confusing to me. Well, anyhow, I'm happy that you gave me a solution. I'll just ignore the Grouping field moving forward.

Thanks a bunch!

[dadarkman808]

I'm using MP3.
@ohrenkino provided me with the solution above.

Thanks!

[MotleyG]

I’m not sure why you are seeing a difference here if your files are mp3. They should be using the %grouping% tag as the standard. It is m4a (or mp4) that use the field %contentgroup% instead. You can create a field mapping in mp3tag to make sure this gets written correctly for either format if you want. But more critically it all depends on the software you most often use for compatibility.