# Removing "the" from multi artists **URL:** \ **Category:** Support\ **Created:** [January 18, 2022, 2:20pm UTC](https://community.mp3tag.de/t/removing-the-from-multi-artists/55943 "2022-01-18T14:20:30Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![dp19](https://community.mp3tag.de/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/d/a8b319/32.png) [@dp19](https://community.mp3tag.de/u/dp19)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2022, 2:20pm UTC](https://community.mp3tag.de/t/removing-the-from-multi-artists/55943/1 "2022-01-18T14:20:30Z")
Hello, i like to remove the from multi artist and i done action format value artist $regexp(%artist%,^The ,). this isn't working for me how can i do this please. Thank You ---
**Author:** ![ohrenkino](https://community.mp3tag.de/user_avatar/community.mp3tag.de/ohrenkino/32/4843_2.png) [@ohrenkino](https://community.mp3tag.de/u/ohrenkino)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2022, 2:30pm UTC](https://community.mp3tag.de/t/removing-the-from-multi-artists/55943/2 "2022-01-18T14:30:15Z")
Could you show us the data in the field and then tell us what you want to achieve? The expression you use remove a "The " only a the beginning of a string. If you want to get rid of the text constant "the ", then use a plain replace action in which you replace "the " with nothing. ---
**Author:** ![dp19](https://community.mp3tag.de/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/d/a8b319/32.png) [@dp19](https://community.mp3tag.de/u/dp19)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2022, 3:12pm UTC](https://community.mp3tag.de/t/removing-the-from-multi-artists/55943/3 "2022-01-18T15:12:45Z")
thanks for replying that is what i to do is remove the. will replace work if a highlight multi files? ---
**Author:** ![ohrenkino](https://community.mp3tag.de/user_avatar/community.mp3tag.de/ohrenkino/32/4843_2.png) [@ohrenkino](https://community.mp3tag.de/u/ohrenkino)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2022, 3:14pm UTC](https://community.mp3tag.de/t/removing-the-from-multi-artists/55943/4 "2022-01-18T15:14:15Z")
Actions always operate on the selected files. Or the other way round: you have to select at least 1 file to create an action. You may select more. (BTW: why didn't you try it? That would have been much faster than writing the post in the forum ...) ---
**Author:** ![dp19](https://community.mp3tag.de/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/d/a8b319/32.png) [@dp19](https://community.mp3tag.de/u/dp19)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2022, 3:57pm UTC](https://community.mp3tag.de/t/removing-the-from-multi-artists/55943/5 "2022-01-18T15:57:32Z")
i didn't know about the replace (how it worked) i did do that after you mention it and that did what i like but now my artist don't list alphabetically. bellieve you me i've been googling but some things i can't find or i'm typng in a wrong search pattern (mostly entering the wrong search info). like replacing all content from one field to another. ---
**Author:** ![ohrenkino](https://community.mp3tag.de/user_avatar/community.mp3tag.de/ohrenkino/32/4843_2.png) [@ohrenkino](https://community.mp3tag.de/u/ohrenkino)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2022, 4:01pm UTC](https://community.mp3tag.de/t/removing-the-from-multi-artists/55943/6 "2022-01-18T16:01:07Z")
If you want to have a different sort order, then some players also use the field ARTISTSORT to get the right order. You would have to fill this field with the name under which you want to find the artist. But as you do not show any real data it is hard to tell what might have gone wrong. ---
**Author:** ![dp19](https://community.mp3tag.de/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/d/a8b319/32.png) [@dp19](https://community.mp3tag.de/u/dp19)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2022, 4:46pm UTC](https://community.mp3tag.de/t/removing-the-from-multi-artists/55943/7 "2022-01-18T16:46:46Z")
ok here's what the list looks like after i replace the "the " BEACH BOYS CHARLES RIVER VALLEY BOYS CONTOURS EVERLY BROTHERS BEN E. KING see how they are out of order, i try sorting by artist and no luck. ![image_2022-01-18_104623](https://community.mp3tag.de/uploads/default/original/2X/3/3e6db86bae6f51448d2c83012fd43808cf58b8ff.png) ---
**Author:** ![LyricsLover](https://community.mp3tag.de/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/l/c6cbf5/32.png) [@LyricsLover](https://community.mp3tag.de/u/LyricsLover)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2022, 4:48pm UTC](https://community.mp3tag.de/t/removing-the-from-multi-artists/55943/8 "2022-01-18T16:48:56Z")
Did you see the space in front ot the Artist names? _(That's why screenshots are really helpful)._ ---
**Author:** ![ohrenkino](https://community.mp3tag.de/user_avatar/community.mp3tag.de/ohrenkino/32/4843_2.png) [@ohrenkino](https://community.mp3tag.de/u/ohrenkino)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2022, 4:51pm UTC](https://community.mp3tag.de/t/removing-the-from-multi-artists/55943/9 "2022-01-18T16:51:22Z")
> [@ohrenkino](#): > > If you want to get rid of the text constant "the ", ... not that I wrote the "the" with a trailing space character ... The screenump also explains why > [@dp19](#): > > i done action format value artist $regexp(%artist%,^The ,) did not work: the regular expressions are case sensitive. ---
**Author:** ![dp19](https://community.mp3tag.de/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/d/a8b319/32.png) [@dp19](https://community.mp3tag.de/u/dp19)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2022, 5:26pm UTC](https://community.mp3tag.de/t/removing-the-from-multi-artists/55943/10 "2022-01-18T17:26:02Z")
i ddin't think the space would make a difference. so please tell how to remove the space just in front of the artist. know this is a learning process for and older timer with No Scripting skills. ---
**Author:** ![dp19](https://community.mp3tag.de/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/d/a8b319/32.png) [@dp19](https://community.mp3tag.de/u/dp19)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2022, 5:31pm UTC](https://community.mp3tag.de/t/removing-the-from-multi-artists/55943/11 "2022-01-18T17:31:34Z")
i got it figure out Thanks now if i can only figure how to move content from one field to another i be set. ---
**Author:** ![ohrenkino](https://community.mp3tag.de/user_avatar/community.mp3tag.de/ohrenkino/32/4843_2.png) [@ohrenkino](https://community.mp3tag.de/u/ohrenkino)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2022, 5:37pm UTC](https://community.mp3tag.de/t/removing-the-from-multi-artists/55943/12 "2022-01-18T17:37:16Z")
> [@dp19](#): > > content from one field to another Like described in the FAQs? > [@Actions and batch-operations](https://community.mp3tag.de/t/actions-and-batch-operations/967/15): > > How to copy one field value to another field? Example how to copy the content of the ARTIST field to the ALBUMARTIST field: Create a [new action](https://community.mp3tag.de/t/actions/967/2) in an existing action group or make a new action group. Action type: Format value Field: ALBUMARTIST Format string: %artist% Note: If you want to copy all possible values of a field (in case you have multiple artist fields), the internal scripting function [$meta\_sep](https://docs.mp3tag.de/scripting) can be used in the format string, e.g., $meta\_sep(artist,\\\\) please consider to open a new thread, if you have further questions on this problem. BTW: the FAQs also show how to remove trailing or leading spaces ... > [@Actions and batch-operations](https://community.mp3tag.de/t/actions-and-batch-operations/967/10): > > How to remove/trim leading and trailing spaces [Video tutorial for these actions](http://www.vimeo.com/7756545) Leading spaces: Action type: Replace with regular expressions Field: \_TAG Regular expression: ^\s+ Replace matches with: ^ matches the beginning of the string. Then \s+ searches for all whitespaces till a different char occurs. The whitespaces found will be replaced by nothing and, thus, deleted. Trailing spaces: Action type: Replace with regular expressions Field: \_TAG Regular expression: \s+$ Replace matc… ---
**Author:** ![MotleyG](https://community.mp3tag.de/user_avatar/community.mp3tag.de/motleyg/32/440_2.png) [@MotleyG](https://community.mp3tag.de/u/MotleyG)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2022, 5:55pm UTC](https://community.mp3tag.de/t/removing-the-from-multi-artists/55943/13 "2022-01-18T17:55:22Z")
In most of the actions including “Replace” you can include leading and/or trailing spaces in both the original source and replace destination lines. This can really help when looking to find specific words or phrases, But me mindful of using too many spaces as they are obviously difficult to see and can often cause some unexpected results. ---
**Author:** ![Florian](https://community.mp3tag.de/user_avatar/community.mp3tag.de/florian/32/5759_2.png) [@Florian](https://community.mp3tag.de/u/Florian)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2022, 7:55pm UTC](https://community.mp3tag.de/t/removing-the-from-multi-artists/55943/14 "2022-01-18T19:55:00Z")
4 posts were split to a new topic: [Move content from one field to another](https://community.mp3tag.de/t/move-content-from-one-field-to-another/55947) ---
**Author:** ![system](https://community.mp3tag.de/uploads/default/original/2X/c/ce7035d426cb755a7916793326d23b465222a407.png) [@system](https://community.mp3tag.de/u/system)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2022, 7:55pm UTC](https://community.mp3tag.de/t/removing-the-from-multi-artists/55943/15 "2022-02-17T19:55:12Z")
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