Sorting music files/metadata

southernscouser

I'm trying to sort out my music files - a combination of downloads and rips - but the whole operation is a bit daunting. Are there any programmes or sites that can automatically sort out all my music files ensuring songs are correctly named, albumed, track numbers, artworks etc? :undecided

andy2004

I use MP3tag freeware, to rename all my songs it uses Amazon to get the names as 1 of the sources, however you do need to download the amazon.co.uk file from the forums of mp3tag as its not included. otherwise it tries to use amazon.com instead.

vale46_2

tag scanner works well if your tracks are named (artist - track) it tags them from the mp3 file info no net connection needed

http://www.xdlab.ru/en/index.htm

if you fancy album art in the mp3 file too creevity is ok

http://www.creevity.com/

if you want all audio files at the same audio level theres mp3gain

http://mp3gain.sourceforge.net/download.php

if you fancy lyrics embedded to if i remember mp3tag has plugins to do that too

southernscouser

Do these number each track correctly and stuff like that? It's the OCD in me.

johnnyboyrebel

Where are they downloaded from? Something like Amazon won't just recognise every file. If they are legal downloads then you won't have a problem but if it is something someone has uploaded on a forum etc. or you have found on the net/torrents/nzb etc. then you may see issues.

It just depends if the original files still have the correct metadata. If you think about it, Amazon does not listen to the music and name the artist and track, it simply looks behind the scenes and reads the info.

southernscouser

Most are rips, either from my cd's, or that friends have ripped (yeah I know lol). Downloads are iTunes, and Tunetribe mainly but sure there are some Amazon and Tesco ones in there too.

I guess what I'm after is, if I have a few singles from an album, would whatever software/program 'group' them into an album with correct track numbers etc?

somersethillbilly

Take a look at the free version of Media Monkey and see if it suits your needs.

Dave_C_2

Windows Media Player 11 (XP) or 12 (Vista and 7) will make a good first stab at the metadata. This has the advantage of already on your PC

+1 for MP3tag for adding artwork and track numbering. This also lets you generate tags from filenames.

All of these answers assume you have filed the music sensibly. Not used the scattergun approach and filed at random all over your HD.
I have mine hierarchically organised by artist\album\tracknum-trackname for instance:
\Music\Queen\Greatest Hits II\01-A Kind of Magic.mp3

Dave

tronator

southernscouser wrote: »

I'm trying to sort out my music files - a combination of downloads and rips - but the whole operation is a bit daunting. Are there any programmes or sites that can automatically sort out all my music files ensuring songs are correctly named, albumed, track numbers, artworks etc? :undecided

Musicbrainz Picard is the best out there, I think. It can even find songs who neither have tags nor the correct filename using audio fingerprinting.

http://musicbrainz.org/doc/MusicBrainz_Picard/