Music Library Revamp! :S
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  1. #1
    Tech Wizard
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    Default Music Library Revamp! :S

    So sometime very soon I'm going to go through a whole revamp on my music library and needed some advice. I currently have about 3000 tracks on my laptop and have all my older tracks that from my CD collections or just old MP3's on an external HD, and those are probably like 8000 (not sure about the exact number right now).

    Basically I'm really picky with the way my files are organized and it can get annoying at times, for the current laptop tracks they are purely EDM so just the file names themselves I like them to be "Artist - Track Name (Mix) [Label] Release Date" the release date is optional, but that's just how I want them as file names, no lower case letters, underscores and all that and that can be pretty time consuming with samples and or stuff downloaded on the internet, I even don't like the "Purchased at Beatport.com" in the comments

    So I want to literally go through all my tracks and do this, I know it will take ages, so I wanted to know if there are any simpler ways of doing this? Also, when I make changes or rename files directly from the original file properties themselves the changes either don't show up when opened in iTunes or another media player i.e. if I add a comment or remove a comment or rename something it won't show and it will still have all the original file information/properties, or I can't seem to make any changes to the file properties under file "Details" (I'm on a PC). So are there any ways to fix that?

    I prefer changing/updating all the original file properties then organzing/making playlists etc. on iTunes so that I can use the files anywhere and have the correct information and not have annoying or confusing file names or information even though I understand it would be easier to just import my whole collection to iTunes and manually edit through that but I feel it wouldn't be worthwhile if I use the track on another source and it's back to the original properties.

    I know that was a long read but really wanted to clarify the info since this is a HUGE task that hopefully some of you have completed or are going through. Basically how should I organize/rename my tracks like that in the most efficient way and make sure they are permanent.

    Oh and I'd also like to add/remove the artwork/covers for the tracks too into the original file properties.

    Any help would be appreciated

    Thanks a lot!

  2. #2
    Tech Guru Steve Zorilow's Avatar
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    You can do everything in Mediamonkey or TagScanner. Once extra tags cleaned, you can rename the file base on the tags. Easy easy.

    In theory [] are not allowed in file name.

  3. #3
    Tech Mentor
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    MP3tag (Windows only) can do batch jobs using regular expressions (sounds complicated but actually, it's not that hard to learn). Kid3 (Windows and Mac) has similar capabilities. It even has the advantage of being open source. However, I find Kid3's GUI less intuitive than the one of MP3tag.

    Of course, some media players (e.g., MediaMonkey, Foobar2000) also have extensive tagging capabilities but I find specialized tagging software to be even more powerful.

  4. #4
    Tech Wizard
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    Thanks for the reply, those both look like what I am looking for! Just to confirm this is changing the actual file properties/information permanently right? And what do you mean about the "[]"? I have files that I manually renamed like that and on iTunes too e.g. "Butch - No Worries (Original Mix) [Cecile] 05-21-10" I know you can't use "/" or some other symbols in file names but didn't have any problems with that. But yeah I'll definitely check both of those out, I got Trainspotter 2 as well but didn't really figure out how it works

    @itskindahot - yeah I'll definitely look into MP3tag as well, I would prefer just something for editing the file properties as opposed to additional media player, I'm fine with iTunes but would want to completely edit all my file information and then re-upload my library so that I can make proper playlists etc... I end up editing a file from the original sourxe after I've opened it once to listen to for the first time on iTunes and then end up having 2-3 files of the same name in my iTunes library because I have to constantly relocate them because I change some of the original file properties so it gets annoying lol

  5. #5
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    Quote Originally Posted by mr.magma View Post
    And what do you mean about the "[]"?
    I think he believes "[" and "]" are characters which are prohibited or reserved in file names on either Win or Mac (he is wrong about that).

  6. #6
    Tech Wizard
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    Yeah that's what I figured and was confused about since I have most of my files with those symbols...

  7. #7
    Tech Mentor decon's Avatar
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    +1 for MP3tag. It's been my tag editor of choice for years

  8. #8
    popatheart
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    I'm sooo jealous.

    Sometimes I feel like I spend more timing organizing my library than actually playing it. I've finally found what's most efficient for me, so I don't really get to do this unless I add new tracks.

  9. #9
    Tech Wizard
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    ^I agree man its seems like its a never ending issue...I'm always finding new and better ways to organize my files but really it is necessary to go thru every single file.

    I found that mp3tag versions have an impact whether or itunes writes the info to the file correctly or at all. Try to standardize the tag version which can be done in itunes by right clicking and convert idtag to version 2.3 as not everything is compatible with 2.4

  10. #10
    Tech Wizard
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    Thanks for all the replies, yeah that's the thing before I even start to play my tracks I want them all organized and I don't like the way iTunes does it so I'm hoping MP3tag and the other suggestions can help... Does MP3tag change the original file properties so that they show up in iTunes and any other media players or multiple sources (e.g. different computers, anything that plays MP3...) that's basically all I want to do

    viceversa - I'll definitely look into converting the tags, that's what I meant that when I update the mp3 file information on my PC under "Properties" and then "Details" and save it, those changes don't show up after when I open the track on iTunes or whatever and it's just the same original info OR all the fields are shown as blank under "Details" and I can't make changes to anything, but when opened in iTunes the artist, name, etc. are there.

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