more metadata mania

Posted almost 6 years ago

I posted this elsewhere before, but as long as I'm describing anal ways to work with metadata in iTunes, here's a description of my system [with asterisks changed to ! so they would be visible, rather than making things bold]:

I have been using the comments field for tagging for a long time.First I put "own CD" or "backed up" in, so I know that I have a copy in another media just in case of HD crash, I add "iTMS" to files I've gotten off the iTunes Music Store, so I have a quicker way than the file format to know that they're DRMed.Then I put in my rating in parenthesis like so: "(!!!)" for three stars. This is just in case my iTunes library gets lost or corrupted. Since that is where the ratings are stored, if that file dies you lose your ratings. I like to have my ratings attached to the actual files because that is a major method I use to organize my songs. It's also handy because I can type "(!!!" into the search field and get every song rated three stars or more, without having to create a smart playlist.After my ratings, I put my tags, also in parentheses like so: (mellow)(sad)(acoustic guitar)(instrumental). That way I can use the parenthesis in the search field to make sure I get my tags instead of data in the title, for instance. I chose the parentheses because then I can use multi-word tags and export the data to the web without my tags being hidden by the brackets used for HTML and XML coding. I could have also used the square brackets: [tag].Last, I usually leave any comments in the field from the creator of the file, such as their web address.I use smart playlists to make sure that I have my ratings noted in the comment field, and to keep a list of songs that aren't tagged with "backed up" or "own CD" so those can be backed up the next time I burn a music backup disk.My gosh, I'm anal.

If you are on a Mac and you use Quicksilver, a little AppleScript plugin called TuneTag is really helpful for implementing a tagging system with the comments field. I modified the script slightly to fit my system, but unmodified it's just as handy (I just didn't want to go through and change all of my tags).

Comments (3)

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spaceling says I wish certain features of id3v2 had wider use and support, expecially the Composer, and Original Artist field. Folks seem to be so confused on how to tag: A) Conductors B) Performers C) Cover Artists D) Remixers and Mash-Up artists. I'd like some librarian to help us with some standards. Btw, are you using any tag support for embedding album art with your files? I have but I've noticed some tagging programs (Dapyx) will crap up the art. You're using a Mac, and I, windows, so perhaps you have some other tools to work with that are superior? Last time I tried to tag files in linux (redhat 7) I ran into all sort of troubles. Maybe there's a better tool now (one that isn't integrated with an online music shopping service!)

Permalink posted 07/21/2006
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fontgoddess says I just use iTunes to add album art. I use a widget called Amazon Album Art to find good cover scans (I don't buy that much from Amazon, but they're a wonderful product database to use). I also use Synergy to fetch album art and display it when my tracks are playing. For Windows, I have no idea what would be a good program. A handy tool to find cover art (again from Amazon, but minus a lot of the cruft) is SlothRadio's CD Cover Search. It's web-based, therefore platform independent. I also wish id3v2 was more widely supported. I'm pretty sure there is a "conductor" tag in their protocol. I know there's a "composer" tag because iTunes actually supports that and I use it all the time for the many soundtracks and musicals I have. Actually, MusicBrainz's style guide calling for the composer's name in the "artist" field rather than the "composer" field really pisses me off. Maybe I should lighten up on that, but it's horrible when both the artist and composer are important to have tagged. When I tag "Sunday in the Park With George," I would like it noted that Bernadette Peters and Mandy Patinkin are singing and that Stephen Sondheim is the composer. I *really* wish that last.fm or MOG would gather all that data. If it did, Stephen Sondheim would be the top of my "most listened to" list.

Permalink posted 07/21/2006
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spaceling says Word to David Hyman on composer/performer recognition. For albumart in Windows I use the free and open source tool aptly named the Album Cover Art Downloader. It uses amazon.com, buy.com, google image search and I think, Walmart. You can turn off the engines you don't want searched. The app tries to be elegant but there is a slowness to it. Don't lighten up on the Musicbrainz peeps; they are pedants.

Permalink posted 07/21/2006

more metadata mania

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