Is this file tagged properly?

[Terry Pinnell]

Another query from an MP3/tagging newcomer. This arises while I'm
trying out Tag&Rename (the first tagging program I've used). But it's
really about tags in general I think.

One file I've downloaded (from alt.binaries.sounds.mp3.jazz) looks
like this when I load it in the program:

File: D:\Docs\Test-Renaming\19. Nightmare - Artie Shaw.mp3
Title: Nightmare - Artie Shaw
Artist: Big Bands In Hi-Fi Vol.2
Album: In The Mood
Year: 1995
Genre: Big Band
# 19
Comment:

I/m confused as to why its Artist should be 'Big Bands In Hi-Fi
Vol.2', rather than 'Artie Shaw'? That sounds more like an Album name.
Is that likely to be a tag error?

Also, that '-' in the Title rather upsets my plan to use '-' as a
separator, i.e. Artist - Album - Title. (I end up with a confusing
extra separator.) Is that widespread practice? Any way I can fix it
automatically please?

 

[Nick Burns]

Another query from an MP3/tagging newcomer. This arises while I'm
trying out Tag&Rename (the first tagging program I've used). But it's
really about tags in general I think.

One file I've downloaded (from alt.binaries.sounds.mp3.jazz) looks
like this when I load it in the program:

File: D:\Docs\Test-Renaming\19. Nightmare - Artie Shaw.mp3
Title: Nightmare - Artie Shaw
Artist: Big Bands In Hi-Fi Vol.2
Album: In The Mood
Year: 1995
Genre: Big Band
# 19
Comment:

I/m confused as to why its Artist should be 'Big Bands In Hi-Fi
Vol.2', rather than 'Artie Shaw'? That sounds more like an Album name.
Is that likely to be a tag error?

Also, that '-' in the Title rather upsets my plan to use '-' as a
separator, i.e. Artist - Album - Title. (I end up with a confusing
extra separator.) Is that widespread practice? Any way I can fix it
automatically please?

Change it to what you want, no guarantee any tag is correct.

 

[Galley]

Another query from an MP3/tagging newcomer. This arises while I'm
trying out Tag&Rename (the first tagging program I've used). But it's
really about tags in general I think.

One file I've downloaded (from alt.binaries.sounds.mp3.jazz) looks
like this when I load it in the program:

File: D:\Docs\Test-Renaming\19. Nightmare - Artie Shaw.mp3
Title: Nightmare - Artie Shaw
Artist: Big Bands In Hi-Fi Vol.2
Album: In The Mood
Year: 1995
Genre: Big Band
# 19
Comment:

I/m confused as to why its Artist should be 'Big Bands In Hi-Fi
Vol.2', rather than 'Artie Shaw'? That sounds more like an Album name.
Is that likely to be a tag error?

Also, that '-' in the Title rather upsets my plan to use '-' as a
separator, i.e. Artist - Album - Title. (I end up with a confusing
extra separator.) Is that widespread practice? Any way I can fix it
automatically please?

That's one reason why I don't download songs illegally. You never what you're
gonna get!
Tip: Using Tag&Rename, select the track, and then click the globe icon with the
down arrow on it. This will open a browser window to the AllMusic.com site. It
will automatically fill in the album name for you. If that is what you want,
click the "go" button on the web page. If the resulting album is correct, click
the "Get Info" button in the toolbar. (If not, use the "fill artist", "fill
album" and "fill song" buttons. This will open a new form where you can choose
which fields to update, and also download the album artwork as well! If you
choose the "save cover art into file tag" option, then the artwork will be
imbedded in the file itself, and will be readable by any app that supports it.
If you choose the "save cover art to jpg", then it will be saved as "Folder.jpg"
in the album folder. (That filename is what Windows XP looks for when it wants
to display the artwork on the folder icon). I recommend choosing both, as they
only require about 10-20KB of space.
Terry, feel free to e-mail me directly, if you prefer. Don't forget to remove
the SpamJammer from my address.

 

[Terry Pinnell]

That's one reason why I don't download songs illegally. You never what you're
gonna get!
Tip: Using Tag&Rename, select the track, and then click the globe icon with the
down arrow on it. This will open a browser window to the AllMusic.com site. It
will automatically fill in the album name for you. If that is what you want,
click the "go" button on the web page. If the resulting album is correct, click
the "Get Info" button in the toolbar. (If not, use the "fill artist", "fill
album" and "fill song" buttons. This will open a new form where you can choose
which fields to update, and also download the album artwork as well! If you
choose the "save cover art into file tag" option, then the artwork will be
imbedded in the file itself, and will be readable by any app that supports it.
If you choose the "save cover art to jpg", then it will be saved as "Folder.jpg"
in the album folder. (That filename is what Windows XP looks for when it wants
to display the artwork on the folder icon). I recommend choosing both, as they
only require about 10-20KB of space.
Terry, feel free to e-mail me directly, if you prefer. Don't forget to remove
the SpamJammer from my address.

Thanks, Galley, that's very kind of you. I'm going to set aside
substantial time next week for studying and experimentiong with all
this. And maybe even retagging a chunk of my 2,000 or so tracks! Most
are from my CDs, although even there I anticipate problems, as I
edited the filenames sort of on-the-fly I recall.

Finally (for now <g>), what were your thoughts about the need for
Track Number?

 

[Galley]

Thanks, Galley, that's very kind of you. I'm going to set aside
substantial time next week for studying and experimentiong with all
this. And maybe even retagging a chunk of my 2,000 or so tracks! Most
are from my CDs, although even there I anticipate problems, as I
edited the filenames sort of on-the-fly I recall.

Finally (for now <g>), what were your thoughts about the need for
Track Number?

Really, the only need for the track number in front of the file name is so they
will sort as they appear on the CD, otherwise they will sort alphabetically in
most file managers (Windows Explorer, etc.)