>In Mp3tag for MP3 files you _do_ want to use ITUNESCOMPILATION. This >maps to the ID3v2 TCMP frame. You also want to use ARTISTSORTORDER on >MP3 files, which is mapped by Mp3tag to TSOP. > Not so clear-cut as that...
for id3v2 tags, Mp3Tag can be used to write to the TCMP frame, which it calls ITUNESCOMPILATION. This is understood by SqueezeCenter, and obviously iTunes. It's not a standard frame though (invented by Apple) - many (most?) other apps will not be able to read this tag. I think the standard (??!!) indicates than invalid/unknown frames should be ignored (so eg, if you use something like MusicIP and archive analysis information, it may lose this information because if it doesn't read the tag, when it writes tags back it will lose the tag). You can add a custom tag called COMPILATION, which will work for id3 tags and is also how you tag FLAC files. SqueezeCenter understands this tag. I write BOTH ITUNESCOMPILATION and COMPILATION (ITUNESCOMPILATION for iTunes, and COMPILATION for SqueezeCenter, in case ITUNESCOMPILATION is lost). >For ALBUMARTIST you could use the literal 'ALBUMARTIST', which Mp3tag >will write as a user defined TXXX frame and it will be seen by >SqueezeCenter. > Actually, it's preferential to use "ALBUM ARTIST", as this is also understood by SqueezeCenter AND Foobar. >Then you would use ALBUMARTISTSORT as the sort field for that string. > Is that true - I didn't know SqueezeCenter supported sort tags on anything other than ARTIST tags. I know generic support for "...SORT" tags has been requested a few times (enhancement requests filed). Do you happen to know if "ALBUM ARTISTSORT", and "COMPOSERSORT" now too then? >> If I understand You right, it would be better to leave the ARTISTSORT >> empty in EVERY file (or to fill it in every file - much work to do...) >> and then the server should use the ALBUMARTIST/Band-TAG, right? > You only need to add SORT tags if the artist name is not how you want the artist to be sorted. Bear in mind that by default SqueezeCenter will not use leading articles for sorting, so "The Beatles" will be sorted under B automatically. If you prefer artists to be sorted by "lastname, forenames", then you only need to enter ARTISTSORT tags for artist names. eg. ARTIST=Brian Eno, ARTISTSORT=Eno, Brian. i.e. if ARTISTSORT is not specified as a tag, squeezecenter will set the artist sort to the same as the ARTIST tag, with articles (such as The, La, etc) removed. It shouldn't hurt to have ARTISTSORT tags entered as the same as the ARTIST name, but ARTISTSORT=The Beatles would then sort under T, not B, I believe. >The main thing is that for compilations, don't add a BAND/ALBUMARTIST >tag. > It's perfectly okay to add an Album Artist (either ALBUMARTIST, ALBUM ARTIST or BAND if the setting TPE2=Album Artist) for compilations. Such an album would appear as a various artists album, but denoted as being by the Album Artist. This is often useful for Remix albums. Eg. "Another Late Night by Groove Armada", which is a compilation of other artists' songs mixed together. >What _I_ do is to add the COMPILATION (FLAC files) or ITUNESCOMPILATION >(MP3 files) to every track in my library. Set to 1 on albums that are >compilations and 0 for albums that are not or that I want to force to be >seen as non-compilations. As I said above, it isn't strictly necessary >to tag all tracks with this field, but for me it's easy to do and leaves >no room for doubt. > A Compilation tag is not usually necessary. I set it on compilation albums, just to be sure (and for iTunes - only for syncing to my iPod Nano). It would be necessary for cases where you do want an Album Artist, and still appear under "Various Artists". COMPILATION=0 is dodgy ground. Shouldn't be necessary - should be using Album Artist tags for albums when there are guest appearances. If you use COMPILATION=0 for these cases instead, I think you end up with an album for each artist on the album, rather than one album as a Various Artist album. I believe the only time COMPILATION=0 is needed is if you physically store songs in a flat structure, such that several albums are stored in the same folder. COMPILATION=0 ensures that they are not grouped together. My memory is a bit hazy on the specifics - I don't need to do it ever, as I store each album in its own folder. >I say would use an update scan any time you add new albums to the >library. Scan for new/changed files works quite well for adding new files to the SC database. It doesn't always work too well when changes have been made to existing files (tag content changes such that songs move from one album to another, Compilation tag changes, sort ordering changes, new artwork, etc). _______________________________________________ beta mailing list [email protected] http://lists.slimdevices.com/mailman/listinfo/beta
