[alevarg]

Hi. I'm relatively new into the Kodi's world. This is my first post here, and I hope you understand, despite my poor english.
My question is about the music library.
I have no problem doing things manually (at least with the albums that I care). But I'm not sure what is the best way to sort my collection.
I read a lot, and only confused me more and more.
I understand that there is no "perfect tool", but within the possibilities, I wonder what is most convenient.
Most of the formats I have (tracks or images) are wav and flac, but also some ape, aac, and some dts. Therefore also cue.

To date, usually I erased the tags and used the data contained in the cue (as if it were a playlist). But it was a bad decision, because of the very few options for info and the difficult to sort artists, albums, etc.

The problem is I can't eliminate .cue (because images, as well as to have "metadata" in the .dts files). Also, the MusicBrainz Picard doesn't write me the tags in wav (action which does, for example, mp3tag, but has far fewer options fields).
Then I thought about the .nfo but mediaelch is really basic, and if I rely on the example of the wiki for music nfo files, there are no fields as catalog number, album artist sort or for a album with various artists, etc.

So what can I do?

I like the lot of options from picard, but doesn't write wav, and above all, and especially don't look good with few options for albums I have in images.

What should I use? Tags, the data in the .cue ... any suggestions?

I also wonder, Picard can not generate all the data it collects an NFO? Is there any way the .nfo not entirely handwritten to make it complete?

THANKS in advance!

[HomerJau]

I converted all my audio files to FLAC and tagged them.

Foobar2000 has a DTS decoder plugin and will open a cue file and convert to individual tagged FLAC files, it also does that for SACD ISO and WAV too.

I've used NFO for artist info and music video files successfully but I would not recommend NFO for audio as there are already easy free programs to tag. I use Tagscanner (free) since it's has a fairly straight forward user interface.

Additionally Tags are reusable in other music music players whereas NFOs may not be, so tagging can be used in future regardless of Kodi etc.

[alevarg]

Thanks for answering.
I was testing and have been pleasant surprises. It's not like other players that, if read the tags and there are .cue, takes the album twice. I suspect that read the tags and, if it's empty, continues with the .cue data. But it's just my guess.
Even if in the .cue is the famous "... feat. ..." automatically separates the interpreters. So can coexist .cue data with the tags.

Why not recommending use .nfo for audio? In general or for something specific? I mean, for album description or "review" is usefull.

Is there any way to enable in Kodi, for example, original year, label, catalog number or it depends on the skin?

[alevarg]

I keep reading and testing, so I have new doubts!


*** about ARTIST tag

* artist
* albumartist
* albumarstistsort
* artists
* artistsort

Based on an album of "various artists", I see the next:
-artist: Rufus Wainwright & Kate McGarrigle
-albumartist: Various Artists
-albumarstistsort: Various Artists
-artists: Rufus Wainwright\\Kate McGarrigle
-artistsort: Wainwright, Rufus & McGarrigle, Kate

What I understand is, in this case, Kodi takes the tag "artists" and separates the included. So in Kodi (sort by Artists) I see "Kate McGarrigle" and "Rufus Wainwright" separated.
My question is: get to that because first read the tag "artists" or because first read "album artist" but as each track has a different artist, it is JUST for that reason that read the mentioned tag?

For example. I have the band "Hugo Race & The True Spirit", that on different album being listed as "Hugo Race + True Spirit", "Hugo Race And The True Spirit", "Hugo Race True Spirit", etc... so, I want to see in Kodi "Hugo Race & The True Spirit" or simply "Hugo Race"... so, what should I do?
In the artist tag (for each album) put the corresponding name (ex: Hugo Race + The True Spirit), then where should put "Hugo Race" in all albums (what I want to see in Kodi): albumartist or artists?


*** about ALBUMS (two different versions of the same album)

For example. I have an album whose the original release was 1980, but I have two "versions": the first issue in CD (1991) and a remastered edition (2012). So, the first issue in cd isn't the original year.
How I can do to fit in discography that is set into the .nfo?
Because if I put the original year, Kodi don't take them separately. But if I put the corresponding year (1991 and 2012, putting "1980" in "originalyear" tag), it doesn't match me with the year in discography!


*** about music in image+cue

I have a cue where all the tracks has a INDEX 00 and INDEX 01 that refer to the 2 seconds pregaps.

TRACK 03 AUDIO
INDEX 00 08:22:16
INDEX 01 08:24:16
TRACK 04 AUDIO
INDEX 00 12:13:28
INDEX 01 12:15:28
TRACK 05 AUDIO
INDEX 00 15:47:03
INDEX 01 15:49:03

I don't understand why Kodi skips some songs. For example the #3 skip directly through #4. All tracks have this same pregap. Where would the error in the .cue?



Sorry for all of this, and THANKS!

(I do what I can with my very limited English)

[AnalogKid]

I keep reading and testing, so I have new doubts!


*** about ARTIST tag

* artist
* albumartist
* albumarstistsort
* artists
* artistsort

Based on an album of "various artists", I see the next:
-artist: Rufus Wainwright & Kate McGarrigle
-albumartist: Various Artists
-albumarstistsort: Various Artists
-artists: Rufus Wainwright\\Kate McGarrigle
-artistsort: Wainwright, Rufus & McGarrigle, Kate

What I understand is, in this case, Kodi takes the tag "artists" and separates the included. So in Kodi (sort by Artists) I see "Kate McGarrigle" and "Rufus Wainwright" separated.
My question is: get to that because first read the tag "artists" or because first read "album artist" but as each track has a different artist, it is JUST for that reason that read the mentioned tag?

For example. I have the band "Hugo Race & The True Spirit", that on different album being listed as "Hugo Race + True Spirit", "Hugo Race And The True Spirit", "Hugo Race True Spirit", etc... so, I want to see in Kodi "Hugo Race & The True Spirit" or simply "Hugo Race"... so, what should I do?
In the artist tag (for each album) put the corresponding name (ex: Hugo Race + The True Spirit), then where should put "Hugo Race" in all albums (what I want to see in Kodi): albumartist or artists?


*** about ALBUMS (two different versions of the same album)

For example. I have an album whose the original release was 1980, but I have two "versions": the first issue in CD (1991) and a remastered edition (2012). So, the first issue in cd isn't the original year.
How I can do to fit in discography that is set into the .nfo?
Because if I put the original year, Kodi don't take them separately. But if I put the corresponding year (1991 and 2012, putting "1980" in "originalyear" tag), it doesn't match me with the year in discography!


*** about music in image+cue

I have a cue where all the tracks has a INDEX 00 and INDEX 01 that refer to the 2 seconds pregaps.

TRACK 03 AUDIO
INDEX 00 08:22:16
INDEX 01 08:24:16
TRACK 04 AUDIO
INDEX 00 12:13:28
INDEX 01 12:15:28
TRACK 05 AUDIO
INDEX 00 15:47:03
INDEX 01 15:49:03

I don't understand why Kodi skips some songs. For example the #3 skip directly through #4. All tracks have this same pregap. Where would the error in the .cue?



Sorry for all of this, and THANKS!

(I do what I can with my very limited English)

For the issue of Hugo Race & The True Spirit vs Hugo Race + The True Spirit - you have to make a decision. Treat them as two entities (Hugo Race) and (The True Spirit) and delimit them with your chosen delimiter OR treat them as one entity.
If you treat them as one entity then you need to use precisely the same naming convention across albums and tracks, despite how they might be printed on an album cover.


For the issue of different versions of the same album - you will have to tag the Album as 'Thriller or Thriller (Remastered) or Thriller (Japanese Edition) etc. It's the only way to make them distinct.'

[alevarg]

Ok, I see... there is no way to put different "albumartist" and "artist" (per track), because Kodi took them like a "various artist" album... in this case, a same album appear twice...

Also, the discography in the artist.info just only need to match the name of the album, in this isn't read the year's tags...

So, it isn't necessary to make a complete tagging, as Kodi actually reading very few tags that may be helpful... I am right? Only I need fill the basic tags... or recommend me to do a full tagging in the case that in the future Kodi will use other of them?

Any idea about image+cue problem? I can't find nothing about.

THANK YOU!

[DaveBlake]

Ok, I see... there is no way to put different "albumartist" and "artist" (per track), because Kodi took them like a "various artist" album... in this case, a same album appear twice...

All tracks on an album need to have the same album artist(s), but can have a different artists on each song on that album. If you do not set ALBUMARTIST tag Kodi assumes it is the same as the ARTIST tag. If this leaves an album with a mix of artists then Kodi assume that the album artist is "various artists".

So, it isn't necessary to make a complete tagging, as Kodi actually reading very few tags that may be helpful... I am right? Only I need fill the basic tags... or recommend me to do a full tagging in the case that in the future Kodi will use other of them?

Kodi uses the majority of the tags, more being included with v17, so not sure why you think it is "very few"? I recommend that you tag fully and consistently as an investment for the future.

[alevarg]

Kodi uses the majority of the tags, more being included with v17, so not sure why you think it is "very few"? I recommend that you tag fully and consistently as an investment for the future.

What I mean is that I can't see many of those tags, or or rather, I can't access them. Probably this can do manually, setting something, but I'm a newbie in this!
Anyway, for now, I just want to know the best way to cataloging my music (almost 2tb ¡untagged!)... later will be the time to overturn everything, not "suffer" so much and just enjoy Kodi.
But I meant, there are tags that are not seen as a "label" or "catalog number", but I'm sure setting something (or depending on the skin) must be available at the time of playing an album or song. I understand that it is better to fill all possible tags.
Anyway, what matters are the tags that can be usefull to sort.
There tagging issues that are common to all players. An album in two different versions, is usefull year/original year? It is better to change the album artist field as @AnalogKid answered above? Well... Stuff like these...
Since it must be done manually, correct all the files again in a future is a major time wasters. That's why I ask for the best way to do.
(Considering that the databases like MusicBrainz have only "popular" albums/issues. For example a issue from a LATAM country may not match with the database by some minor details and we must do it all manually... etc). So do that work two times is not interesting!

I will tagging like you recommend me!

All tracks on an album need to have the same album artist(s), but can have a different artists on each song on that album. If you do not set ALBUMARTIST tag Kodi assumes it is the same as the ARTIST tag. If this leaves an album with a mix of artists then Kodi assume that the album artist is "various artists".

Yes, I see. But...
For example:
Album #1: John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band
Artists Album #1 (& Artist Per Track): John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band
Album #2: Live Peace In Toronto
Artists Album #2 (& Artist Per Track): The Plastic Ono Band

tag "albumartistsort": John Lennon
So, this tag function would be to group them all? I mean: all of this just inside "John Lennon" and and not be scattered all these artists?... or for what is this tag?
I understand that Kodi doesn't use this tag right now, but should I fill this field thinking in that way for the future?



To all of you, Thanks for taking the time to answer me!


PS: I'm not sure about something: should I use ID3v2.4 UTF-8 or ID3v2.4 UTF-16 or ID3v2.3 UTF-16 or is indistinct?

[alevarg]

Earlier I asked questions without knowing too much. I apologize. I'm pretty new in this and there is much to read, try and learn.
I could solve a lot about the tags of my library.
I find that a simple "id" changes everything. I discovered that in .wav, .mp3 or .m4a the tags aren't saved in the same fields. I know it's obvious, but it was part of learning.
So I can use .wav quietly (just had to find the id field for artist/album artist).
Now I have two more questions.

1) Sometimes I have the problem that put play on a track, but Kodi playing the following track. I mean, give play to track #1, and automatically Kodi plays #2... I give play to track #4, but plays #5. I used to think that was a problem with .cue, but happened in a .wav album (tracks, WITHOUT .cue).
What can it be?

2) I have some "collaborative" albums, but the artists separated.
Eg: Nick Cave & Warren Ellis:
Artist (in tracks): Nick Cave & Warren Ellis
Artists: Nick Cave\\Warren Ellis (or Nick Cave; Warren Ellis)
AlbumArtist: Nick Cave\\Warren Ellis (or Nick Cave; Warren Ellis)
I like it in that way. The albums are loaded only into each artist.
I have this albums in a folder "Nick Cave & Warren Ellis". Also I have the folders "Nick Cave" (with their own albums) and "Warren Ellis" (as well with their own albums). The problems is: while collaborative albums are present, Kodi don't load the artist.nfo from each one of these two. If I delete these "collaborative albums", Kodi read the artist.nfo.

I hope understand what I mean. My english is very limited.

THANKS TO ALL!!

[DaveBlake]

Sorry, no idea about 1, never had anything like that.

Yes 2) is a current weakness in the way both NFO and artist artwork is processed. Kodi looks for the common folder for all the songs by that artist, and expects the art and NFO file to be there. This does not work well in some situations like an album with multiple album artists. It is something I hope to improve.

Say you have folder structure
mymusic/artist1/album1/song1.mp3
mymusic/artist1/album1/song2.mp3
etc.
mymusic/artist1/album2/song1.mp3
mymusic/artist1/album2/song2.mp3
etc.
mymusic/artist2/album1/song1.mp3
mymusic/artist2/album1/song2.mp3
etc.
mymusic/artist2/album2/song1.mp3
mymusic/artist2/album2/song2.mp3
etc.

Kodi looks in mymusic/artist1 for NFO for artist1, and in mymusic/artist2 for NFO for artist2

But if you also have
mymusic/artist1 & artist2/albumX/song1.mp3
mymusic/artist1 & artist2/albumX/song2.mp3
etc.

then the common (parent) folder for music files by artist1 is mymusic.

[alevarg]

eg folder structure:

mymusic / artist1 / album1 / song1.mp3
mymusic / artist1 / album1 / song2.mp3
etc
mymusic / artist1 / album2 - WITH ARTIST2 / song1.mp3
mymusic / artist1 / album2 - WITH ARTIST2 / song2.mp3
etc
mymusic / artist2 / album1 / song1.mp3
mymusic / artist2 / album1 / song2.mp3
etc

in wich that album 2 = albumartis: artist1;artist2

for artist 1: all OK
for artist 2: Kodi read the folder.jpg and fanart.jpg but don't load the .nfo

The momentary "solution" I found is paste the "collaborative album" in library AFTER loading all the information.

[DaveBlake]

for artist 1: all OK
for artist 2: Kodi read the folder.jpg and fanart.jpg but don't load the .nfo

Yes, exactly as I explained. In this situation the common folder for all songs tagged with artist2 is MyMusic, so Kodi if looking there for the nfo for artist2 not in mymusic/artist2.

The momentary "solution" I found is paste the "collaborative album" in library AFTER loading all the information.

Not sure what you mean by this. You could mess with separate sources and the order that they are added/scanned into the library.

Unfortunately collaborative albums, those with more than one album artist, is something that NFO scraping does not currently handle well.

[AnalogKid]

Current I handle is this way:

mymusic/artist1/album1/song1.mp3
mymusic/artist1/album1/song2.mp3

mymusic/artist1/album2/song1.mp3
mymusic/artist1/album2/song2.mp3

mymusic/artist2/album1/song1.mp3
mymusic/artist2/album1/song2.mp3

mymusic/artist2/album2/song1.mp3
mymusic/artist2/album2/song2.mp3


/* collaboration album - AlbumArtist = artist1 and artist2 - Artist = artist1; artist2 */

mymusic/artist1 and artist 2/album1/song1.mp3
mymusic/artist1 and artist 2/album1/song2.mp3




This way, you can create a specific NFO and artwork for the collaboration, but the album can also appear under each individual artists albums too.
Please note the very important use of the tagging... AlbumArtist = ' artist1 and artist2' - this is one string. Artist = 'artist1; artist2' this is TWO artists delimited by your chosen delimiter.
Kodi doesn't know 'artist1 and artist2' are two artists - it's simply a single string / artist to Kodi, and it will treat this artist / collaboration as a distinct entity.

[alevarg]

This way, you can create a specific NFO and artwork for the collaboration, but the album can also appear under each individual artists albums too.
Please note the very important use of the tagging... AlbumArtist = ' artist1 and artist2' - this is one string. Artist = 'artist1; artist2' this is TWO artists delimited by your chosen delimiter.
Kodi doesn't know 'artist1 and artist2' are two artists - it's simply a single string / artist to Kodi, and it will treat this artist / collaboration as a distinct entity.

I'm trying to do what you say. But I think the problem I have now is the musibrainz id. I mean, there is no id for a collaboration.
Eg: Nick Cave & Warren Ellis. there is only id for each, but not both. So even though I put "albumartist = Nick Cave & Warren Ellis", the musicbrainz álbum artist id is "4aae17a7-9f0c-487b-b60e-f8eafb410b1d; b083866c-6ef3-4c27-b360-7b601503c1e3". Kodi don't create "Nick Cave & Warren Ellis". By the way: now "Nick Cave" uses the folder.jpg and fanart.jpg in Nick Cave & Warren Ellis folder.
What can you suggest me?
I hope you understand me, sorry for my English!!!
THANK YOU so much!