Tagging
Software
- A great program for managing your music files' tags is Mp3tag.
How to tag your music files from tango.info data
These procedures label the files of your computer-based music library with metadata (track name, artist, genre etc.) from tango.info.
To identify albums, it relies on the barcode number - the 12, 13 or 14-digit number (excluding spaces and dashes, e.g. 8427328130431) shown under the barcode on the back cover of the album's case, or on the album's tango.info page.
The tags filled are:
- Album (title), Album Artist, mass tagging only: Side (a.k.a. Disc Number, Set)
- (of track:) Title, Track (number), Artist, Genre, Year
Note: The Artist value is a comma-separated list of primary artist name(s) (e.g. orchestra leader) followed by secondary artist name(s) in alphabetic order of (full) name.
There's a choice of two procedures:
- solo tagging - does one album at a time
- mass tagging - does multiple albums (e.g. your entire library) in one go.
Mass tagging
Requirements
- Each library album contains all and only its CDs and each CD contains all and only its tracks - none missing, none extra. Improvement is planned.
- The folders to be tagged must contain no audio files apart from the album tracks themselves.
- Folder and file names are as follows:
- Each filename starts with the track number.
- Tracks are in folders the names of which:
- contain the album barcode number (at any position), and;
- for all CDs in a multi-CD album are the same except for a fixed-length CD number.
- Examples:
El rey del compas (1941-1943) 0828766933420\01 El rey del compás.mp3
40 Grandes Exitos [CD1] [8427328146067]\01 Patotero sentimental.mp3
40 Grandes Exitos [CD2] [8427328146067]\01 Porteño y bailarín.mp3
Step 1 - set up Mp3tag
If you haven't already done so
- Download the (free of charge) Mp3tag program V2.39c or later here, and install.
- Launch Mp3tag.
- Right-click the tracklist heading, and click Customize columns... (you'll get the Columns dialog box).
- Click the starred page icon (you'll get an entry for a new column).
- In Name type
ti3
- Copy the following line (taking care to include the entire length - it ends with ) ):
$regexp($regexp(:%_directory%,^.*?('[''[':digit:']'']'{12,14}).*$,\1),:.*,no barcode number found in folder name)-:%_directory%:-$regexp($num($regexp(%_filename%:,^('[''[':digit:']'']'+).*$,\1),4),^0000$,no track number found at start of file name)
and Paste into both Value and Sort by. - Click OK (you'll get a ti3 column appear in the track list).
- Click File | Export (you'll get the Export dialog box).
- Click the starred page icon, type
ti3
and click OK (you'll get the new export config file ti3.mte open in (by default) Notepad). - Delete all lines, Copy the following lines (taking care to include the full length of the first - it ends with 1 - and to preserve the line break):
$filename(,ansi)$loop($regexp($regexp(:%_directory%,^.*?('[''[':digit:']'']'{12,14}).*$,\1),:.*,),1)$regexp($regexp(:%_directory%,^.*?('[''[':digit:']'']'{12,14}).*$,\1 ),:.*,)$loopend()
and Paste them into Notepad. - Save the file.
Step 2 - Retrieve tag data
- Launch mp3tag.
- Click File | Change directory... and select the folder containing your albums. You may then add further albums using File | Add directory...
- Click File | Export (you'll get an Export dialog box).
- Select ti3.
- In Export file name enter c:\temp.txt and click OK (you'll get a Display Export file now? dialog box).
- Click Yes (you'll get (by default) a Notepad window listing your albums' barcode numbers).
- Copy all lines to the clipboard.
- Go to http://tools.tango.info/tagging3.php.
- Paste into the (unlabelled) text input box and click Submit
You've retrieved the list of tag lines for your tracks.
Step 3 - Save the tag data
- Identify the tag list - from the previous step it is all lines between (not including) the last two horizontal rules, but excluding any final line(s) starting with not found:Array ( ) (these can be safely ignored)
- Select all lines in the tag list, then Copy to the clipboard.
- Return to the still open Notepad window, delete all contents, then Paste from the clipboard.
- IMPORTANT: check that the tag list contains lines for every album in your set. If it does not, tango.info didn't have tag data for this album - do not use this tag list but instead return to Mp3tag, delete all tracks of the missing albums, and repeat from step 3.2 above. (Improvement is planned.)
- Save (under the existing filename c:\temp.txt).
You've saved the tag lines for your tracks.
Step 4 - Put the tag data into your track files
- Return to mp3tag.
- In the tracklist heading, click on Title then ti3 (you'll get the tracks sorted by ascending barcode number, CD number and track number).
- Click Edit | Select all files.
- Click Convert | Text file - Tag.
- In Filename enter c:\temp.txt.
- In Format string enter
%dummy%;%album%;%discnumber%;%track%;%title%;%artist%;%genre%;%year%;%dummy%
- Click OK. The files will be tagged.
You've put the tag data into your track files. Mp3tag shows you the result.