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

1. Download the (free of charge) Mp3tag program V2.39c or later here, and install.
2. Launch Mp3tag.
3. Right-click the tracklist heading, and click Customize columns... (you'll get the Columns dialog box).
4. Click the starred page icon (you'll get an entry for a new column).
5. In Name type

   ti3

6. 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.
7. Click OK (you'll get a ti3 column appear in the track list).
8. Click File | Export (you'll get the Export dialog box).
9. 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).
10. 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.
11. Save the file.

Step 2 - Retrieve tag data

1. Launch mp3tag.
2. Click File | Change directory... and select the folder containing your albums. You may then add further albums using File | Add directory...
3. Click File | Export (you'll get an Export dialog box).
4. Select ti3.
5. In Export file name enter c:\temp.txt and click OK (you'll get a Display Export file now? dialog box).
6. Click Yes (you'll get (by default) a Notepad window listing your albums' barcode numbers).
7. Copy all lines to the clipboard.
8. Go to http://tools.tango.info/tagging3.php.
9. 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

1. 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)
2. Select all lines in the tag list, then Copy to the clipboard.
3. Return to the still open Notepad window, delete all contents, then Paste from the clipboard.
4. 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.)
5. 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

1. Return to mp3tag.
2. In the tracklist heading, click on Title then ti3 (you'll get the tracks sorted by ascending barcode number, CD number and track number).
3. Click Edit | Select all files.
4. Click Convert | Text file - Tag.
5. In Filename enter c:\temp.txt.
6. In Format string enter

   %dummy%;%album%;%discnumber%;%track%;%title%;%artist%;%genre%;%year%;%dummy%

7. Click OK. The files will be tagged.

You've put the tag data into your track files. Mp3tag shows you the result.