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CHAMP
Compilation true/false metadata value
Sorting through vast amounts of music is pretty hard but it could be made much simpler for me if I could create smart playlists based on whether or not a track is from a compilation album or a normal single artist release. I hate to say it....but i think you can do it in iTunes - not that that makes up for all it's other failings. Any ideas?
I’m sorting my library
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Hi Tim,
Compilation support will come in the next release, Isan.
http://wiki.songbirdnest.com/Releases...
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Inappropriate?Hi Tim,
Compilation support will come in the next release, Isan.
http://wiki.songbirdnest.com/Releases...
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Michael,
Now that this compilation support was descoped from Isan, can we expect it in Jackson 5? -
Good question!
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There's still hope that it might go into Isan... Since its not *huge* to implement... Right now its P3 (Priority 3) for the developers... Almost all P1's have been fixed/implemented.. If you want to track and see if they do make it into Isan check out the bugs here and add your name to the CC list... If they dont make it into Isan in time, I dont see why they wouldnt go in Jackson 5.. ;)
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http://bugzilla.songbirdnest.com/show...
"bugshuffle-j5-to-future
Moving the Compilation feature work out to future, we'll pull it back in when
we get the bandwidth on the roadmap, or it's priority goes up."
How can we persuade the priority to go up? -
you can vote for the bug in bugzilla. Just create an account if you have none.
This being said, as there are really nice workarounds to handle compilations currently in Sonbgird (see my post below for instance), I'm not sure this will gain priority enough compared to other features where there is no workaround. -
I don't think any of those workarounds are real substitutes for "select tracks in an album, edit properties, tick "Compilation", save" - I'll be voting for the bug, at least.
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There is one actually ;) :
"select tracks in an album, edit properties, enter AlbumArtist field, type in "Compilation", save"
Ok, I agree, it's slightly longer :)
But with so many free benefits (see last answers) -
The only way that putting "Compilation" in the AlbumArtist field would work for me is if this happens: http://getsatisfaction.com/songbird/t...
At the moment, sorting on the AlbumArtist field is impractical as most files don't have the AlbumArtist metadata in them. -
And why don't you add an AlbumArtist tag to ALL your songs? This way, it works perfectly.
For compilations, set the AlbumArtist to something like "Compilation".
And for all other tracks, you can select them in one batch by using a smart playlist ('AlbumArtist is ""' will give you all tracks where AlbumArtist is empty). Then just select all those tracks and use the trick explain here to copy Artist into AlbumArtist: http://getsatisfaction.com/songbird/t... -
Inappropriate?That's brilliant - and as per usual goes way beyond the iTunes feature! Thanks for letting me know Boosh :)
I’m very pleased
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Inappropriate?I flippin wish this had been included - I might be able to sort out the gigantic mess my music folder is in after the organiser fiasco...
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Inappropriate?Have you tried the Metadata Tools + Tagger/Vandelay workaround by using the Album Artist field to use as compilations.. I like it.
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Inappropriate?Yeah, my problem is the physical location of the files which are nolonger grouped by album. In order to import my itunes library, with ratings etc, they need to be. Sad times! I've just had to reformat and I'm starting again with a fresh install of XP (for the n-th time this year...poor little old computer) and I stupidly synced my music folder with my portable hdd while it was messed up and didn't realise - nice going! Anyway, I'm sure there'll be a work around :)
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Inappropriate?Don't know if I have understood your problem, but:
in addition to fill in the AlbumArtist tag as Michael explained (with AlbumArtist set to Artist's name when it is not a compilation, or set to "Compilation" when it IS a compilation), you can non only sort data in Songbird by replacing the Artist column by the Album Artist column, but you can also organise your music on the disk by Album folders, even for compilations.
To do that, activate the "Manage Music" mode of Songbird, and ask songbird to rename the files according to a "AlbumArtist/Album" folder structure instead of the default one ("Artist/Album").
All your compilations will be moved under a "Compilation" folder, each it its Album folder.
But, as usual with the Managed Music feature, be careful and use a new and empty folder as a "Managed Music" folder (never user the folder where your music was located before), and Import songs from your old music folder into Songbird using the "Import media" feature..
All your music will then be COPIED to the new locationand renamed well. Copied, not moved, hence no harm done to your original files. You need twice the disk space temporarily, but this spares making an otherwise mandatory backup!
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Inappropriate?Note that if you really need a compilation INDICATOR, you can set one by displaying tags hidden by default in Songbird. If I recall well, there is a compilation flag in it.
Just install the Power Tools extension and follow instructions for additional metadata panel in the metadata editor..
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Inappropriate?Just verified what is available actually with the Power Tools extension:
- the Compilation flag is there and can be displayed in the library as a new column
- but sadly, there is no way to set a value for this field in Songbird
@hubfaction: I wonder what the use of a Compilation flag in itself could be, in addition to using the AlbumArtist field in the way explained 2 posts above.
Do you have examples?
Thanks
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Inappropriate?The reason I actually prefer the Album Artist field over the Compilation flag is because I don't want my compilations/soundtracks in separate folder.. I share my music over the network and I find it easier to track down the music by just appending "**** - Soundtrack" (or whatever) in the Album Artist field so the Music Manager puts it in the main folder. I don't want them shoved away in a separate one :-P
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Inappropriate?And to answer Tim's initial question, about smart playlist:
in my example explained here (http://getsatisfaction.com/songbird/t...), you can set a criteria in a Smart Playlist such as :
"AlbumArtist is 'Compilation'"
This will tell the smart playlist whether the track is part of a compilation..
So, I really thing you should investigate this nice workaround that answers both your needs of smart playlist and file grouping on the disk.
To summarize the solution:
The "compilation flag" you are looking for it the AlbumArtist field.
- For compilation tracks, set it to "Compilation"
- For non compilation tracks, set it to the Artist actual name.
As Michael said it, the Metadata tools extension allow to copy Artist to ArtistAlbum for selected tracks in one shot.
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Inappropriate?Problem is, using some addon or other a while back I copied the Artist name in to the album artist field so now I have now way of knowing if a track is from a compilation except by looking at the album title, which clearly i can't do automagically. Sad times :( Still, many thanks for all the wisdom! I think I'll have to sort some of it manually but the rest i shall follow your wise words of adivce :)2 Comments Add a comment
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Yes, that's true: you'll have to go through all your library to detect compilation :( . What you can do is create a dummy playlist, sort your library by album, and drag&drop all albums where the AlbumArtist are mutliple... Once this is done, display the playlist, select all tracts, right click, view metadata and set the AlbumArtist to "Compilation"....
Hope this helps!! -
Go call!! I love it! You, sir, are inspired!
CHAMP
CHAMP
