iTunes Questions

[Moosbrugger]

This makes sense. It's frustrating because the mobile devices have the "Artist" tag, but not "Album Artist". I like to keep the "Artist" tag as "clean" as possible. This make it easier when I'm walking about and scrolling randomly for something that peaks my interest. It's more than sufficient for me to see "Kanye West," as an option. I don't need to see separate entries for each grouping of guests used on one album. For jazz, I'm generally happy to use, say, "John Coltrane," without identifying who might be joining him on a particular album. Although I have to choose who gets tagged for, say an album of Miles and Coltrane.

 

I wonder if this is because old people like me think of "albums", whereas the kids think of songs.

And it seems that the concept of "guest" on a rock album was never really developed. The Stones album would identify the piano player, sax, etc. But these were sidemen. Were the backup singers listed?

I can't think of instances of cross-collaboration between bands.

When Elvis sang some backup for Squeeze, I don't think he was listed on the album.

(Just some random thoughts on a cold rainy morning.)

[jhwalker]

This makes sense. It's frustrating because the mobile devices have the "Artist" tag, but not "Album Artist". I like to keep the "Artist" tag as "clean" as possible. This make it easier when I'm walking about and scrolling randomly for something that peaks my interest. It's more than sufficient for me to see "Kanye West," as an option. I don't need to see separate entries for each grouping of guests used on one album. For jazz, I'm generally happy to use, say, "John Coltrane," without identifying who might be joining him on a particular album. Although I have to choose who gets tagged for, say an album of Miles and Coltrane.

 

I wonder if this is because old people like me think of "albums", whereas the kids think of songs.

And it seems that the concept of "guest" on a rock album was never really developed. The Stones album would identify the piano player, sax, etc. But these were sidemen. Were the backup singers listed?

I can't think of instances of cross-collaboration between bands.

When Elvis sang some backup for Squeeze, I don't think he was listed on the album.

(Just some random thoughts on a cold rainy morning.)

 

Yeah, the "Artist" vs. "Album Artist" thing is irritating on portable players (looking at you, Apple). I use "Artist" for artist(s) on a particular track, while "Album Artist" is reserved for the "main" artist on a particular album (i.e., for whose performance did I buy the album?), so I would *really* like the option of choosing (or setting as default) the "Album Artist" field as the sort key for the "Artist" display in the iOS music app.

[Moosbrugger]

I'm still confused.

I sort my library by Artist.

The top song is "The Look of Love" by Artist "ABC". (From the compilation "Modern Rock." Lots of fun if you grew up in the 80s.)

But the next is "La Clemenza di Tito," with the Artist "Mozart". The Album is "Barbara Bonney Sings Mozart". The Album Artist is "Barbaray Bonney." No "A"s at all.

Then. all the tracks from Mozart Requiem, with Mozart as Artist. At least this has Academy of St. Martin as the Album Artist.

 

After that, it seems to be alphabetized by Artist for a while, until it hits an album of Liszt, with "Liszt" in the Artist field. Although "Alfred Brendel" is the Album Artist.

 

Is this a glitch, or is there a sorting rule I'm not figuring out.

[Audio_ELF]

Is this a glitch, or is there a sorting rule I'm not figuring out.

Are you sure there's nothing in the "sort as" fields for the albums/artists which are out of order?

[Jabs1542]

I'm still confused.

I sort my library by Artist.

The top song is "The Look of Love" by Artist "ABC". (From the compilation "Modern Rock." Lots of fun if you grew up in the 80s.)

But the next is "La Clemenza di Tito," with the Artist "Mozart". The Album is "Barbara Bonney Sings Mozart". The Album Artist is "Barbaray Bonney." No "A"s at all.

Then. all the tracks from Mozart Requiem, with Mozart as Artist. At least this has Academy of St. Martin as the Album Artist.

 

After that, it seems to be alphabetized by Artist for a while, until it hits an album of Liszt, with "Liszt" in the Artist field. Although "Alfred Brendel" is the Album Artist.

 

Is this a glitch, or is there a sorting rule I'm not figuring out.

 

You may want to consider looking at these particular files with an external tagging tool and see what embedded. I thought I had ordering goofs but then realized that it was correct once I figured out metadata the field it was using, then I just made corrections in that field - which is now a routine procedure whenever I rip a classical music CD. Rip, check fields, cleanup, then import.

[Moosbrugger]

Are you sure there's nothing in the "sort as" fields for the albums/artists which are out of order?

 

Possibly. I'm not sure if it matters whether I sort by, say "Album" or "Album by Artist" or "Album by Artist/Year" before I sort by Artist. It doesn't seem to make a difference.

 

Jabs -- I'm not sure where to look. It's showing "Mozart" in the artist field, but its sorting it as an "A."

[Jabs1542]

Possibly. I'm not sure if it matters whether I sort by, say "Album" or "Album by Artist" or "Album by Artist/Year" before I sort by Artist. It doesn't seem to make a difference.

 

Jabs -- I'm not sure where to look. It's showing "Mozart" in the artist field, but its sorting it as an "A."

 

I'm not a Mac guy so you'll have to consult someone else for a tagging tool but what I found out when I looked at the tags myself was a field that said Amedeus which is why it was in the "A's". Turns out this was the Album Artist field though the software reported it as Artist. Once I figured this out (how the software was selecting fields) life got a lot easier. BTW - almost all music players have their own tagging quirks.

[Moosbrugger]

I've got one CD that wont sort properly.

It's part of a 5-disc collection: Schubert: Chamber Music Masterpieces.

Disc 1 has Death and the Maiden (4 movements) and Quartettsatz (1 movement).

No matter how I sort the disc, the 1st movement of Death and the Maiden appears in iTunes as the last track -- although the track is identified as 1 of 5. Some sorts show it as a completely different disc.

 

I've confirmed that every shared field is exactly the same. The track numbers are correct -- 1 of 5, 2 of 5, etc. They're all Disc 1. All of the Sorting fields are the same.

 

I can't think of any reason why this wont sort correctly. It's driving me nuts.