What is music tagging?

What is Music Tagging?

Music tagging is the process of adding metadata to audio files such as MP3s and M4As [1]. This metadata includes information like the song title, artist name, album name, track number, genre, year of release, cover art, and more. Tagging allows you to organize your music library and provide details about each file that goes beyond just the file name.

The main purpose of tagging music files is to make them easier to identify, sort, search, and manage [2]. With proper tags, you can browse your music by artist, album, or genre, search for specific tracks, and ensure your songs will be correctly categorized when imported into media players, streaming services, and music software. Tags give structure and context to your digital music collection.

Common Music Tagging Formats

There are several common formats for storing metadata tags in music files:

• ID3 – The ID3 format is the most widely supported tag format and is used to store metadata in MP3 files. ID3v1 and ID3v2 are the most common versions of ID3 tags. ID3v2 allows for more metadata fields like album art, lyrics, etc. (Source)
• Vorbis Comments – The Ogg Vorbis audio format uses Vorbis Comments for tagging metadata. Vorbis Comments are flexible and allow custom fields. They are stored in the audio file header.
• APEv2 – This tag format is used in lossless audio formats like FLAC and WavPack. It builds on ID3v2 and allows more flexible data storage.
• MP4/M4A metadata – Metadata in MP4 and M4A files is stored in atoms and boxes in the file container. The format supports cover art, ratings, etc.
• WMA – Windows Media Audio files store metadata with file and content description objects.

Overall, ID3v2 is the most ubiquitous tag format given the popularity of MP3 files. However, other formats like Vorbis Comments offer more flexibility for customized fields.

Metadata Covered in Music Tags

Music tags contain various metadata that describe and categorize the audio file. Some of the key metadata commonly included in tags are:

• Title – The name of the song, which helps identify and search for it.
• Artist – The musician(s) who performed the song.
• Album – The album name that the song belongs to.
• Genre – Categorical descriptors like pop, rock, blues etc. to define the music type.
• Track number – The sequence number of the song within the album.
• Cover art – Album artwork or image associated with the release.
• Year – The year the song was released.
• Composer – The person who wrote the song.
• Publisher – The label or company that published the song.
• Lyrics – The words of the song.

Proper metadata tagging ensures the details about the song are captured, allowing for better organization in music players and libraries (Source). The tags essentially document the critical information about a music file.

Benefits of Tagging Music

Properly tagging your music files provides several key benefits when it comes to organizing and accessing your music library:

Organization – Tags allow you to sort and group your music by album, artist, genre, year, etc. Making it easy to browse and find what you’re looking for. Without tags, your files would just be a long list of unintelligible file names.

Searchability – Tags enable you to quickly search your music library by keywords. You can find songs not just by file name, but by song title, album, artist, or any other tag. Search is one of the most useful ways to locate music when you have a large library.

Media Player Readability – Digital media players rely on tags to properly display music libraries, album art, metadata, etc. Without proper tags, your music would show up as unknown tracks and albums in music apps. Tags give players the data they need. (Source)

In summary, proper music tagging improves organization and searchability while enabling media players to correctly display your music library.

Tagging Music Manually vs Automatically

There are two main methods for adding metadata tags to music files: manual tagging and automated tools. Both approaches have their pros and cons.

Manual tagging involves editing MP3 tags one by one using a music player or dedicated tagging software like Mp3tag or EasyTag. The benefit of manual tagging is full control – you can ensure accuracy and customize tags however you want. However, it is very time consuming for large libraries. Typos and inconsistencies can also occur when tagging many files.

Automated tagging uses software like MusicBrainz Picard to scan audio files and pull song information from online databases. This makes tagging large libraries extremely fast. However, accuracy varies based on the quality of the database and algorithm. Some tags may be incorrect or incomplete, requiring manual verification and editing afterwards. Automated solutions also offer less flexibility for custom or advanced tagging.

Overall, most experts recommend using a combination approach. Use automated tools to add basic tags rapidly, then manually verify and enrich the metadata for special cases. This balances the efficiency of auto-tagging with the control and accuracy of manual edits.

Top Music Tagging Software

There are many great options when it comes to software for tagging your music files. Some of the most popular and highly-rated music tagging tools include:

Mp3tag

Mp3tag (https://www.mp3tag.de/en/) is considered by many to be the best music tagging software available. It has an intuitive and customizable interface that allows you to easily edit ID3 tags, add album cover art, rename files, and more. Users on Reddit rave that it’s the “best music tagging software on the market, hands down” with its “Beautiful UI” and consistent updates (https://www.reddit.com/r/AppleMusic/comments/qhjjz1/mp3tag_and_apple_music/).

MusicBrainz Picard

MusicBrainz Picard (https://picard.musicbrainz.org/) is an open source tagging tool that taps into the MusicBrainz database to automatically lookup and add metadata like track info, album details, genres, etc. It’s great for batch tagging lots of music files quickly.

Tag&Rename

Tag&Rename (https://www.softpointer.com/tr.htm) makes it easy to edit tags and file info for various audio formats. It has advanced organization features like finding duplicate files, fixing incorrect metadata, auto-tagging using online databases, and more.

Some other popular options include Kid3, TagScanner, MediaMonkey, and more. The right software comes down to your specific needs and budget.

Fixing and Editing Tags

Identifying bad or incorrect tags is an important first step in cleaning up your music library. Look for tags that are blank, abbreviated, misspelled, or seemingly random. Also watch for incorrect genres, release dates, and other obvious metadata errors. Sorting your library by different tag fields can help spot tagging inconsistencies or duplicates.

To edit tags, use a program like MusicBrainz Picard or MP3Tag. These tools allow you to manually fix tags by typing in the correct info or pulling it from online databases. You can edit tags for individual files or batch edit entire folders at once. Things like release year, album title, and track number are easy to standardize across albums.

For more difficult fixes, you may need to do extra research or even carefully re-listen to tracks. Music discussion forums like Reddit can help crowdsource tricky metadata issues. If errors originate from a music provider, you may be able to request fixes directly.

Tag cleaning takes time but ultimately results in a much better organized music library. Plan to do it in stages, focusing on your most-listened to music first. Proper tagging makes locating music easier and enhances the listening experience.

Tagging Music on Mobile Devices

Mobile devices like smartphones and tablets provide convenient ways to tag your music library on the go. There are several apps available for both iOS and Android that allow you to view and edit music metadata.

On iOS devices, Evertag is a popular app for editing audio tags. It supports editing metadata for formats like MP3, FLAC, M4A and more. You can edit information like title, artist, album, genre, track number, album art and more. It also allows you to fix duplicate tracks and add missing album art.

For Android, apps like MP3Tagger and MediaMonkey allow viewing and editing tags directly on your device. You can edit tags for individual tracks or in bulk. These apps sync with your music library so you can conveniently tag songs while on the go.

Overall, mobile apps provide an easy way to clean up and organize your music library metadata while on your phone or tablet. With powerful tagging features optimized for smaller touchscreen devices, you can edit music info quickly without needing a computer.

Tagging Music for Streaming

With the rise of music streaming platforms like Spotify and Apple Music, optimizing metadata tagging has become a key strategy for artists and labels to get music discovered. Streaming platforms rely on metadata like song title, artist, album, genre, and mood to power recommendations and build playlists and radio stations. As a result, tags should be carefully focused for metadata fields that drive engagement on streaming services.

Some key tips for optimizing tags for streaming include:

• Completely fill out the metadata – blank fields limit a song’s discoverability so every applicable field should have a value.
• Include detailed songwriting and production credits – this provides attribution to collaborators and can help recommend similar songs based on team members.
• Add keywords – include highly-searched terms and common misspellings in the song tags to increase search matches.
• Focus on genres and moods – selecting the right genre and mood tags will help the song surface in relevant playlists and stations.
• Localize metadata – translate titles, lyrics, and descriptions into target languages to expand reach.
• Regularly update tags – periodically review and refresh tags to maximize relevance.

Optimized metadata is crucial for artists trying to build an audience on streaming platforms and get music played. For independent artists especially, taking the time to tag music appropriately can dramatically improve the odds of connecting with new listeners.

Future of Music Tagging

The future of music tagging will likely see increased use of AI and machine learning to automate the process. Companies like Gracenote are investing heavily in developing advanced audio recognition technology that can accurately identify songs and extract metadata without needing humans to manually tag each track.

New standards may also emerge to improve the quality and depth of music metadata. For example, the Music Ontology Working Group is developing an ontology for representing music-related data on the web in a machine-readable format. This could allow for richer, more structured metadata to better describe recordings, compositions, artists, genres and more.

Distributed ledger technologies like blockchain may also play a role. By creating decentralized, public databases, blockchain has the potential to improve transparency around rights management and ownership of music metadata. Initiatives by organizations like Teosto are exploring blockchain for more accurate tracking of metadata ownership.

Overall, the goal is to make music tagging more automated, efficient and accurate using new technologies. This will help improve music discovery and deliver a better listening experience to end users.