Same song, multiple albums

[SASniper]

Hello,

I did a quick search but couldn't find anything on this topic.

I have many cases where I have the same song but it's on multiple albums. Is there anyway of virtually linking a tag, so I only have one copy of the actual MP3, but still keep both albums / order?

eg.

Album A - PathtoAlbumA\Song4.mp3
Album B - PathtoAlbumB\Song4.mp3
Album B - PathtoAlbumB\Song5.mp3

Change to this:

Album A - PathtoAlbumA\Song4.mp3
Album B - PathtoAlbumA\Song4.mp3 (virtual link to same song on different album)
Album B - PathtoAlbumB\Song5.mp3

Basically I'd like to keep all my 'albums' (play order, songs in album), but cut down on multiples of the same song recorded across multiple albums.

I'm guess I could do it via playlists ... but I'm thinking there's an easier way? Better way?

How would this work on an iPod or other media player?

Ideas?

[Teknojnky]

Not really possible currently. And with drive space as cheap as it is these days, not really much point to it for most people. The main thing I could see use for it is for portable devices which are still relatively small in space... but then why would you want to have the same track linked multiple times on a portable anyway...

[SASniper]

So I could keep an 'album' an album, without having multiple copies of the same exact file.

I could set up playlists to mimic an album I guess, but would prefer a 'virtual album' (which would include only files found under that album, and soft links to duplicates).

So more a many to one or one to one relation tag database structure, without multiple copies of the same data. If that makes sense

[durden999uk]

I would second this request - not for the savings on disk space, but for ratings and play count, which are both essential parts of my MM use. For example, the song 'View from the Afternoon' by the Arctic Monkeys appears on their album and an EP, both of which I have on my computer. I would like to be able to listen to both the album and the EP in their entirity, but having two seperate copies means that the no. of times I have listened to the song is spread out over two different tracks. It is not a big deal, really, but would be a nice addition.

Ben

P.S. I have quite a few artists, e.g. The Smiths, where songs are repeated over multiple albums and collections, so it isn't just a one off.

[Lowlander]

This has been discussed a few times and you're not alone in this request. I personally don't need this as songs that are on various albums are often different versions of the same song. But in easier way to combine songs ratings and play count doesn't sound bad. The virtual album idea sounds good as well, allthough I wonder how many people would go thru the trouble using such a feature as it's easier to just keep all copies of the same song.

[karan1003]

I would love to see this addressed in some way - I have two separate situations I'd want addressed:

a) Same exact song, different albums: If at all possible to link to the same file, it might help (ever so slightly) with space requirements

b) Very similar song (i.e. just a different cut), different albums: In this case, I wouldn't want to link to the same file, but I wouldn't want the plays split across tracks, when they are to large effect the same song.

Situation B is way more common and something I'm more interested in addressing, (and I'm not sure that I would want to get rid of the file) - maintaining logical play counts is key.