MediaMonkey forum

Support for writing ID3v2.4!
I have my whole Music-Library (~45.000 tracks) all neatly tagged in ID3v2.4 including some special tags, I use elsewhere. But whenever I write something back to the tags it get's converted to ID3v2.3 though! This means loss of data and downgrading from a superior to an inferior version, without even warning the user !! That's no good default-behaviour, and should be changed to giving a big warning, that data might get lost!

So support for ID3v2.4 is an absolut necessity for the next upcoming release.

Until then, how can I prevent MM from updating my tags by mistake, and thus causing loss of data?

Until then, how can I prevent MM from updating my tags by mistake, and thus causing loss of data?

Tools->Options->Library->Tags & Playlists, deselect "Update Tags when editing properties".

Hi Bex,
Thanks for the hint! It's good to know, that you can protect your tags. Still I think a support for ID3v2.4 is absolutely necessary for the next release. (In fact it should already be there, as this format exists quite long enough and all the other tools I use can handle it correctly.)

mwcem wrote:Hi Bex,
Thanks for the hint! It's good to know, that you can protect your tags. Still I think a support for ID3v2.4 is absolutely necessary for the next release. (In fact it should already be there, as this format exists quite long enough and all the other tools I use can handle it correctly.)

Some users wouldn't agree - ID32.4 tags aren't widely supported by portable players and applications, and good ID3 2.3 tags are the best option for maximum compatibility.

Hi nohitter,

True some portibale devices still don't support ID3v2.4, and I didn't mean, that MM should save the ID3v2-Tags only in .4. Yet it should be made possible to do so, as an additional possibility. If you have your tags stored in .4, you want to keep it that way. At least MM shouldn't by default downgrade your data to .3 without even warning you. That's what I critisize in this affair.

There's just one direction to go, and that is up.

FYI, here is my old reply on why I personally don't think ID3v2.4 is 'superior': http://www.mediamonkey.com/forum/viewto ... 11&t=28380

The current keepers of the aging http://www.id3.org site are at least aware: "While there are legacy and future standards for ID3 tags, the most popular version implemented today is ID3 version 2.3. A follow on version, 2.4, is documented on this website but has not achieved popular status due to some disagreements on some of the revisions and the tremendous inertia present in the software and hardware marketplace."

I do agree that MM probably shouldn't be changing ID3v2.4 to ID3v2.3 on you without warning.

Still no support for ID3v2.4? Almost 4 years later? Huh.

Wow...was just reading the topic and so surprised of the people's reactions when somebody suggests a new idea....very disappointing indeed.

First of all, THANK YOU mwcem for opening this topic. If you and I are asking for ID3v2.4, I guess PLENTY of other people would want this too.

Quite frankly I couldn't care less whether this tagging format is worse/better than another one. The question was quite simple...

WHEN WILL MEDIAMONKEY READ ID3V2.4?

I buy my music from very famous online stores and ALL of them use this tagging system and I quote from one of the websites:

"We are currently using the latest version of ID3v2 for all our tagging as it is the most universally supported version of tagging for DJ software and hardware."

Again, not interested in your opinions whether this tagging system is worse/better..that's not the question.

Thanks for the support "Guest".
Yet frankly I must admit that I gave up in the meantime. MM propably will always remain stuck in the past, so I turned over to Helium Music Manager, which seems at the moment to be the far superior software-solution.

Guest wrote:Again, not interested in your opinions whether this tagging system is worse/better..that's not the question.

That actually is the question. Some consider ID3V2.4 bad, and if that's the case it shouldn't be supported. However in this case MediaMonkey does read ID3v2.4 tags, but writes ID3v2.3 tags so it should have no issues with files from sources that use ID3v2.4.

No it's not the question which one is better.
The question is, why you don't support ID3V2.4 at all and - worse than that - force you to downgrade your tags. It would be wise, to let the user decide which format he prefers. That's what I'd call "user friendly". But as far as I can see MM stays with living in the past, and that won't get you nowhere.

mwcem wrote:The question is, why you don't support ID3V2.4 at all

You're wrong. MediaMonkey reads ID3v2.4 tags.

But writes ID3v2.3 - and thus downgrades your tags - that's clearly a no go - sorry

I wasn't sure you were going to see my post since you opened this topic in 2008! I'm glad you did

I definitely agree with you that, unfortunately, MM is stuck in the past..People here are afraid of new ideas and stick with a "That's the right thing to do" mentality..but that's just my personal opinion.

Thank you so much for mentioning Helium Music Manager! I've never heard of it (although it's been there ever since MM apparently) and looks really good! I'll definitely give it a try!

Cheers!

Don't think you are right that they are afraid .. just overly cautious at worst. I looked at Helium and it just isn't as good as MM overall (even with its little bits needing improvement). AND it is only a music player/library. Although the majority of my library IS music i also like film and tv series. So Helium is just limited. It is also odd that the UI (library 'table' view) only appears to allow sort on 1 column at a time.

As for the tags .. it would probably be a good bet to add the 2.4 optionally and let the user save as they want. IF the code is modular it couldn't be that big of a deal (of course I have said that about using diff dbs and other things ). But overall MM is still the Cat's Pajamas