MediaMonkey forum

Hi there. I have a question about organizing a library full of a bunch of music I don't want combined with a whole bunch of stuff I do want. Searched through the forums but can't seem to figure out what to search for if this has already been answered.

I used to use iTunes and I would just check off the songs I wanted to play and uncheck the songs I never wanted to hear. After having a couple of issues where the database was reset and I had to redo all of the check marks I realized I need a more permanent solution. I realize I could make a playlist that would work for this but I would have to manually add music to it all the time when I'm trying to make this a much more automated process.

My current idea is to use the custom fields in MM to make a 'marker' for the songs I want to hear and just fill that field in with the 'marker' and make an auto-playlist that only fills up with songs that have the 'marker'.

This works but I have a few questions. Is the custom field tagged to the file permanently or is it just in the MM database? I don't want to go through all this again if I lose my database somehow. I really don't want to ever do this again. If they are not saved what would be another way of doing this?

The other question I have is that I would love to do this quickly. Moving through the fields and pressing a single button for the 'marker' (currently I have the marker set up as a -) and then using Tab or Enter or Arrow Keys or something to move to the next file in the library. Currently I only seem to be able to use the mouse to do this and it sometimes just starts the song playing or doesn't open the field to be editable. What is the fastest way to quickly zip through all my tracks and input something or not into an individual field?

Anyone have any suggestions?

Thanks!

Hi,

if you configured MM to update the tags according to the properties (in the MM-DB), then custom fields will be saved as tags too.
Take a look at MM helpfile:
"Editing Track Properties
Track properties can be easily edited via the Explorer or the Properties dialog. Whenever properties are changed, associated tags are updated by default (configurable via Tools > Options > Library > Tags and Playlists) unless tags are malformed."

The tags of MP3's will be named "COMMENT SONGS-DB_CUSTOM1" to "COMMENT SONGS-DB_CUSTOM5".
If you are unsure if MM does, then just check with a tag editor like MP3TAG.

According to MM's helpfile this is true for most formats. See "About Track Properties".

To edit multiple tracks at once, you may take a look at the help too. e.g.:
"Edit Properties of Numerous Tracks at Once
To change the properties of several Tracks at once, select the Tracks you want to edit, click Edit > Properties , and make the desired change to any property. Make certain that the property you wish to change is checked and click 'Ok' -- the changes will be made for all of the selected Tracks."

Thanks for your help. Downloaded MP3Tag and verified that indeed the Custom Field is being saved. Kind of hard to find in MP3Tag but I'm not using it, I'm using MM so it doesn't matter!

On a somewhat unrelated note MP3Tag didn't show all of the album artwork in every file, just most of them. I have been working on that for a week now so it's kind of annoying to see that some of these artwork files are STILL not embedded properly, but that is another hassle I'll worry about later.

I know I can edit multiple files at once, but I'm really looking for a different navigation style. I was hoping to just be able to zip down the list in my library hitting one or two keys to make the adjustments I need and then moving on to the next file. I assume what you are recommending is using the control key to select a bunch of files, Right Click and Choose Properties, Choose the Classification Tab, and then input what I want into Custom 1 and then hit OK to save, right? That shouldn't be a problem, but in the past I've done that and accidentally lost my selection after going through a whole bunch of files and had to go back and make all my adjustments again. Oh well, it's better than what I have been trying out.

Any thoughts on a different system to do what I'm doing? I assume other people have dealt with this issue and have come up with different ideas and I'm open to hearing about better systems! I like making my life easier if I can.

Merci!