I believe that this can no longer be done, which is why I didn't recommend it this time. If I'm not mistaken the MM5 database is no longer backwards compatible.

Lowlander, I noticed that elsewhere you recommended MM 5 to someone because of its database repair features

Is this something I should try? Is it just a matter of doing a Complete Optimization as before?

Thanks

Strange, it works for me. It likely is some database issue.

Entire Library had been enabled and I was working off of the Artist and Album Artist nodes under Entire Library throughout my struggles here...

Make sure you're working with the correct Collection. Try Entire Library (enable under File > Manage Collections) and see if the values now are present.

no luck with 4.1.25 beta

however, now (as per my observation above that the Artist drop down did work), the Artist drop down does not show ! Various Artists ! anymore

One other observation: for quite a while after the initial problem, I used a variation:
! Various Artists ! [See Comment] -- this displayed for a time while the other one did not.
Now neither shows up in the drop-down lists.

The Artist node in Media Tree and the Artist drop-down list are identical except for the first two
! Various Artists !
! Various Artists ! [See Comment]
These appear in the Artist node but not the Artist drop-down list

Also the Album Artist node and the Album Artist drop-down list are nowhere near the same: some listings are in one or the other but not both (omissions on both)

Thanks for your help (as always!)

Which version of MediaMonkey? It works for me on 4.1.25 beta.

Yes there are numerous albums in the library that use this item (over 25K files)

Does any file in your Library have this value assigned? Only assigned values show.

! Various Artists !
The exclamation marks are how I push this item to the top of the Album Artist drop-down list in the Album Artist box on the Properties sheet

For a long time, this item did appear atop the Album Artist drop-down list, but about a year ago it disappeared
It reappeared briefly once for a short time before going back into hibernation
It does NOT appear without the exclamation marks, way down the list as Various Artists

I have optimized the library (Quick & Complete) with no change
The item always shows up atop the list for Album Artist node of the Media Tree
No other item seems to be similarly affected.

I had an occasion to use ! Various Artists ! in the Artist data entry box on the Properties sheet and from that, the item always appears on the Artist drop-down list

This is, of course, only a minor imposition, but if the problem solution is known, I'd appreciate the assistance.