How do you organize your MP3 collection.

D

DruSi3r

Gawd
Joined
Nov 4, 2002
Messages
937
How do you organize your MP3 collection? Seperate folders for albums, genres, artists?
 
idealy, though not in practice.. my tags suck.
./genre/artist/album/##-artist-album-track.mp3

 
I have it all in My Music.... none are in their own folders or anything... so it's a whole lot of loose mp3s. The reason they aren't organized is that I have them all in Media Player, and they're automatically organized there. I'm too lazy to do anything else.
 
mp3s > artist > album > # - track.mp3

I like having as short a file name as possible, so I only place the track name and number in the file name.
 
single mp3's go into the general mp3 folder with artist name - song name
full albums are in their own folder with group name - album name, along with a txt file listing the songs in order.
 
How is Media player 10 for organizing your MP3s? Anyone using it? I saw it has a "rating" system (stars), and I'm thinking of giving it a go.(organize my collection finally) Anyone reommend something else?
 
iTunes baby.

sorts it automatically by Artist > Album.
Mine would still be all stuck in a single folder if it wasnt for good ol' apple
 
Create a toolbar for the Music Folder, and a folder heirarchy by Genre, then by Artist, then sometimes by Album
of course that is independent of any playlists you want to compile or all the above strategies
which you can also employ
but I can locate any song in a few seconds


the main trick is being able to view all current level heirarchy selections in the toolbar popup,
(which will extend from the bottom to the top of the screen if full)
if you have to scroll then add another level to the heirarchy
(which is also dependent on the realestate and resolution your working with)
 
The new Winamp is the greatest
It makes intelligent guesses on all your MP3's with messed up names and substitutes for file names when it is missing. Has a nifty search function (just like itunes) and you can view lotsa neat info (last played, how often, etc)
But the absolute best is integrated SHOUTamp radio. Internet radio is the single greatest thing to ever come out of . . .well, the internet! Okay, maybe not, but it is great... there's also free TV streams.

-Chris
 
Ice Czar said:
Create a toolbar for the Music Folder, and a folder heirarchy by Genre, then by Artist, then sometimes by Album
of course that is independent of any playlists you want to compile or all the above strategies
which you can also employ
but I can locate any song in a few seconds


the main trick is being able to view all current level heirarchy selections in the toolbar popup,
(which will extend from the bottom to the top of the screen if full)
if you have to scroll then add another level to the heirarchy
(which is also dependent on the realestate and resolution your working with)
Click to expand...

sometimes you scare me ;)

I follow the same format as logik
/genre/artist/album/##-artist-album-track.mp3

I also have a seperate area for FLAC
/genre/artist/album/album and info file

but my file server crashed about 3 months ago and i have just been too lazy to fix it
dead maxtor drive i think, i should really get to that since my clarkconnect server is up and running like a charm these days
 
For tracks within a complete album,

Genre\Artist\Album\Artist - Album - Track # - Title.wav

For unsorted tracks,

Genre\Artist\Artist - Album (if known) - Track # (if known) - Title.wav

And I use the toolbar method too.
 
this wil make you cry...

\Music Folder\Artist\Album\Artist - Album - Track Number - Song Title.mp3

ofcourse all tagged correctly so when i load them in winamp they arnt a mile long like the file name :)
 
cbachor said:
all tagged correctly )
Click to expand...

hmmm..

you know, I dont think I have a single song correctly tagged :p
dont even have a consistant naming scheme
well except my Looney Tunes Collection

<Foghorn Leghorn >
He's a nice boy, but about as sharp as a bag full of wet mice
</Foghorn Leghorn >

:p :p :p
 
All MP3 files are ID3 tagged correctly (both v1 & 2) by using ID3-TAGit.

D:\Music

First are Genre & Album Folders (IE 80's, Classic Rock, RHCP, Delerium, etc.)

Each Genre folder holds files of that genre (not sub-foldered): Artist - Track Name.mp3

Each Artist folder holds each album I have (sub-foldered): Track # Artist - Track Name.mp3

Finally, anything that isn't classified is just dumped into the D:\Music folder and tagged as: Artist - Track Name.mp3
 
I have a folder for music and one for each artist starting with their first name. Then, each artist's folder has a folder for each album. All the misc. singles by a given artist are just dropped into the artist's folder. Also, I have a misc mp3 folder for that oddball song that showed up. A link to the main folder is on my QuickLaunch toolbar. My tags are pretty screwed up, but I fix a few now and again. I should be finished with that task by 2011. :D I tried the mass tag cleanup programs, but they seemed to make matters worse. The only way to fix a screwed up tag is by hand, in my opinion.
 
I have all my mp3 named 'Artist - Trackname' but all the tags need fixing up. Does anyone know an app that take the filename and puts the infomation into the tag?

Thanks.
 
brom42 said:
mp3s > artist > album > # - track.mp3

I like having as short a file name as possible, so I only place the track name and number in the file name, because my head unit in my Jeep is a piece of crap.
Click to expand...


Fixed. ;)
 
My tags are still not organized fully but here's how i have it.

One music folder to hold them all.
Subfolders of that for general genres (Alternative Guitar Rock, Rap Hip Hop R&B, Techno)
Subfolders of those for each artist
If necessary, subfolders finally for whole albums.

The main idea is that these folders are just for storage and file retrieval. You should use a good solid music program.

I used to love Music Match Jukebox for its easy music management (but their "free lifetime upgrades" key which i purchased definitely no longer works)

For a good while I was using Windows Media Player 9. In a quad or dolby digital speaker setup for PC, it can play music through all channels (which mmjb last i knew couldnt)

As of late, I find myself preferring iTunes. Although it takes awhile to initially scan my collection (7555 songs, 24.8 days, 43.78Gig) it has an excellent search and sort algorithm, which works much faster than wmp seems to. It was designed specifically for music and works for that purpose well, whereas wmp seems to just lump together all your media files into less than useful categories.
 
The bigger problem I see here isn't anyones naming schemes. Its that your all archiving in MP3. :p

I use FLAC only these days. Storage is so damn cheap and Mp3s just sound too shitty for my liking.
 
Artist - Album / Artist - Title

...but recently I have been doing a lot of id3 tag editing to make everything neat :D

edit: oh, and a playlist of the album in order...
 
Music\0-9\Artist\Album\
Music\A\Artist\Album\
Music\B\Artist\Album\
Music\Y\Artist\Album\
Music\Z\Artist\Album\

Artists are done as above, a folder for each letter, and I also have:

Music\Compilations
Music\Soundtracks

As of today I think I am going to have to create a folder specifically for Game Music, as I have loads of game soundtracks which is causing my soundtracks fodler to overload a little I think. So I'll just add:

Music\Game Music

I've thought about doing things by genre but it seems more of a hassle and not necessarily better/faster either...

As for filenames and tagging, I used to do it all perfectlly manually myself, but it was taking waaay to long and now I have so much new music I just dump it in the folders and leave them as they are. Maybe one day I'll start tagging some of my favourite music properly, but I'd need a whole holiday or more just for that I think...
 
I have a music folder in my D drive. I have them listed as just "Artist - Song".
 
itunes sorts it for me....i love apple :) there so good to me....i want a g5 but....erm..back to the topic...

its like this
itunes music folder>artist>album>##--Song.mp3
 
I just have everything in My Music. In there, I have each Album as a subfolder, and I can usually tell who the album is by automatically, so I have no trouble with the setup I have.
 
jamezzz122 said:
I have a music folder in my D drive. I have them listed as just "Artist - Song".
Click to expand...
F:\Music\All\Artist - Title.mp3

Most of my ID3 tags are complete, but mostly just for Artist/title info. Mostly single MP3s, not albums...
 
/extrahdd/mp3s
All ~5000 of them tagged correctly and an Artist - Title (Version) format for filenames is used.
 
One drive holds all my music. One folder for all my lossless audio, one for my mp3 audio, one for my sids :D

Within those... /artist/album pretty much standard and 95% are tagged correctly. Most of the file names are Artist-Title but then I listen to it a lot on my iPod so the tags are more important.
 
I have my documents folder on a seperate partision and just put all my albums in ther own seperate folders in My Music
 
SKiTLz said:
The bigger problem I see here isn't anyones naming schemes. Its that your all archiving in MP3. :p

I use FLAC only these days. Storage is so damn cheap and Mp3s just sound too shitty for my liking.
Click to expand...

One big problem with FLAC is that it is not compatible with many portable mp3 players (iPod), or else I'd use it too. And, when you encode an mp3 properly (I do 256 kbit VBR --alt-preset-extreme) it is hard to tell the difference between it and the real CD.
 
Deadlierchair said:
One big problem with FLAC is that it is not compatible with many portable mp3 players (iPod), or else I'd use it too. And, when you encode an mp3 properly (I do 256 kbit VBR --alt-preset-extreme) it is hard to tell the difference between it and the real CD.
Click to expand...

hard to tell on your pc with tinny speakers maybe.. I use it for the fact that when when I want to restore it back to a cd I've got original quality. I also stream off my server to my stereo so FLAC is a definate plus for me.

I've tried MP3 for compatibility reasons but no matter what encoding settings I used I could always tell the difference. They need lossless MP3. Same compatibility but without compression. The filesize doesnt bother me.
 
SKiTLz said:
hard to tell on your pc with tinny speakers maybe.. I use it for the fact that when when I want to restore it back to a cd I've got original quality. I also stream off my server to my stereo so FLAC is a definate plus for me.

I've tried MP3 for compatibility reasons but no matter what encoding settings I used I could always tell the difference. They need lossless MP3. Same compatibility but without compression. The filesize doesnt bother me.
Click to expand...

I'm not going to argue with you, there is a difference. Especially when you're cranking it to high levels on a nice home theatre system. If you can hear a huge difference on even a really really nice mp3 I'd look at how you're encoding, because at high levels it's barely audible.

If the iPod actually supported some sort of good lossless audio (not that Apple crap) I'd convert my collection to Flac, but until then it doesn't make sense for me.
 
Deadlierchair said:
I'm not going to argue with you, there is a difference. Especially when you're cranking it to high levels on a nice home theatre system. If you can hear a huge difference on even a really really nice mp3 I'd look at how you're encoding, because at high levels it's barely audible.

If the iPod actually supported some sort of good lossless audio (not that Apple crap) I'd convert my collection to Flac, but until then it doesn't make sense for me.
Click to expand...

noones arguing. And its all in the individuals ears. If you cant hear a difference thats great. More power to ya, but others can. Especially folks with high end equipment.

Believe me I wish i couldn't tell the difference. Make things easier. Like being a cheap drunk, get the same results for half the price. :D

It very well could be my encodings but I doubt it. I spent alot of time researching the best settings and doing every nitty gritty thing I could. EAC and a million HydrogenAudio Forum tips and I just couldnt get them to cut it.
 
\Music\MP3\A - D\Artist - Title.mp3
\Music\MP3\E - H\Artist - Title.mp3
\Music\MP3\I - L\
...
etc.

All albums are stored in playlists named "Artist - Album Name.m3u"

It works for me.
 
ha

i have a "mp3" directory which has grown steadily since about 1997 or so. About 6 months ago I set up the stuff on my ripping program to dump them into mp3/artist/ but since I rarely rip whole albumns that was a pain to grab stuff. None of my old mp3's (dos-prompt rippning anyone?) have proper ID3 tags, I'm sure.

Maybe someday I'll get a desire to organize 'em, but for now I just don't care to take the time.


I might add that as I mentioned above. . . .I don't often rip whole albums; my computer music collection is more like my "favorites" collection. (ca. 2k mp3's I'd guess but I really have no idea).
 
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