WMP Tag Plus - MPEG4, Vorbis and FLAC metadata support for WMP Options

[mjb2006]

I'm installing WMP Tag Plus for the first time. I got the dialog that says "WMP Tag Plus has detected that your media library contains songs of the newly supported formats and that Windows Media Player hasn't read any tags for these songs yet. WMP Tag Plus can refresh the tags of these songs. This means that the songs will be re-added to the library. All their current tags including star ratings and play counts will be preserved."

This makes it sound like the audio files are going to be modified. Are they?
If they do have to change, are the last-modified dates preserved?
Does any other function of WMP Tag Plus modify the files?

[db1989]

FWIW, I interpret that to mean that WMPT+ will re-read the tags, rather than writing anything, but I don’t want to say anything conclusive as I’m not Tim.

[Tim De Baets]

This makes it sound like the audio files are going to be modified. Are they?
If they do have to change, are the last-modified dates preserved?
Does any other function of WMP Tag Plus modify the files?

WMP Tag Plus will in fact modify the files when it sees that some tags have already been edited. It will keep these edits and re-apply them after the files have been re-added to the library. This will also affect the last-modification date. If you don't want this, then you will have to re-add the files to the library manually.

And yes, WMP Tag Plus also modifies files during normal use. Most tag changes that are made in the library get saved to file.

This post has been edited by Tim De Baets: Jul 7 2012, 21:28

[mjb2006]

This makes it sound like the audio files are going to be modified. Are they?
If they do have to change, are the last-modified dates preserved?
Does any other function of WMP Tag Plus modify the files?

WMP Tag Plus will in fact modify the files when it sees that some tags have already been edited. It will keep these edits and re-apply them after the files have been re-added to the library. This will also affect the last-modification date. If you don't want this, then you will have to re-add the files to the library manually.

And yes, WMP Tag Plus also modifies files during normal use. Most tag changes that are made in the library get saved to file.

Thanks for the quick reply.

I expect that if I were deliberately making changes to tags, this would result in the files changing, by definition. But I also expect that just playing or reading tags from whatever's in the library wouldn't require anything but reading the files, no rewriting of them necessary. To that end, I have WMP configured to not modify files during normal use. In WMP's options:

• Library tab - everything is unchecked, including 'Retrieve additional information from the Internet' and 'Maintain my star ratings as global ratings in files'.
• Privacy tab - 'Update music files by retrieving media info from the Internet' is unchecked.

This normally allows me to play anything in the library and otherwise use WMP without having to worry that files are being changed for no reason. Also, whatever changes I make in the library (not through WMP) are reflected in WMP's view of the library, and this includes modified tags.

But if I understand what you're saying, WMP Tag Plus will be routinely rewriting tags. Why does it need to do this? Why can't it just read the files like WMP normally does? (Or am I misunderstanding something?)

This post has been edited by mjb2006: Jul 8 2012, 07:38

[Tim De Baets]

I think that you misunderstood me. Excluding the 'Refresh song tags' case, WMP Tag Plus will only write to file when changes are made in the library. It will definitely not randomly rewrite tags.

By the way, WMP Tag Plus only writes to file when it is instructed to do so by WMP. This means that there shouldn't be any difference in writing behaviour compared to MP3 or WMA.

[mjb2006]

OK, that helps. Sorry for the confusion.

So the best way to get the FLACs currently in my library re-scanned without being rewritten, then, is to remove the FLAC-containing folders from the library (via Explorer) and then re-add them there?

[Tim De Baets]

No problem

You can also re-add the FLAC files by selecting them in WMP, right-clicking, Delete - Delete from library only - OK. Then go to Tools - Advanced and select Restore deleted library items. I personally find that the best way, but re-adding library locations should work equally well.

[Motley Gord]

Are you sure that the option to add ALAC files to the Music section is checked, on the Apple Lossless tab of WMP Tag Plus settings?

Would it be possible for you to upload one of the affected ALAC files, so I can try it myself? You can upload it to a file sharing website like Skydrive or Rapidshare and send me the download link in a private message on this forum. Thanks!

Edit: suur13 and I troubleshooted further through PM and we eventually found the cause of the problem: TaglibHandler replaces Windows 7's built-in MPEG-4 property handler with its own handler. This prevents WMP Tag Plus from recognizing ALAC files and from forcing them into the Music section. Uninstalling TaglibHandler didn't help because that didn't re-register the Windows 7 property handler. The solution was to re-register the Windows 7 property handler manually in the registry.

Hi Tim,

I have been trying to get ALAC files to behave without hiding under the Other Media section, but so far no luck. I may be having the same issue that is described from what you handled with suur13. Can you help with some guidance on how to re-register the handler in this case?

Thanks in advance, and for all of the work you have done so far.

[Tim De Baets]

Are you also running Windows 7 and do you have TaglibHandler installed, or had it installed at one point?

If so, Windows 7's built-in MPEG-4 property handler can be re-registered by copy/pasting the following into Notepad, saving it as a M4APropHandler.reg file, and double-clicking this file to add it to the registry:

CODE

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\PropertySystem\PropertyHandlers\.m4a]
@="{f81b1b56-7613-4ee4-bc05-1fab5de5c07e}"

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\PropertySystem\PropertyHandlers\.m4a]
@="{f81b1b56-7613-4ee4-bc05-1fab5de5c07e}"

You may need to reboot afterwards. Does that help?

[Motley Gord]

Are you also running Windows 7 and do you have TaglibHandler installed, or had it installed at one point?

If so, Windows 7's built-in MPEG-4 property handler can be re-registered by copy/pasting the following into Notepad, saving it as a M4APropHandler.reg file, and double-clicking this file to add it to the registry:

You may need to reboot afterwards. Does that help?

Wow, super-fast reply! Sorry, should have included this, but yes I am on Win7 x32. TaglibHandler may have been installed as part of the ALAC encoder included with dbPoweramp? Before changing the registry I checked the keys above. The Microsoft key had a different value in the default line, but the dbPoweramp key in the second line did match. And the Wow6432Node key did not exist at all. Thanks for supplying the registry settings. This fixed the issue once it was run (and rebooted), and the keys both now match.

Finally have WMP12 playing these ALAC files, and sorting them under the Music section!
Thanks again for all your hard work. I'll be sure to send you a token of appreciation via your site!

[WonderCsabo]

Tim, i just wanna thank you for all of the new features of WMP Tag Plus, mostly the FLAC album art support!

[Drew MacDonald]

Hi, I'm a brand-new user of WMP 12 and Tag Editor Plus (moving over from Media Monkey.) Sometimes I want to make a playlist of cover versions of songs by a certain artist, but I can't get WMP to display the Original Artist tag in a column of the library. (I used the Original Artist tag in Media Monkey to identify which songs were covers.)

I can see the Original Artist tag in Tag Editor Plus (under the Advanced tag), so I know it's being read. It doesn't have a little pencil on the icon, so apparently I can't edit it. When I right-click it and click "Add", I get a drop-down menu of uncertain purpose, but the Original Artist still doesn't appear.

What can I do to get the Original Artist column (or, for that matter, any of the other more "obscure" tags to show up in a Library column. My guess is the solution 1) is blindingly obvious to all but a complete noob like myself or 2)impossible and I should just give up and go back to Media Monkey.

Either way, I'd appreciate any help that may be forthcoming here.

[pizedobeje]

I have a question. I want to use WMP 12 64bit with WMP Tag Plus 2.1. I had it working with 32 bit version but I want to use it on 64 bit WMP12. How do I make it so that the 64 bit version will be the main media player that the WMP Tag Plus will use?

[Tim De Baets]

You can't - WMP Tag Plus doesn't support the 64-bit version of WMP, only the 32-bit version is supported.

[zafer]

Hello Tim !
I was checking Taglib's page, and by chance I found this in the current 1.8 beta release info : "Support for reading audio properties from ALAC and Musepack SV8 files" So great news I guess

I have a question not regarding tag reading, but similar to one issue mentioned in this thread some weeks ago. If you don't happen to have the answer, just disregard it. So here is the question : how by changing registry settings can I force WMP to store "mod" files in Music library and not in other media. I saw a fix for mp4, tried it with mod, but it didn't work. Any clue?

Thanks for eveything

[Tim De Baets]

So here is the question : how by changing registry settings can I force WMP to store "mod" files in Music library and not in other media. I saw a fix for mp4, tried it with mod, but it didn't work. Any clue?

You could simply use WMP Tag Plus for this, even though MOD isn't a supported format. Head to WMP Tag Plus settings, add mod to the list of supported file extensions and set its format to, for example, FLAC (it doesn't really matter which format). Then restart WMP.

If your MOD files are still in Other media after restarting WMP, you can use Refresh song tags (WMP Tag Plus settings - Tools) to move them to Music. Once the files are in Music you can remove mod again from WMP Tag Plus's list of supported extensions.

[zafer]

Thanks for your answer Tim .
I tried, but it didn't work.
There are two extensions showing in Other Media : mod and mid.

Now I have no idea why mod shows in other media, since it is not a native format in WMP.
I understand that MS wants mid files (general midi) to appear in other media.

So I tried with both : I added in WMP Tag Plus the mod and mid extensions, associated with FLAC (mod) and APE (mid), Applied changes, restarted WMP, refreshed tags (at amazing speed as usual ) and they are still in other media.
So I tried the following : removed them from the library, then dragged and dropped them back, and they still appear in other media

I have no idea. I hope I didn't mess the registry entries for these formats with my previous unsuccessful attempts...

This post has been edited by zafer: Aug 18 2012, 21:23

[Tim De Baets]

I have looked into some things on my Windows 7 system to see if I could get .mod files to appear in Music instead of Other media.

It seems that MOD is in fact a native format in WMP (and Windows). However, this isn't the MOD audio format, but a video format used for digital tapeless camcorders that has the same name and file extension and is MPEG2 encoded. See the MOD and TOD article at Wikipedia.

This means that whenever WMP tries to get the tags of a .mod file in the audio format, the native MOD parser returns an "invalid format" error. This can be prevented by removing the registration of the native MOD parser with the .mod file extension (by editing the registry).

But even after removing that registration, .mod files were still added to Other media although I was sure that all the required registry settings for WMP to recognize MOD as music were correct. Further investigation revealed that WMP is hardcoded to add .mod files to Other media (just like it is for .mid). So unfortunately I don't see any immediate way to get .mod files to show up in Music.

[zafer]

I understand. Indeed, I remember that I spent hours working on the registry in vain. So that would explain where the problem comes from.
Anyway, this is not a big issue. I guess having my musepack files displaying proper length is much more important
Tim, sincerely, many thanks for taking the time to look into that, and for all the useful information

[zafer]

Hi Tim !
I just notices that a new final version of taglib has been released, with support for what was lacking before (such as mpc v8 audio properties)... Would you release a new version of WMP Tag plus with the new taglib ?
Cheers

[Tim De Baets]

Yes, I'm planning to release a new version of WMP Tag Plus soon.

[zafer]

thanks i'll be checking so i'll be the first to test it

[EpicForever]

I'm not sure if I was careful enough in fast reading of this topic, but I think I didn't faound here the answer to question that was aksed here several times - is it possible to display FLAC album art and metadata infos in Windows Explorer in Windows 7? Yes it is. On both x86 and x64.

http://www.mediafire.com/?2o8o1z5so3l2l6k

100% tested on x64.

[73ChargerFan]

100% tested on x64.

And that file is what? A virus... ?

[EpicForever]

Unfortunately no. It's just FLAC preview handler. RAR contains just 2 execs - one installer for x86 systems and the other one for x64 systems. Sorry, no virus...
Just download it and check with your AV before you use it if you aren't sure.