Guys, are there any recognized best practices for ID3 tagging that people are using as standards?
Here are some specific issues that came up with some mp3 files that I recently got:
1) the Genre tags were all a custom value that I never see in the standard Genre drop down lists in programs like Mp3tag, EAC, etc. Is it a good idea to type your own value in for the Genre, or should use always stick with the predefined ones?
If I had to use a predefined Genre value for these particular mp3s, the best one would be "Other" so I can see why the original tagger was tempted to use his own value ("Sermons" in this case).
2) the Composer tag was used to hold metadata (references) that have nothing to do with any composer. The natural tag to place this information would be under the comment tag, but I imagine that the original tagger did not do this because he was already using the comment tag to hold some other information.
My feeling is that it is a very bad idea to put info in tags like composer that is not what the tag says it should be. Instead, I argue that you should put all the misc info into the comment field, even if there are multiple types of data there. Your thoughts?
3) the disk and track number tags all have the "out of" syntax, as in 1/1, 2/12, ..., 12/12.
Do you guys like that? I am inclined NOT to do fancy things like that, but instead to simply list the actual numbers, just like what you see on the CD itself.
My argument is that many programs might want to try and parse an integer out of those fields, and this will certainly fail unless the program is sophisticated enough to recognize this "out of" syntax, which many won't be.
Your thoughts?
Full Version: ID3 tag Standards?
1) ID3v2 can use any genre you feel like, but ID3v1 limits you to a pre-defined list.
2) I agree, it should be moved to Comment. Composer is for the composer. Comments are large enough to stick a lot of information in them, so having other info there already isn't an excuse. If you're using ID3v2, you can always move it to another arbitrary tag of your choosing, although most people won't be able to see it if it's not one of the standard ones.
3) I personally list just the tracker number like on a CD, but I don't know if doing it that way is "wrong".
2) I agree, it should be moved to Comment. Composer is for the composer. Comments are large enough to stick a lot of information in them, so having other info there already isn't an excuse. If you're using ID3v2, you can always move it to another arbitrary tag of your choosing, although most people won't be able to see it if it's not one of the standard ones.
3) I personally list just the tracker number like on a CD, but I don't know if doing it that way is "wrong".
QUOTE(captainmidnight @ May 2 2006, 05:01 PM) 
3) the disk and track number tags all have the "out of" syntax, as in 1/1, 2/12, ..., 12/12.
That's the ID3v2.4 standard way of numbering tracks. Even foobar2000 0.9 now tags tracks this way (as part of the new quality and strict standard obeying approach).
Have a look at the official reference document "ID3v2.4.0 Native Frames" (http://www.id3.org/id3v2.4.0-frames.txt) and search for "TRCK".
QUOTE(captainmidnight @ May 2 2006, 05:01 PM)
Do you guys like that? I am inclined NOT to do fancy things like that, but instead to simply list the actual numbers, just like what you see on the CD itself.
I don't like it, it always kinda looked odd to me, but I guess I wouldn't mind using it on mp3s with ID3v2.4 tags, because there are ways to "hide" those fancy track numbers in your playlist and use current track and total tracks seperately with my favourite player (which happens to be foobar2000).
Currently I'm using apeV2 tags on mp3s tho, and I use 01, 02, ... 10, 11, kind of numbering, always adding leading zeros for numbers below 10. I like that the best in order to be prepared for stupid tag2filename routines who can't add leading zeros themselves and not using leading zeros in file names is a bad idea...
QUOTE(captainmidnight @ May 2 2006, 05:01 PM)
My argument is that many programs might want to try and parse an integer out of those fields, and this will certainly fail unless the program is sophisticated enough to recognize this "out of" syntax, which many won't be.
Unless your using programs that are obeying the ID3v2.4 standards then this might be an issue, yes. But be aware that this way of writing the track tag is 100% standard compliant (if it is ID3v2.4 tags you are dealing with!).
So normally there would be nothing to worry about, but in reality a lot of multimedia software gives a feck about well-known standards... and if this does cause trouble for you then the best practice is to not use these kind of software (iTunes, WinAmp, etc...) because experience tells us that software companies who never really cared about standards and rather made their own and ignoring the rest of the world won't change their ways so easily. So don't expect any support with this issue. If you really need a piece of software like this then have at least a close look whether they are making problems in the areas that are important to you. There may be workarounds, too. But anyway, sent a complaint to the devs... the more people complain the better.
QUOTE(Fandango @ May 2 2006, 07:27 AM)
QUOTE(captainmidnight @ May 2 2006, 05:01 PM)
3) the disk and track number tags all have the "out of" syntax, as in 1/1, 2/12, ..., 12/12.
That's the ID3v2.4 standard way of numbering tracks. Even foobar2000 0.9 now tags tracks this way (as part of the new quality and strict standard obeying approach).
I'm pretty sure it was incorporated in ID2v2.3 or earlier. I tag all my files with 2.3 and always include the "total tracks" number.
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