🎵 Metadata Best Practices for Music Libraries

This guide explains essential metadata tags, format differences, and practical strategies to maintain a clean, searchable, and server-friendly music library compatible with Selfhost Music and other players.

---

📌 Why Metadata Matters

Well-structured metadata ensures:

• Accurate browsing and searching
• Proper album grouping (including compilations and multi-disc releases)
• Reliable scrobbling
• Consistent playlist behavior
• Correct cover art and lyrics display
• Compatibility across servers and players

---

🏷️ Core Metadata Tags

Essential Fields

Field	Purpose	ID3 (MP3/AAC)	Vorbis/FLAC
Title	Track title	TIT2	TITLE
Artist	Track performing artist	TPE1	ARTIST
Album	Album/release name	TALB	ALBUM
Album Artist	Groups compilations correctly	TPE2	ALBUMARTIST
Track Number	Track order	TRCK	TRACKNUMBER
Disc Number	Disc index in multi-disc releases	TPOS	DISCNUMBER
Date / Year	Release date	TDRC	DATE / YEAR
Genre	Musical category	TCON	GENRE

---

Advanced / Recommended Fields

• Composer / Conductor / Publisher — important for classical and soundtrack collections.
• MusicBrainz IDs
  • musicbrainz_trackid
  • musicbrainz_albumid
  • musicbrainz_artistid
  • Helps with persistent identification and reduces ambiguity.
• ReplayGain
  • replaygain_track_gain
  • replaygain_album_gain
  • Enables normalized playback where supported.
• Cover Art
  • Embedded image (APIC in ID3)
  • Or sidecar cover.jpg inside album folder
• Lyrics
  • Unsynchronized → USLT (ID3) / LYRICS
  • Synchronized → .lrc files

---

🎧 Format-Specific Notes

ID3 (MP3 / AAC)

Common frames:

• TIT2 — Title
• TPE1 — Artist
• TALB — Album
• USLT — Lyrics
• APIC — Embedded artwork

---

Vorbis / FLAC / OGG

Simple key-value structure:

• TITLE
• ARTIST
• ALBUM
• LYRICS

More flexible and easier to edit in bulk.

---

MP4 / M4A

Uses different internal atoms:

• ©nam — Title
• ©ART — Artist
• ©alb — Album

GUI tools automatically translate these for you.

---

✅ Practical Tagging Tips

• Always fill Album Artist for compilations.
• Use zero-padded track numbers: 01, 02, 03.
• Prefer full dates: YYYY-MM-DD.
• Avoid mixing multiple genres in a single string.
• Use MusicBrainz IDs when relying on automated tools.
• Keep consistent separators for multi-artist tracks.

---

🛠 Recommended Tools

beets (CLI, automated)

Powerful importer with MusicBrainz integration.