mp3 metadata not consistent from PC to PC

[mattman1968]

I have three PCs networked (2 XP, 1 W7) and have a rather large mp3 library. What I had been doing was adding new songs to the library in one PC, updating ID tags, and then transferring the updated mp3 to the other PCs. Aside from expanding my storage capacity I recently connected a network drive so all three PCs can access one easily managed mp3 library on the network. My thought was if I update the metadata for a file on one PC then that info will be applied universally to all the PCs. Unfortunately, it seems that editing the ID tags in WMP does not necessarily mean the exact same ID tags will show up the same in the other WMP libraries? For instance, I've label the genre for one track as "Pop Rock" but viewing that file on another PC in WMP shows up as "Electronica". If the metadata is embedded in the file why do some files appear tagged differeently when added to the WMP library on a different PC? It is after all, the exact same file being access across the network drive. For what it’s worth I’ve noticed this behavior prior to connecting my network drive as well. Any input/advice is greatly appreciated.

[Cornucopia]

Probably because there are multiple ID tags embedded in each file. You can have a ID3 v1 tag and an ID3 v2 tag (actually, there are 2.3 and 2.4 sub-versions). One is embedded as a prefix header and one is embedded as a suffix header (footer?). Not sure which is which.

My guess is that your various Media Players and OS's each have their own preference of support.

To get consistency, you want a tag editor that supports both (and can either automatically sync both, or let you see both so you can fix the one you don't like). I don't follow this closely, so you'll have to get more info elsewhere, but I'd start with the MP3Tag editor, IIWY.

Scott

[mattman1968]

Want to thank you for the reply and pointing me in the right direction. I downloaded both mp3Tag and MediaMonkey but only installed MediaMonkey. I was able to clean out all ID3V1 tags and update everything else via ID3V2. It was a bit of a hassle but still went relatively smooth. Now all OS and media players display all tags correctly.

Should now be very easy to maintian a universal music library.