Years per Track

[Davevad]

Just got dBpoweramp Release 17.5 (1) and PerfectTUNES. On an old Mac Pro. All files as .aiff, finially gave up on iTunes for ripping and tagging. With 3000 albums on a NAS iTunes just couldn't keep up. It kept wanting to move all the media around (keep organized) etc. AccurateRip is much better.

One point of confusion though: Why can I not tag individual songs with years from online metadata? Especially because iTunes allows it. Seems standard enough. Each file can have it's own tag. For example the Elvis Presley compilation "ELV1S: 30 *1 Hits" has songs recorded and released ranging from 1956 to 1977. The compilation itself was released in 2002. I don't want Elvis music showing up in any 2000's playlists, and I'd love to have the proper years on the songs.

I don't understand why iTunes would /occassionally/ have the proper years per track, but it seems dBpoweramp won't. Where does iTunes get its metadata from? I would guess the same online places as dBpoweramp, no?

Is there a solution and I just started trying away before I looked hard enough... I hope so haha

[Spoon]

After ripping, browse to the tracks, select them in finder >> right click >> Edit Tags in dBpoweramp, then click the '>' button at the top to edit each file individually, change the year and click the next '>', then Ok.

[Davevad]

Hey thanks so much! I didn't know it had contextual menus. That'll help.

I am still wondering about the ability to automatically import metadata tags based on songs and not albums. I just checked the CD "The Very Best Of Elvis Costello & The Attractions". Other importers show each song's recording date starting in 1977 and the last song recorded in 1986. dBpoweramp shows every song as 1994 on import, I assume thats when the CD came out, not when the songs were recorded.

I know there's more to it than this, so what am I missing?

[GBrown]

Hey thanks so much! I didn't know it had contextual menus. That'll help.

I am still wondering about the ability to automatically import metadata tags based on songs and not albums. I just checked the CD "The Very Best Of Elvis Costello & The Attractions". Other importers show each song's recording date starting in 1977 and the last song recorded in 1986. dBpoweramp shows every song as 1994 on import, I assume thats when the CD came out, not when the songs were recorded.

I know there's more to it than this, so what am I missing?

Most rippers and tagging software associates the year of the album release. If you try to list individual tracks with different years, it will mess with your browser search when seeking Albums by Year.

[garym]

Hey thanks so much! I didn't know it had contextual menus. That'll help.

I am still wondering about the ability to automatically import metadata tags based on songs and not albums. I just checked the CD "The Very Best Of Elvis Costello & The Attractions". Other importers show each song's recording date starting in 1977 and the last song recorded in 1986. dBpoweramp shows every song as 1994 on import, I assume thats when the CD came out, not when the songs were recorded.

I know there's more to it than this, so what am I missing?

metadata is mostly a mess. And as good as dbpoweramp, it relies on what the metadata providers have included in their databases. Sometimes it is correct and sometimes not. Manual correction is typically the key. Hopefully you're not ripping lots of classical CDs. That metadata is even worse.

[Davevad]

I love the metadata source comparison. That helps a lot. Not doing much classical (just removing diacritics haha).

I just want the ability to have everything chronological by recording date. The zeitgeist of the times, from the artists point of view, not the music label point of view. Mainly I just don't understand why the software *doesn't have the ability* to retrieve the same Years/Track like iTunes does.

If the info is in the online metadata databases, shouldn't we see it on import?

Is it a Gracenote-specific thing?

[garym]

Is it a Gracenote-specific thing?

Yes. Gracenote not available to other rippers.

[Davevad]

Does it have to do with GN being the only one to treat songs as individual entities? No idea if I'm way off base, but can the other online DB's even store the year/track?

[garym]

Does it have to do with GN being the only one to treat songs as individual entities? No idea if I'm way off base, but can the other online DB's even store the year/track?

no idea why about GN. Other DBs I think can store year per track if they choose, but I think they just don't bother. Heck, I'd say the year is incorrect anyhow in about half my rips (until I fix). Often it is the date the CD was released or rereleased rather than the release date of the original album.