Downloads

Album downloads

Documentation home · Album pages

Available in Tagcast 1.1.0 and from source. Tagcast 1.0.0 does not include audio downloads.

Download albums

1. Connect and load your library using the normal Tagcast sign-in.
2. Open an album's ⋯ → Download album…, or select album cards and choose Download…. A displayed multi-disc album contributes every disc.
3. On Downloads, check the selection and choose a destination on the computer running Tagcast. A mounted drive is also supported. In browser mode this is the server computer, which may be different from the browser computer.
4. Choose Review download. This prepares filenames from the already-loaded library and shows counts and example paths; no audio is fetched yet.
5. Choose Start downloads to create local copies. Stop preserves completed files and matching streaming partials. Starting again requires another review.

The playing queue and metadata drafts are independent. Downloading does not edit or delete anything in iBroadcast, change ratings/tags, or report a play. Downloads share Tagcast's account connection and token-refresh gate.

Quality and embedded metadata

Premium accounts can choose Original or MP3 at 96, 128, 192, 256 or 320 kbps. Free accounts use 128 kbps MP3, matching iBroadcast's access restrictions.

Original → iBroadcast download service is the default for Premium. It reads one streamed ZIP per track from the official download service. To include current embedded tags, enable Download Updated Metadata in iBroadcast. Tagcast does not change that account setting or rewrite tags locally. The service, not Tagcast, decides which metadata fields it embeds. Rebuilt files are not necessarily byte-identical to the upload, including when FLAC audio is lossless.

After bounded download-service failures, the engine can use the original upload from the streaming server. A visible, persisted Fallback note makes clear that iBroadcast's subsequent tag edits were not embedded in that file. Choose Original upload · streaming server directly for the uploaded bytes/tags. Converted MP3 always uses the streaming route.

Existing completed files are kept independently of which source created them. Changing the source does not retag or replace those files. Use a different output folder if you deliberately need another copy with different metadata.

Files, folders and interruption handling

• Default naming: {albumartist}/{album} ({year})/{disctrack} {title}. Filenames are sanitized, disc prefixes retained and collisions disambiguated using track identity. Other supported fields appear under advanced options.
• Existing unverified or locally modified files are preserved with an explanation. There is no automatic adoption, overwrite or deletion of existing music.
• SHA-256 baselines are generated while downloading. Completed files normally reuse their saved size/mtime baseline. Recheck checksums explicitly reads previously completed files for full checksum verification.
• A hidden .ibfetch.json manifest lives beside the downloaded music. Matching .part files can resume over validated HTTP byte ranges on the streaming route. ZIP downloads restart their own incomplete attempt and validate the archive's end marker, directory, CRC and size before completion.
• Local OS locks serialize matching targets inside the same Tagcast settings profile. They are deliberately not stored on the destination NAS. Use separate destinations when running ibfetch or another Tagcast profile simultaneously; independent applications do not share these local locks.
• An optional work folder completes files locally before moving them to the destination, retaining recovery receipts. It must be outside the destination.
• The default is one file at a time, with up to four available. Downloads still share network/disk capacity with playback; increase concurrency carefully.
• Options persist when a download is started. Selection, reviews and progress remain session-local. After restarting, reselect albums and review again; the integrity manifests recognize completed files and resumable partials.
• Closing Tagcast or changing the account stops the task. Cancellation can wait for an in-flight request/read to unwind; network operations have connect/read timeouts. There is no automatic restart after reopening or reconnecting.

Track and playlist downloads

Tagcast deliberately keeps Downloads focused on albums. Use ibfetch for individual tracks, playlists, advanced filters and command-line workflows. The Downloads page links to it. One Tagcast task supports up to 200 native discs / 10,000 tracks.

Metadata JSON/CSV export remains a separate feature. For implementation and validation details, see the source guide.