Meta data Artist Tags not filled in properly

[lamexpuser1]

The converter from flac to mp3 does not always transfer meta data correctly:

1. Album artist is not copied from source and is blank
2. Contributing artist is not copied from source but is filled in with data from unknown source

See property file attachments for examples.

.

[lordmulder]

Hallo,

LameXP supports a large number input/output formats. In order to "transfer" meta-data, we first need to detect the meta tags from the input file, store them internally and, finally, pass them to the encoder. The internal meta-data model of LameXP was designed to cover what is supported by most formats/encoders. So, we have "Artist", but not separately "Album Artist". Sorry about that.

Regards.

[lamexpuser1]

I checked the properties with Media Monkey and VLC. What Windows file properties calls "Contributing Artist", MM calls "Artist(s)" and VLC calls "Artist". Note the "Artist" field is not copied properly by the FLAC to MP3 converter. Any explanation for the discrepancy? Please see attachments. Unfortunately, this app did not allow me to attach the mp3 and flac files.

[lamexpuser1]

Here are the metadata from the Switch+ app:

[lordmulder]

Can please check the original input file with MediaInfo?

Note: You can see which meta tags LameXP has detect (via MediaInfo) by looking at the file's properties after importing it.

(only the detected information you see here can be forwarded to the encoder)

[lamexpuser1]

I unzipped the files on Windows 10. I tried to execute all five exe files and nothing starts, just a momentary (100 msec) dialog box flash. Can I send you the original mp3 and flac files?

[lordmulder]

If you use CLI version of MediaInfo, you have to run from the command prompt (cmd.exe) the following command:

MediaInfo.exe "c:\path\to\your\file.mp3"

[lamexpuser1]

Here is the output from MediaInfo-GUI.2022-04-18.zip. I did not get the same output as your example. Appears to be using the "performer" field. Should be "ARTISTS"?

[lordmulder]

Again, different file formats support different tags. And sometimes the same information (more or less) goes by different names, like "artist", "album artist" or "performer". LameXP uses MediaInfo to extract the meta tags from the original input file and then tries to map the available tags to one of the standard tags (e.g. "artist"), which we will be able to pass on the selected encoder.

Do I understand correctly that the FLAC file is your original input file? As far as I see, this one has a "performer" tag. If you open that file in LameXP, then I think "performer" should be mapped to "artist". So what exactly shows up as "artist" inside LameXP?

Please add original source file to "Source Files" list in LameXP and then click "Show Details" button...

[lamexpuser1]

The other applications are using the media info "ARTISTS" field, not the "performer" field.

[lordmulder]

Yeah, different name for same/similar thing in different applications. Only trust what "MediaInfo" shows!

So, can you please just drop the original unmodified FLAC file into LameXP, click "Show Details" and post the result?

[lamexpuser1]

I can send you the original files.

[lordmulder]

Please show result of "Show Details" button for the input file "01 Hello.flac" on the "Source Files" tab, not the "Meta Data" tab.

(The "Meta Data" tab is used to globally overwrite meta tags detected for the individual files)

[lamexpuser1]

[lordmulder]

So, after all, LameXP (via MediaInfo) correctly detects the "Artist" for this file.

LameXP will pass the information to the MP3 encoder. And, as we can see from your earlier MediaInfo screenshot, there is a corresponding "Performer" (a.k.a. "Artist") tag present in the generated MP3 file. Don't see a problem here....

[lamexpuser1]

The four other applications documented above are using the media info "ARTISTS" field, not the "performer" field for the band name. In my automobile, on the playback screen for the converted MP3 song, the band displayed for the song is listing the members of the band and not the band name "Adele".

[lordmulder]

As said before, different applications may use different names for the same/synonymous tags.

In case of doubt, only trust what MeidaInfo shows.

Also, even more important, LameXP uses the LAME mp3 encoder. The following meta tags can be passed to LAME:

ID3 tag Information

--tt title Audio/song title (max 30 chars for version 1 tag)
--ta artist Audio/song artist (max 30 chars for version 1 tag)
--tl album Audio/song album (max 30 chars for version 1 tag)
--ty year Audio/song year of issue (1 to 9999)
--tc comment User-defined text (max 30 chars for v1 tag, 28 for v1.1)
--tn track Audio/song track number and (optionally) the total number of tracks on the original recording.
--tg genre Audio/song genre (name or number in list)
--ti file Audio/song albumArt (jpeg/png/gif file, 128KB max, v2.3)

See here for details:
https://svn.code.sf.net/p/lame/svn/trunk/lame/doc/html/detailed.html

[lamexpuser1]

OK, so pass what mediainfo calls the "ARTISTS" field from the flac file to MP3 encoder for the "artist" field. Then LameXP will be in agreement with four other applications.

[lordmulder]

Well, that is exactly what happens, I think.

Whatever has been detected as Artist/Performer from the original file (with the help of MediaInfo) will be passed to the MP3 encoder via its --ta option. You can double check by double-clicking on the item in the encoder window...

[lamexpuser1]

The attachment displays the meta information for the flac file. Clearly, the "performer" field from the FLAC file is copied into the ARTIST field. LAMEXP should use the media info field ARTISTS instead.

[lordmulder]

I think this discussion is going in circles. As explained before, neither does LameXP have a distinction between "Artist" or "Performer" (or whatever you like to call it) in its internal meta data model, nor would this make a whole lot of sense. That is because the LAME mp3 encoder — which we ultimately have to pass the data to — only has an --ta option to set an "Artist" meta tag 😑

So, yeah, the information that happens to be called "Performer" in your FLAC file (or at least is shown as "Performer" by some applications) ends up in the "Artist" field of LameXP's internal meta data representation, simply because LameXP decided to call this information "Artist" rather than "Performer" — LameXP was mostly designed with LAME mp3 encoder in mind, that is why.

[lamexpuser1]

I have five applications documented above. Four of the applications display the artist field as "Adele". LameXP meta information (above) displays the artist as a different value, namely the band members. Clearly, LameXP has extracted the incorrect Artist field from the flac file. The MP3 conversion is not relevant at this point; the MP# converter is storing the incorrect data supplied by LameXP in the artist field so that conversion is working properly. The problem is LameXP is obviously extracting the incorrect field for the artist name. LameXP needs to use the correct field from the flac file for input into the MP3 converter, defined in media info as the "ARTISTS" field, not the incorrect "performers" field. The name is irrelevant for our purposes but clearly LameXP need to extract the "ARTISTS" field to be in agreement with the other four applications. If LameXP was in agreement with the four other applications then the meta information would display "Adele" for the artist not the band members. The net effect is on playback, the media display shows the band members which obviously is NOT the artist, rather than Adele which appears as the artist when playing the flac file. Seems straight forward really. I have approximately 1000 CDs converted and a substantial percentage are showing the incorrect artist. I can send you the files.