Batch Remove ID3 Tags (OS X)
bodh...@gmail.com
real problems with my MP3s.
There was a great little tool called ID3Kill (Win) that would let you
batch strip ID3 tags from MP3s. I found a slew of tools for OS X that
would let me edit them but none seem geared toward simply stripping
them out.
Can anyone suggest a tool? I'd ask for a "good" applications to do
the job but right now I'd settle for anything. Heck, I'll even go
command line if needed.
Thanks much in advance,
Jason
Gregory Weston
bodh...@gmail.com wrote:
<http://homepage.mac.com/gweston/macware/StripID3.zip>
I wrote this while I was doing something else on the machine that had a
lot of idle time this morning. It should strip v1 and v2 tags from MP3
files. I'd recommend trying on copies first, but I think it won't
destroy anything you don't want it to. Use at your own risk. I'd
appreciate bug reports.
Gerry
Have you tried iTunes? You can batch convert many features of MP3 files
with iTunes. Put all the tunes you want to strip in a playlist, select
all the the files in the playlist, from the Advanced menu select Convert
ID3 Tags ..., choose the option of version None.
Now the important question, Why do you want to strip the ID3 tags from
the MP3 files?
bodh...@gmail.com
> I wrote this while I was doing something else on the machine that had a
> lot of idle time this morning. It should strip v1 and v2 tags from MP3
> files. I'd recommend trying on copies first, but I think it won't
> destroy anything you don't want it to. Use at your own risk. I'd
> appreciate bug reports.
Wow, thanks. I'll check that out when I get back home later today.
And I'll definitely submit any bugs I find.
Jason
gtr
The Swiss Army Knife (on steroids!) for MP3 manipulation. I love this
program, when you really need it it is bloody amazing what it can do
Once called MP3 Rage it is naw called Media Rage. The earlier versions
are still available I understand, for a lesser fee.
MP3 Rage: http://www.chaoticsoftware.com/ProductPages/MediaRage.html
Media Rage: http://www.chaoticsoftware.com/ProductPages/MediaRage.html
Unqualified recommendation. Yeah, it's $25 bucks, and if you only ever
want to do the one thing it may not be appropiate "value". But I
bought it early and it has saved me jillions of hours of labor.
--
Thank you and have a nice day.
bodh...@gmail.com
> Have you tried iTunes? You can batch convert many features of MP3 files
> with iTunes. Put all the tunes you want to strip in a playlist, select
> all the the files in the playlist, from the Advanced menu select Convert
> ID3 Tags ..., choose the option of version None.
I haven't had any luck using iTunes but I also haven't tried your
method. I'll give that a shot and give a reply on my results.
> Now the important question, Why do you want to strip the ID3 tags from
> the MP3 files?
Just got no need for 'em. Unfortunately, a lot of programs use the
ID3 tag data and so I'd wind up with songs being sorted in ways that
weren't predictable (or even findable). Rip the tags out and then
every song is easily findable by artist - song name.
Jason
nospam
<bodh...@gmail.com> wrote:
> Just got no need for 'em. Unfortunately, a lot of programs use the
> ID3 tag data and so I'd wind up with songs being sorted in ways that
> weren't predictable (or even findable). Rip the tags out and then
> every song is easily findable by artist - song name.
if the tags are correct, you can easily find a song based on artist,
song name, both, or in combination with other tags too. it is no worse
than requiring that the file names are correct, but substantially more
flexible.
it sounds like a utitlity to update all the tags based on the file name
would solve the problem. although i can't suggest a specific tool
offhand, i'm pretty sure there are tools that can parse file names such
as 'artist - title' and put the appropriate info in the appropriate
tag.
Gregory Weston
bodh...@gmail.com wrote:
I should point out, since there's no documentation included and you're
new to the Mac (and thus possibly unfamiliar with common idioms) this is
a one-trick pony that's invoked by dragging the files you want to
operate on over the app's icon and letting go. If you launch the app
directly it'll just quit (this was a quickie; I didn't bother invoking a
file-open dialog for selection).
bodh...@gmail.com
>
> <http://homepage.mac.com/gweston/macware/StripID3.zip>
>
> I wrote this while I was doing something else on the machine that had a
> lot of idle time this morning. It should strip v1 and v2 tags from MP3
> files. I'd recommend trying on copies first, but I think it won't
> destroy anything you don't want it to. Use at your own risk. I'd
> appreciate bug reports.
Not sure what's going on. This is what I'm getting.
Macintosh-4:~/Music/mp3s jason$ /Applications/StripID3.app/Contents/
MacOS/StripID3 .
2007-10-14 14:54:36.235 StripID3[5418] *** _NSAutoreleaseNoPool():
Object 0x364d40 of class NSIdEnumerator autoreleased with no pool in
place - just leaking
2007-10-14 14:54:36.235 StripID3[5418] *** _NSAutoreleaseNoPool():
Object 0x302090 of class NSCFString autoreleased with no pool in place
- just leaking
2007-10-14 14:54:36.235 StripID3[5418] *** _NSAutoreleaseNoPool():
Object 0x364e00 of class NSConcreteData autoreleased with no pool in
place - just leaking
2007-10-14 14:54:36.235 StripID3[5418] *** _NSAutoreleaseNoPool():
Object 0x365030 of class NSConcreteData autoreleased with no pool in
place - just leaking
2007-10-14 14:54:36.261 StripID3[5418] *** _NSAutoreleaseNoPool():
Object 0x34eb40 of class NSConcreteData autoreleased with no pool in
place - just leaking
2007-10-14 14:54:36.261 StripID3[5418] *** _NSAutoreleaseNoPool():
Object 0x34edd0 of class NSCFString autoreleased with no pool in place
- just leaking
2007-10-14 14:54:36.265 StripID3[5418] *** _NSAutoreleaseNoPool():
Object 0x376060 of class NSCFCharacterSet autoreleased with no pool in
place - just leaking
2007-10-14 14:54:36.265 StripID3[5418] *** _NSAutoreleaseNoPool():
Object 0x342b90 of class NSFont autoreleased with no pool in place -
just leaking
2007-10-14 14:54:36.265 StripID3[5418] *** _NSAutoreleaseNoPool():
Object 0x31ac30 of class NSSelectionArray autoreleased with no pool in
place - just leaking
2007-10-14 14:54:36.265 StripID3[5418] *** _NSAutoreleaseNoPool():
Object 0x312070 of class NSSelectionArray autoreleased with no pool in
place - just leaking
2007-10-14 14:54:36.265 StripID3[5418] *** _NSAutoreleaseNoPool():
Object 0x342f20 of class NSSelectionArray autoreleased with no pool in
place - just leaking
2007-10-14 14:54:36.266 StripID3[5418] *** _NSAutoreleaseNoPool():
Object 0x348a90 of class NSAttributeDictionaryEnumerator autoreleased
with no pool in place - just leaking
2007-10-14 14:54:36.266 StripID3[5418] *** _NSAutoreleaseNoPool():
Object 0x34bd20 of class NSCFDictionary autoreleased with no pool in
place - just leaking
2007-10-14 14:54:36.266 StripID3[5418] *** _NSAutoreleaseNoPool():
Object 0x30b890 of class NSCFDictionary autoreleased with no pool in
place - just leaking
2007-10-14 14:54:36.266 StripID3[5418] *** _NSAutoreleaseNoPool():
Object 0x35a6c0 of class NSIdEnumerator autoreleased with no pool in
place - just leaking
2007-10-14 14:54:36.266 StripID3[5418] *** _NSAutoreleaseNoPool():
Object 0x30b540 of class NSCFString autoreleased with no pool in place
- just leaking
2007-10-14 14:54:36.271 StripID3[5418] *** _NSAutoreleaseNoPool():
Object 0x3786f0 of class NSConcreteValue autoreleased with no pool in
place - just leaking
2007-10-14 14:54:36.271 StripID3[5418] *** _NSAutoreleaseNoPool():
Object 0x3784a0 of class NSCFDictionary autoreleased with no pool in
place - just leaking
Thinking perhaps it had actually worked and this was mostly cruft
stdout, I cleared my iTunes directory and loaded up one of the songs.
The ID3 tag data still appears. Am I using the program incorrectly?
Thanks,
Jason
bodh...@gmail.com
> Have you tried iTunes? You can batch convert many features of MP3 files
> with iTunes. Put all the tunes you want to strip in a playlist, select
> all the the files in the playlist, from the Advanced menu select Convert
> ID3 Tags ..., choose the option of version None.
>
> Now the important question, Why do you want to strip the ID3 tags from
> the MP3 files?
Tried that. Didn't work.
I have to wonder if I need to essentially clear more than just the
playlist, like some .xml file somewhere is remembering the tag data
for songs even after I remove them from the list.
Jason
bodh...@gmail.com
> if the tags are correct, you can easily find a song based on artist,
> song name, both, or in combination with other tags too. it is no worse
> than requiring that the file names are correct, but substantially more
> flexible.
I can see why it might appear that way.
I type at 104wpm. This means I can rename files pretty bloody fast.
With ID3 tags you have to open the editor and essentially scan the
data for what is wrong. Not only is this more cumbersome by having to
eyeball fields and determine which are incorrect but it also requires
that I navigate fields, either by tabbing or using the mouse.
It is far, faster -- and not by a trivial amount -- for me to simply
rename using a [artist] - [album] - [track] - [song] schema.
> it sounds like a utitlity to update all the tags based on the file name
> would solve the problem.
Not really. If the filename is already correct I don't have any need
for the tag at all.
Stop worrying about why I want to do it. I appreciate the help but
I'm a programmer, network engineer and technical documentation
writer. I don't need to be saved from myself. =)
Jason
bodh...@gmail.com
> I should point out, since there's no documentation included and you're
> new to the Mac (and thus possibly unfamiliar with common idioms) this is
> a one-trick pony that's invoked by dragging the files you want to
> operate on over the app's icon and letting go. If you launch the app
> directly it'll just quit (this was a quickie; I didn't bother invoking a
> file-open dialog for selection).
Oh, OK, I didn't see this message before I dumped the output. I'll
try that now.
Gerry
Please give examples of where your songs were not sorted in a
predictable manner or were not being able to be found. You can mass edit
the ID3 tags so your tunes will always be displayed in the manner you
want.
It sounds like your killing the goose who laid golden eggs, because you
only wanted to make an omelet.
bodh...@gmail.com
Don't get me wrong, I definitely appreciate the reply (and I didn't
specify "free") but I have this mental block that refuses to let me
pay anything for something like this. I think it has something to do
with wanting *less* of something. Like, I'm not looking to add data,
I want it to never be there in the first place.
I'm weird. =)
Again, thanks for the suggestion though.
Jason
Paul Mitchum
[..]
> Don't get me wrong, I definitely appreciate the reply (and I didn't
> specify "free") but I have this mental block that refuses to let me
> pay anything for something like this. I think it has something to do
> with wanting *less* of something. Like, I'm not looking to add data,
> I want it to never be there in the first place.
>
> I'm weird. =)
If you have fink installed (and even if you don't), you might try
id3tool or id3v2, which are command line tools to manipulate ID3 stuff.
See for instance:
<http://www.macosxhints.com/article.php?story=20030805003033280>
id3v2 has a --delete-all command.
--
http://www.xoverboard.com/cartoons/2007/070416_argument.html
nospam
<bodh...@gmail.com> wrote:
> On Oct 14, 2:13 pm, nospam <nos...@nospam.invalid> wrote:
>
> > if the tags are correct, you can easily find a song based on artist,
> > song name, both, or in combination with other tags too. it is no worse
> > than requiring that the file names are correct, but substantially more
> > flexible.
>
> I can see why it might appear that way.
>
> I type at 104wpm. This means I can rename files pretty bloody fast.
> With ID3 tags you have to open the editor and essentially scan the
> data for what is wrong. Not only is this more cumbersome by having to
> eyeball fields and determine which are incorrect but it also requires
> that I navigate fields, either by tabbing or using the mouse.
you can have the tags automatically added at the time of digitizing the
cd. at worst, a minor correction can be batch applied. for instance,
if the cd is tagged as 'rock' instead of 'top 40,' just select all and
update it.
> It is far, faster -- and not by a trivial amount -- for me to simply
> rename using a [artist] - [album] - [track] - [song] schema.
how is it faster if the tags are automatically preloaded?
how is what you describe any different than [artist] <tab> [album]
<tab> etc. to fill in fields?
how is it faster than letting a script automatically convert encoded
file names to tags? then you can use *both* your current system and
not lose out on the flexibility of tags.
> > it sounds like a utitlity to update all the tags based on the file name
> > would solve the problem.
>
> Not really. If the filename is already correct I don't have any need
> for the tag at all.
how do you sort by something *other* than artists as the primary key?
what do you do with a compilation album that has several artists on one
album? if you can only sort by artist (at the beginning of the file
name), they'll never be grouped together, unless you use the wrong
artist to force the sorting order.
> Stop worrying about why I want to do it. I appreciate the help but
> I'm a programmer, network engineer and technical documentation
> writer. I don't need to be saved from myself. =)
i don't really care what you do. however, i don't think you realize
how much more can be done with tags rather than encoding only 4 items
into a file name in a specific order.
bodh...@gmail.com
> Please give examples of where your songs were not sorted in a
> predictable manner or were not being able to be found. You can mass edit
> the ID3 tags so your tunes will always be displayed in the manner you
> want.
>
> It sounds like your killing the goose who laid golden eggs, because you
> only wanted to make an omelet.
It sounds to me like you're preoccupied with your own agenda.
I came to find info on "how," not "why."
I appreciate the help and if you decide I'm foolish for doing it the
way I am, that's your prerogative. But it isn't really useful for me
to play along.
Jason
Gregory Weston
bodh...@gmail.com wrote:
> On Oct 14, 8:57 am, Gregory Weston <u...@splook.com> wrote:
> >
> > <http://homepage.mac.com/gweston/macware/StripID3.zip>
> >
> > I wrote this while I was doing something else on the machine that had a
> > lot of idle time this morning. It should strip v1 and v2 tags from MP3
> > files. I'd recommend trying on copies first, but I think it won't
> > destroy anything you don't want it to. Use at your own risk. I'd
> > appreciate bug reports.
>
> Not sure what's going on. This is what I'm getting.
I screwed up. There's a better version at the same URL. Fixes what you
saw (harmless, but a memory leak) and also adds an open dialog if you
launch the app without files.
G
bodh...@gmail.com
>
> you can have the tags automatically added at the time of digitizing the
> cd. at worst, a minor correction can be batch applied. for instance,
> if the cd is tagged as 'rock' instead of 'top 40,' just select all and
> update it.
I virtually never rip CDs.
> how is it faster if the tags are automatically preloaded?
>
> how is what you describe any different than [artist] <tab> [album]
> <tab> etc. to fill in fields?
>
> how is it faster than letting a script automatically convert encoded
> file names to tags? then you can use *both* your current system and
> not lose out on the flexibility of tags.
Because I don't need the flexibility of tags.
Why is everyone arguing this with me? That just strikes me as plain
odd.
> how do you sort by something *other* than artists as the primary key?
I don't. Don't want to.
> what do you do with a compilation album that has several artists on one
> album?
That song appears along with other songs by that artist. Why am I
even answering these questions (he wonders parenthetically...).
> i don't really care what you do.
Anyone who protests that they don't care clearly does. Doubly so if
they're willing to spend time continuing to talk about it.
> however, i don't think you realize
> how much more can be done with tags rather than encoding only 4 items
> into a file name in a specific order.
That's like saying anyone who buys a knife really ought to get a Swiss
army knife and if they don't, it's because they don't understand the
full value of the other tools. Well, maybe the person has no need for
those tools.
Seriously. I don't mean to be a douche here but it's really, really
annoying when "how" gets responses of "why" ad nauseum.
Make a suggestions, even make a case for your idea but learn to leave
it at that. Nobody digs it.
Jason
Gregory Weston
bodh...@gmail.com wrote:
> Seriously. I don't mean to be a douche here but it's really, really
> annoying when "how" gets responses of "why" ad nauseum.
What you're asking for is well outside of the mainstream
experience/need. That doesn't mean it's wrong but it's regular
occurrence on the groups that I frequent that someone new asks how to do
something 'strange' and asking "why?" ultimately leads them to something
that better meets their needs than the course they originally thought
they should be pursuing. It happens often enough that for many people
questioning the need is the default initial response to an atypical
request.
gtr
True. First one has to convince others that there request for
information isn't inherently misguided. If the question concerns
matters rarely discussed, then you'll have to be very convincing.Then
the question may or may not be addressed.
Geoffrey S. Mendelson
> True. First one has to convince others that there request for
> information isn't inherently misguided. If the question concerns
> matters rarely discussed, then you'll have to be very convincing.Then
> the question may or may not be addressed.
Bear in mind that you can't remove tags from MP3 files. You can either
blank them out, which removes the identification, but saves you nothing,
or copy them without the tags. If the copy program does actually remove
the tags, it will save you disk space, but then you have to delete
the original files. Not only that, but the copy operation takes a
large amount of CPU time and I/O if you have lots of files.
Not to cast aspersions on the original poster, but it does beg the
question "what are you trying to hide?", because Apple places identifying
information in any sound or video file you buy from iTunes.
Geoff.
--
Geoffrey S. Mendelson, Jerusalem, Israel g...@mendelson.com N3OWJ/4X1GM
IL Voice: (07)-7424-1667 U.S. Voice: 1-215-821-1838
Visit my 'blog at http://geoffstechno.livejournal.com/
gtr
> gtr wrote:
>> True. First one has to convince others that there request for
>> information isn't inherently misguided. If the question concerns
>> matters rarely discussed, then you'll have to be very convincing.Then
>> the question may or may not be addressed.
>
> Bear in mind that you can't remove tags from MP3 files. You can either
> blank them out, which removes the identification, but saves you nothing,
> or copy them without the tags. If the copy program does actually remove
> the tags, it will save you disk space, but then you have to delete
> the original files. Not only that, but the copy operation takes a
> large amount of CPU time and I/O if you have lots of files.
And then there is Media Rage (previously MP3 Rage) that will let you
batch process as many files as you like making blanket or scripted
modifications to any of the tags. So you can strip/blank any specific
tags you like in one fell swoop using very little time, energy or disk
space.
> Not to cast aspersions on the original poster, but it does beg the
> question "what are you trying to hide?", because Apple places identifying
> information in any sound or video file you buy from iTunes.
Well this was one of the more recent complaints. "We don't need no
stinkin' badges," might well be an appropriate response. The person
wants to do X, they'd like to know how. Certainly telling them they
don't have to PERSONALLY drive to Wisconsin to buy cheese made there,
might be helpful. Once it's clear they understand their quest, folks
should back off, or pursue their own curiousity if that doesn't
preclude the OP finding an answer to the question.
When I am personally frustrated by this process is when the "why you
shouldn't *want* that" issue becomes the topic, rather than providing
aid in my actual goal. So then, at least a few times over the past 15
years, I become a prick about it.
nospam
apologies if this is a repeat -- my earlier reply does not appear to
have propagated.
In article <1192433038....@y27g2000pre.googlegroups.com>,
<bodh...@gmail.com> wrote:
> On Oct 14, 5:12 pm, nospam <nos...@nospam.invalid> wrote:
> >
> > you can have the tags automatically added at the time of digitizing the
> > cd. at worst, a minor correction can be batch applied. for instance,
> > if the cd is tagged as 'rock' instead of 'top 40,' just select all and
> > update it.
>
> I virtually never rip CDs.
tags are already there in purchased music too, so the point still
applies.
your initial claim was there was far too much typing to add the tags.
however, with both purchased music and music encoded from a cd, the
tags are already pre-loaded so no typing is needed, other than minor
tweaks. also, if you want to continue using your system, generating
file names based on tags can be automated, which also saves typing. it
is a win-win.
the only other possibility i can think of is you are obtaining music
illicitly, where tags and file names could be virtually anything, and
they will definitely need to be corrected one by one.
> Why is everyone arguing this with me? That just strikes me as plain
> odd.
perhaps because you don't realize the advantages of a much more
powerful system. maybe you don't need it, but so far you've said you
aren't interested because it is too much typing, and as i've shown,
there is virtually no additional typing needed to use tags. in fact, i
don't think you've even given it a fair chance, but simply dismissing
it because you've always done it your way.
the real question is why you are so vehemently opposed to learning a
new and in many ways, a much better system, and one that does not
prevent you from using your file name based system at the same time?
> Make a suggestions, even make a case for your idea
exactly what i did.
bodh...@gmail.com
I didn't realize this thread could get any further off the rails. I
was wrong.
So I may have been incorrect but Geoff, you're a f**king idiot.
I like my files renamed a specific way. Lowercase. artist -
song.mp3. Or, if there are a large number from a certain album, I get
as fancy as artist - album - track - song.mp3. But usually not.
This is how I've been doing it since 1996. I've never said to myself,
boy, I can't ever find the song I'm looking for fast enough. Or "I
wish I could sort by album because I can't remember the band who
dropped that classic LP entitled "Boston." There is nothing I want
from an MP3 player that I can't find now in freeware.
If I had been challenged by a friend to post a query on the newsgroups
about ID3 tag removal in such a way that I'm eventually accused of
hiding something, I'd have been stumped.
Thanks to everyone who just answered the bloody question.
Without a doubt my last addition to this exchange.
Jason
gtr
> I didn't realize this thread could get any further off the rails. I
> was wrong.
Oh sure. It might turn to auto maintenance, you can't tell.
> I like my files renamed a specific way. Lowercase. artist -
> song.mp3. Or, if there are a large number from a certain album, I get
> as fancy as artist - album - track - song.mp3. But usually not.
Media Rage (honestly, this is my last pass at this), will allow you to
programmatically switch headers, switch information within a header so
that it will be --programatically-- named however you like. I name
mine quite differently and would simply drag your folders of mp3's into
Media Rage and in 3 seconds they would be re-wrote, internally (the
actual tags), externally (the file names), however you like.
> Thanks to everyone who just answered the bloody question.
>
> Without a doubt my last addition to this exchange.
I hope you read my post first. I don't think any program out there has
even the slightest manipulative ability that Media Rage has. Just take
a loot at it.
http://www.chaoticsoftware.com/ProductPages/MediaRage.html
Jerry Kindall
> Because I don't need the flexibility of tags.
The time cost of removing tags from all your MP3s outweighs the value
of any possible disk space savings. Just say the word and I will
PayPal you a nickel* to pay for all the disk space your ID3 tags are
using up. You spent more time posting the question than you will reap
in savings in disk space.
Someone suggested Media Rage, which is a fine program... that costs
thirty bucks... to save a nickel's worth of disk space. Actually, the
time you'd spend downloading and installing MediaRage (even if you
never registered it) is worth more than the disk space you'd save by
removing all the ID3 tags from your music files.
The ID3 tags do not hurt anything by being there, and you may find them
useful in the future. Rule #54 of computing: keeping stuff "just in
case" is cheap; recovering stuff after you've destroyed it is
expensive.
> Why is everyone arguing this with me?
Asking "Are you sure?" before you do something extremely destructive is
the Macintosh way. Other posters here are simply making sure you
really want to do something that seems exceedingly silly to them.
--
* Assume a music library of 30,000 songs consuming about 200 GB of disk
space and that all are tagged. ID3 data longer than 1024 bytes should
be quite rare; for purposes of this estimate, however, we will assume
that the total size of ID3 tags for each file is exactly 1024 bytes.
An HFS+ allocation block is 4096 bytes. A file will therefore consume
less disk space when the ID3 data is deleted ONLY if the last block is
less than 1024 bytes full. Assuming a random distribution of file
lengths, this should happen approximately 25% of the time. So, of
30,000 song, 7,500 will see a disk space usage of 1 allocation block (4
kilobytes) by deleting their ID3 data, for a total of about 30 MB. An
external 2.5" 250 GB HD can be had for $150; 30 MB is 0.012% of the
disk, or about 1.8 cents' worth. Round the offer up to a nickel for
generosity. To avoid tears, don't mention that 400 GB external drives
can regularly be had for $100, so that even if your library was twice
as large you'd only be wasting about 1.5 cents of space on such a
drive.
--
Jerry Kindall, Seattle, WA <http://www.jerrykindall.com/>
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