Compilation Albums

[69li...@gmail.com]

I have a two part question.
Preface: in Sonos settings I have chosen for Compilation Albums to "Use iTunes Compilations".  I do not want to change this setting because of implications this would have in my non-Sonospy library (i.e. my "main" Sonos music library). Also, we like the way that in the Main Music Library of Sonos there is a listing in the Artist tab for "(Compilations)"  which then gives a list of all the compilations Albums. We would like to try and approach this as closely as possible with our Sonospy created music library.

FWIW, my Sonospy library is streamed from a NAS.
Also, I don't want to really get into a long discussion about what program to use to handle tagging and cataloguing, but because I have multiple family members using this library we use iTunes. For compilation albums we have checked the Compilation setting.

So, the main question is what is the best way to handle Compilation albums in Sonospy?
Currently, for compilation albums in our library we have filled out the Album Name and the individual artist name for each track. Currently, none of our compilation albums have any entries in the Album Artist or Sort Artist fields.

Right now, when we look at the Artist "Tab" of our Sonospy library on Sonos we see each individual artist. We would prefer to reduce this list of names.  If I were to use the AlbumArtist field for these, could I write in a name or reference to the album and thereby reduce the list by removing all the names of each individual artist?
Is there a smarter way to do this?

I see the ability in the pcypoint.ini file to select whether or not to use albumartist tags in the artist index. So, in the above paragraph where I ask about entering a reference name in the AlbumArtist field, would that mean that both Artist and AlbumArtist would show up?
Finally, here are my current settings in the ini file:

use_albumartist=Y
album_identification=album
show_separate_albums=N

Thanks!
Scott

[Mark Henkelis]

On 17/09/17 22:56, 69li...@gmail.com wrote:

I have a two part question.
Preface: in Sonos settings I have chosen for Compilation Albums to "Use iTunes Compilations".  I do not want to change this setting because of implications this would have in my non-Sonospy library (i.e. my "main" Sonos music library). Also, we like the way that in the Main Music Library of Sonos there is a listing in the Artist tab for "(Compilations)"  which then gives a list of all the compilations Albums. We would like to try and approach this as closely as possible with our Sonospy created music library.

So first a disclaimer - I'm not an iTunes user.

FWIW, my Sonospy library is streamed from a NAS.
Also, I don't want to really get into a long discussion about what program to use to handle tagging and cataloguing, but because I have multiple family members using this library we use iTunes. For compilation albums we have checked the Compilation setting.

A quick google suggests that iTunes sets an ID3 tag for compilations. The tag library I use appears to read that TCMP tag, but Sonospy currently doesn't have a field to hold that data (I'd need an example file to see whether that tag was correct and really does that job across iTunes versions).

So, the main question is what is the best way to handle Compilation albums in Sonospy?

There ought to be a combination of tag and ini settings to get what you want. Simplistically the albumartist field is for the whole album, with the artist tag for contributing artists.

Currently, for compilation albums in our library we have filled out the Album Name and the individual artist name for each track. Currently, none of our compilation albums have any entries in the Album Artist or Sort Artist fields.

So you're setting the contributing artist field for those albums. Do you set albumartist for other albums?

Right now, when we look at the Artist "Tab" of our Sonospy library on Sonos we see each individual artist. We would prefer to reduce this list of names.  If I were to use the AlbumArtist field for these, could I write in a name or reference to the album and thereby reduce the list by removing all the names of each individual artist?
Is there a smarter way to do this?

Setting use_albumartist will cause the artist field to contain entries only from the albumartist tag. However, if there isn't an albumartist tag for a file, the code that post processes the tags will copy the artist tag into the albumartist tag - so in your case you'll still see the contributing artists in the artist index.

I see the ability in the pcypoint.ini file to select whether or not to use albumartist tags in the artist index. So, in the above paragraph where I ask about entering a reference name in the AlbumArtist field, would that mean that both Artist and AlbumArtist would show up?

If you set the albumartist field as well as the artist and set use_albumartist, the artist index will only show the reference name. That way you should be able to get an entry for "(Compilations)".

Finally, here are my current settings in the ini file:

use_albumartist=Y
album_identification=album
show_separate_albums=N

Setting album_identification=album will group contributing artists on the same album together (so show a single album rather than multiples).

Setting show_separate_albums=Y will cause albums of the same name with different albumartists to be shown separately - so you don't see a single album if you have multiple albums named "Greatest Hits" for example. However in your case if you intend to use the same albumartist name, you'll see them together unless you make the names unique.

That's one way to do compilations in Sonospy. You could also use the genre, but that would mean selecting though an additional index (you can have multiple tags in genre, so you wouldn't break your existing genre entries).

Can you try out the suggestions to see if you can get what you want?

[69li...@gmail.com]

Hello Mark-

Sorry for the radio silence. I had a week of really long, hard work days. On my first day off yesterday, I discovered that my NAS drive has died. I've ordered new NAS, and hope to get it up and running by this coming weekend. All to say, this subject is on hold for a bit. Once I've done some testing and report back with my findings.
Thanks!
Scott