Hands On: Tagging your music

Another advantage of ID3v2 tags is that they are located at the start of a file, so when MP3s are being streamed the data is the first thing to be read.

The ID3v2 format has been updated with a few tweaks over time with the current version at ID3v2.4.

Using tags
We can see the direct benefits of ID3v2 tags in the functionality of many of today’s software MP3 players. For example, it allows music players to store how many times a track has been played so they can create lists of the most popular tracks in your library.

Of course, if the tags on your MP3 files are non-existent or incomplete then you won’t be able to take advantage of the benefits that tagging brings. But while it’s not uncommon to have MP3s in your collection that are poorly tagged, updating them is now easy.

To edit a tag in iTunes highlight the track in the main library window and then right-click on it (or just hit Ctrl and I). In the menu that appears select Get Info and then click on the Info tab. Here you can edit the usual information such as artist and song title, but you can also enter the track number or change the genre.

If you need to edit multiple tracks at the same time hold down the Shift key on your keyboard and highlight all the tracks in the album. You then right-click on these highlighted tracks and select Get Info. A warning box will appear asking whether you’re sure you want to edit multiple tracks. Just click Yes and you’ll be presented with an Info screen tailored for group editing ­ it doesn’t have a song title entry because it knows you’re editing multiple tracks at the same time.

Windows Media Player 11 includes its own tag editing in a feature called Advanced Tag Editor. To use this right-click on a song in your library and select the Advanced Tag Editor from the pop-up list. The Tag Editor window will open on the Info tab where you can edit the artist, album and song title information as well as entering a track number and changing the genre if you want to. To save the changes to the track click on either the OK or Apply button.

As with iTunes you can also edit multiple tracks at the same time. Hold down the Shift key, highlight the tracks you want to edit, right-click on them and open the Advanced Tag editor again.

WMP11 also lets you edit tag information directly in the main library window. Right-click on the attribute you want to change and select Edit from the pop-up menu. Type the new information directly into the attribute box. You also can edit multiple tracks at the same time by highlighting them using the Shift key.

Updating tags
However, if loads of tags in your library are wrong, manually typing in lots of album and track titles can become annoying. Thankfully, Microsoft has provided a quick way to update all of an album’s information in one go.

First find an album in your library that isn’t tagged as it should be. Next either select all the tracks in the album manually or just right-click on the album art and then select Find Album Info.

WMP11 will connect to the internet and scan its database to find albums that match the one you’ve selected. It will offer up a list of albums it thinks are relevant, with the best match highlighted at the top. If the album it has highlighted is correct, select it in the list and click Next. You’ll be presented with a list of track titles which you’ll need to match up with the unnamed tracks in your library. Once this is done, click Next and you’ll be asked to confirm your selection. Click the Finish button and your MP3s will be updated with this new information.

There are plenty of other programs you can use to update the tags on your music files. Tag and Rename works with lots of different types of files and has a comprehensive list of features. Another option worth trying is Picard, which works with the Musicbrainz service and tries to automatically discover the right tags for your music.