Consolidating Artist in index (ArtistSort)

[hellboyberry]

Hi,
I hope someone can help.
I can't for the life of me get the Artist Sort to work on my server.

The end result I am looking for is (for example) to have Prince, Prince and The Revolution, and Prince and The New Power Generation to all be indexed under one Artist "Prince". And when selecting an album or track have it still play out/display as the full artist name e.g. ""Prince and The Revolution".

I have tired the Custom Artist Index Sorting from Music Library help (i will paste below), I tag Artist Sort as "Prince" for all files but the Artist index on my device still shows the individual Album Artist names.

I hope someone can help me out, many thanks in advance.

John

Quote:Custom Artist index sorting

If your library contains ArtistSort tags, you can use the value.sort option setting of the tagValue property to sort the entries in the Artist index using the values in ArtistSort tags. To set this up, do the following:

* Add Artist to the indexTags list if it isn't already there.
* If your library contains any AlbumArtist tags, make sure you have AlbumArtist in either the itemTags list (if you want to use the Artist index for AlbumArtist values) or the indexTags list (if you want a separate AlbumArtist index).
* Add ArtistSort to the itemTags list if it isn't already there.
* Set the tagValue property to:
Artist.value.sort={ArtistSort}, AlbumArtist.value.sort={ArtistSort}
* If you don't have any AlbumArtist tags, you can omit the AlbumArtist.value.sort setting.

With these settings, Artist and/or AlbumArtist index entries will be sorted using ArtistSort tag values. Any Artist or AlbumArtist entries that don't have a matching ArtistSort tag will be sorted in their usual order.

[simoncn]

The sort value of a tag changes the sort order of entries in the index. It does not change what is displayed.

You can change what is displayed in the index by setting the index value. Try doing this:

Artist.value.index.sort={ArtistSort}, AlbumArtist.value.index.sort={ArtistSort}

[hellboyberry]

(28-05-2020 11:18)simoncn Wrote:  The sort value of a tag changes the sort order of entries in the index. It does not change what is displayed.

You can change what is displayed in the index by setting the index value. Try doing this:

Artist.value.index.sort={ArtistSort}, AlbumArtist.value.index.sort={ArtistSort}

Thanks a lot for the super quick response.
What you say makes sense, but unfortunately your suggestion didn't work.
The only way I've found to have e.g. Prince and The Revolution indexed as Prince is to change the Album Artist to Prince (keeping Artist as Prince and The Revolution) bu then when I play the album it is displayed as Prince (on both album and tracks).

It's making my head spin

[simoncn]

Did you restart MinimServer after making the change to index.sort? You might also need to restart your control point. Also, please check the MinimServer log for warning messages.

I have tested this myself and it is working for me. If it still does not work for you, please check your files to make sure they contain correct ArtistSort tags.

[hellboyberry]

(28-05-2020 12:01)simoncn Wrote:  Did you restart MinimServer after making the change to index.sort? You might also need to restart your control point. Also, please check the MinimServer log for warning messages.

Yes, restarted everything after each change.
I checked the error log - nothing out of the ordinary.

Here are my current settings in full:

[simoncn]

I have tested this myself and it is working for me. Please check your files to make sure they contain correct ArtistSort tags. A simple way to check this is to move ArtistSort from itemTags to indexTags and check what appears in the ArtistSort index.

[hellboyberry]

(28-05-2020 13:47)simoncn Wrote:  I have tested this myself and it is working for me. Please check your files to make sure they contain correct ArtistSort tags. A simple way to check this is to move ArtistSort from itemTags to indexTags and check what appears in the ArtistSort index.

Hmmm... I did what you suggested but ArtistSort isn't showing at all on my control point. I still only see the default indexes: Artist, Date, Genre, All Artists, Composer

I know that this field normally works for me as I have on occasion added Album Artist to indexTags and that show on my control point.

What would be an incorrect "ArtistSort Tag"? I am simply adding the name I wish the albums to be sorted under - is this not correct?

[Alandbush]

(28-05-2020 14:28)hellboyberry Wrote:  

(28-05-2020 13:47)simoncn Wrote:  I have tested this myself and it is working for me. Please check your files to make sure they contain correct ArtistSort tags. A simple way to check this is to move ArtistSort from itemTags to indexTags and check what appears in the ArtistSort index.

Hmmm... I did what you suggested but ArtistSort isn't showing at all on my control point. I still only see the default indexes: Artist, Date, Genre, All Artists, Composer

I know that this field normally works for me as I have on occasion added Album Artist to indexTags and that show on my control point.

What would be an incorrect "ArtistSort Tag"? I am simply adding the name I wish the albums to be sorted under - is this not correct?

The quick check you have performed, as per Simoncn suggestion, appears to indicate that your files do not contain an ArtistSort tag field. The value should be irrelevant, unless it is empty!

Do you have another method of checking that the tag exists, perhaps your tagging editor. Details of it and screen prints may be useful.

Also, you could use another Minimserver feature to list all of your files' tags and their values. The 'writeAllTags' property will output to an appropriate file that you have to provide as input to the property. Check out the Write All Tags section of the User guide.

[hellboyberry]

(28-05-2020 15:18)Alandbush Wrote:  

(28-05-2020 14:28)hellboyberry Wrote:  

(28-05-2020 13:47)simoncn Wrote:  I have tested this myself and it is working for me. Please check your files to make sure they contain correct ArtistSort tags. A simple way to check this is to move ArtistSort from itemTags to indexTags and check what appears in the ArtistSort index.

Hmmm... I did what you suggested but ArtistSort isn't showing at all on my control point. I still only see the default indexes: Artist, Date, Genre, All Artists, Composer

I know that this field normally works for me as I have on occasion added Album Artist to indexTags and that show on my control point.

What would be an incorrect "ArtistSort Tag"? I am simply adding the name I wish the albums to be sorted under - is this not correct?

The quick check you have performed, as per Simoncn suggestion, appears to indicate that your files do not contain an ArtistSort tag field. The value should be irrelevant, unless it is empty!

Do you have another method of checking that the tag exists, perhaps your tagging editor. Details of it and screen prints may be useful.

Also, you could use another Minimserver feature to list all of your files' tags and their values. The 'writeAllTags' property will output to an appropriate file that you have to provide as input to the property. Check out the Write All Tags section of the User guide.

Hi,
I am using dBPoweramp to edit my tags. Please see the screen shot below:


I will look at the "writeAllTags" link you provided. Many thanks

[Alandbush]

(28-05-2020 17:32)hellboyberry Wrote:  Hi,
I am using dBPoweramp to edit my tags. Please see the screen shot below:


I will look at the "writeAllTags" link you provided. Many thanks

Fortunately, I also use DBpoweramp and I can confirm that the 'Artist Sort' tag does contain a space, i.e. your references to ArtistSort will not work.
Of course, you can create custom tags within DBpoweramp should you prefer the name ArtistSort.

The above should be confirmed if you decide to use the writeAllTags property.