Track artists in compilations (Again)

[dan186]

(08-07-2013 18:21)simoncn Wrote:  

(08-07-2013 16:06)dan186 Wrote:  Hello Simon,

I just installed 0.72 a couple of weeks ago. Great product!

I'm having the same problem as the thread starter. I have loads of compilations (various artists, original soundtracks, etc.). I'm using a Naim NDX with n-stream as the control point.

I have the AlbumArtist tag set to Various Artists or Original Soundtrack and the Artist tag set differently for each title. I also have another tag, Compilation, set to 1. My previous server, Asset, would display the title as Artist - Title in the list of titles when selecting the album and in the Now Playing display.

Thank you.

From your description, it sounds like this problem isn't exactly the same as the problem reported by the thread starter. You want to change what's in the title, but the thread starter wanted (I think) to change what's in the artist field displayed by the control point.

To change what's in the title, you need to use the tagFormat property. To show the title as "Artist - Title", you can add the setting

Title.displayFormat={$artist^^ - ^$title}

to the tagFormat property. See this section for more details about how to use the tagFormat property.

Would this change the title for all albums? I just want the title to display like this for compilations.

Thanks.

[simoncn]

(08-07-2013 20:17)dan186 Wrote:  Would this change the title for all albums? I just want the title to display like this for compilations.

Thanks.

Yes, this would change the title format for all albums.

If you want to do this for compilations only, you would need to create a custom tag such as TitleArtist and set this tag for your compilations only. You would also need to add TitleArtist to the itemTags property. Then you could use the tagFormat setting

Title.displayFormat={$titleartist^^ - ^$title}

to get what you want.

[dan186]

(08-07-2013 22:09)simoncn Wrote:  Yes, this would change the title format for all albums.

If you want to do this for compilations only, you would need to create a custom tag such as TitleArtist and set this tag for your compilations only. You would also need to add TitleArtist to the itemTags property. Then you could use the tagFormat setting

Title.displayFormat={$titleartist^^ - ^$title}

to get what you want.

Thank you.

[simoncn]

(09-07-2013 00:43)dan186 Wrote:  Thank you.

Does n-stream show artist information for each track, or only for the complete album? If it shows artist information for each track, it should be possible to configure MinimServer to send the correct artist information for compilation artists, instead of putting this information in the track title. Can you attach a screenshot showing what n-stream displays when viewing the tracks of a compilation album?

[dan186]

(09-07-2013 08:25)simoncn Wrote:  Does n-stream show artist information for each track, or only for the complete album? If it shows artist information for each track, it should be possible to configure MinimServer to send the correct artist information for compilation artists, instead of putting this information in the track title. Can you attach a screenshot showing what n-stream displays when viewing the tracks of a compilation album?

It only shows Various Artists (the AlbumArtist) when selecting the album and selecting a track. If I could see the Artist in the list of titles when selecting an album and in the "now playing" display that would be great.

I did add the TitleArtist tag (not to the album in the snapshot) and that works well, but if the Artist could be viewed without having to add the tag to each compilation file that would be ideal.

See the attachments.

Thanks.

[simoncn]

(09-07-2013 23:04)dan186 Wrote:  It only shows Various Artists (the AlbumArtist) when selecting the album and selecting a track. If I could see the Artist in the list of titles when selecting an album and in the "now playing" display that would be great.

I did add the TitleArtist tag (not to the album in the snapshot) and that works well, but if the Artist could be viewed without having to add the tag to each compilation file that would be ideal.

Please try the setting mentioned in this post. I think this should show the correct track artist on the Now Playing screen, but I'm not sure whether it will help with the track list.

I understand that adding TitleArtist tags to each compilation album is inconvenient. I'm thinking about alternative approaches that might be supported in a future release.

[dan186]

(09-07-2013 23:46)simoncn Wrote:  Please try the setting mentioned in this post. I think this should show the correct track artist on the Now Playing screen, but I'm not sure whether it will help with the track list.

I understand that adding TitleArtist tags to each compilation album is inconvenient. I'm thinking about alternative approaches that might be supported in a future release.

That works great. It does change the Artist in the Now Playing screen, not the track list, but at least now I can see who the Artist is for each track when it plays. Thank you very much for your help. Keep up the good work!

[vln]

(08-07-2013 22:09)simoncn Wrote:  

(08-07-2013 20:17)dan186 Wrote:  Would this change the title for all albums? I just want the title to display like this for compilations.

Thanks.

Yes, this would change the title format for all albums.

If you want to do this for compilations only, you would need to create a custom tag such as TitleArtist and set this tag for your compilations only. You would also need to add TitleArtist to the itemTags property. Then you could use the tagFormat setting

Title.displayFormat={$titleartist^^ - ^$title}

to get what you want.

Hello there,


new to the forum and to minimserver, so please bear with me!

Out of the above instructions, I understand that in order to use the tagFormat setting specified,

- 'tagCustom' needs to include 'TitleArtist'
- 'itemTags' needs to include 'TitleArtist'

.. but I don't understand how to "set this tag for your compilations only".

Ideally, I would like the artist name to be "Various Artists", and then - as is implied above - the actual performer as part of the song title, separated by a hyphen.

Example:

Album Title: "Marching Band Evergreens 1950 - 1960"
Album Artist: "Various Artists"

..and track 1 should be displayed as something like: "Mfftataaa, Mfftataa - The German Marching Band All Stars"


Many thanks & best regards,
Samuel.


PS:
Thank you Simon for producing a great media server - still need to get my head around a few things but I'm sure I'll get there!

[simoncn]

(20-08-2013 15:00)vln Wrote:  Out of the above instructions, I understand that in order to use the tagFormat setting specified,

- 'tagCustom' needs to include 'TitleArtist'
- 'itemTags' needs to include 'TitleArtist'

.. but I don't understand how to "set this tag for your compilations only".

This means you would need to add TitleArtist tags to all tracks that are part of compilation albums, but not to other tracks.

Quote:Ideally, I would like the artist name to be "Various Artists", and then - as is implied above - the actual performer as part of the song title, separated by a hyphen.

Example:

Album Title: "Marching Band Evergreens 1950 - 1960"
Album Artist: "Various Artists"

..and track 1 should be displayed as something like: "Mfftataaa, Mfftataa - The German Marching Band All Stars"

To set the artist name for the compilation album to 'Various Artists', you can set the AlbumArtist tag to this value on all the tracks of the album.

To get the display you want for track 1, you can add this to tagFormat:

Title.displayFormat={$title^$artist^ - }

This will have the side effect of applying this custom title formatting to non-compilation tracks as well.

[vln]

(20-08-2013 23:18)simoncn Wrote:  

(20-08-2013 15:00)vln Wrote:  Out of the above instructions, I understand that in order to use the tagFormat setting specified,

- 'tagCustom' needs to include 'TitleArtist'
- 'itemTags' needs to include 'TitleArtist'

.. but I don't understand how to "set this tag for your compilations only".

This means you would need to add TitleArtist tags to all tracks that are part of compilation albums, but not to other tracks.

Quote:Ideally, I would like the artist name to be "Various Artists", and then - as is implied above - the actual performer as part of the song title, separated by a hyphen.

Example:

Album Title: "Marching Band Evergreens 1950 - 1960"
Album Artist: "Various Artists"

..and track 1 should be displayed as something like: "Mfftataaa, Mfftataa - The German Marching Band All Stars"

To set the artist name for the compilation album to 'Various Artists', you can set the AlbumArtist tag to this value on all the tracks of the album.

To get the display you want for track 1, you can add this to tagFormat:

Title.displayFormat={$title^$artist^ - }

This will have the side effect of applying this custom title formatting to non-compilation tracks as well.

Yes, but above you mentioned that using

Title.displayFormat={$titleartist^^ - ^$title}

would avoid this problem? (i.e. the problem that all tracks would have the 'Track Name - Artist' view)

Regarding

"To set the artist name for the compilation album to 'Various Artists', you can set the AlbumArtist tag to this value on all the tracks of the album."

Could you elaborate - what is the syntax and which field do I use it on?

Given that iTunes offers an Album Artist field, wouldn't that be ideal to use for compilations - i.e. enter 'Various Artists' (or whatever generic name you want for compilations) there, and then associate AlbumArtist in MinimServer to this value, and then use

Title.displayFormat={$titleartist^^ - ^$title}

on these (and only these) albums?