Music management part 27

[careytilden]

I finally gave in.  I'm using iTunes to maintain my music library.  I'm still tagging with MusicBrainz, but then tweaking a bunch of stuff in iTunes.  Here's the basic workflow:

1. Add files to itunes
2. Load from itunes music folder into musicbrainz
3. Tag but don't rename
4. Reload updated metadata in itunes and clean it up by hand

The hand cleanup goes like this.  These are listed in order of importance.

1. Remove sort names
2. Rename artists to fit personal preferences
3. Ensure album artist is set to album's primary artist
   • For a tribute album, use the original artist
   • For a compilation, use the overwhelming majority artist
   • If no overwhelming majority artist, use "Various Artists"
4. Ensure track number is in N of M format
5. Remove compilation flag unless it's clearly a compilation, for example
   
   • Greatest hits albums
   • Soundtracks
   • Grab bag releases (e.g., "Now That's What I Call Music" series)
6. Ensure album has a release year
7. Set genres, using wikipedia and last.fm for guidance

Update: Added step for compilations
Update: Added step for track number format
Update: Added step for release year