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Support => Questions => Topic started by: jonap on March 20, 2021, 04:03:24 PM

Title: Artists view, how to not get multiple instance of same track?
Post by: jonap on March 20, 2021, 04:03:24 PM
Sorry for the bad title, but the size limit made impossible to explain properly
In Artist view, you get a list of artists, and a list of tracks
If you click an artist, only the tracks containing the artist get listed
If you don't click an artist, all the tracks get listed
In the last scenario, all the tracks get listed, but the tracks with multiple artists get listed as many times as the number of artists in the track

Is it possible to avoid that?
Title: Re: Artists view, how to not get multiple instance of same track?
Post by: hiccup on March 20, 2021, 04:26:11 PM
I don't use that view myself very often.
What have you selected under 'grouping'?
A quick look shows me that amongst other options you can choose between 'Album Artist' and 'Artist'.
I would expect 'displayed artist' to be a sensible option for that view, but I see it's not there.

Perhaps other members using the Artist view have some useful input?

Title: Re: Artists view, how to not get multiple instance of same track?
Post by: frankz on March 20, 2021, 04:41:54 PM
Under other tags is Artists:Artist.  This will show only folks who are tagged as artist, and not performer or mixer or guest, etc.  That is the closest you will get, I think.  So only tag the actual artist as artist and tag anyone else as performer, or with their individual role.
Title: Re: Artists view, how to not get multiple instance of same track?
Post by: hiccup on March 20, 2021, 04:49:44 PM
Under other tags is Artists:Artist.
Am I on a completely wrong track here?
I only see these options:

(https://i.imgur.com/gZtiKTg.png)
Title: Re: Artists view, how to not get multiple instance of same track?
Post by: jonap on March 20, 2021, 04:55:16 PM
@frankz if a track has 2 artists both tagged as artist, the track will be listed twice
performers/guest/mixer is not the issue

@hiccup grouping by artists, shows duplicate tracks
grouping by artist album doesn't show duplicate tracks (cause a track can't have multiple artist album) but then I won't get the extra artists listed

I guess it's not actually possible and I have to chose between one of these scenario

@hiccup about what frankz said, yeah, I have the same as you, probably was not clear enough what view I was talking and he got confused with other views (like the thumbnail browser) where you can filter between artists:guest, artists:artist, artists:performer and artists:remixer
Title: Re: Artists view, how to not get multiple instance of same track?
Post by: hiccup on March 20, 2021, 04:59:27 PM
grouping by artist album doesn't show duplicate tracks (cause a track can't have multiple artist album) but then I won't get the extra artists listed
As a guess, I think if the option 'displayed artist' would be there too, you would get the result that you are looking for.
If that is the case, you or somebody else would need to create a wish for that to be implemented.
Title: Re: Artists view, how to not get multiple instance of same track?
Post by: frankz on March 20, 2021, 04:59:45 PM
@frankz if a track has 2 artists both tagged as artist, the track will be listed twice
performers/guest/mixer is not the issue
Yes, I think that is what most people are going for when they tag artists. I personally want to see all of the relevant tracks listed under each appropriate artist no matter how many total are displayed.  I think that's appropriate and expected.

If I want tracks to be the main method of navigation, with each track appearing only once, I would of course choose tracks view and display the relevant fields (for your purposes, now that I understand what you're looking for, choosing tracks, showing artist (displayed), and then sorting on that field would probably get you where you want to go here).

But artists view is going to show the entries that are appropriate to that artist, which would include all of the tracks that artist is listed as an artist on.
Title: Re: Artists view, how to not get multiple instance of same track?
Post by: hiccup on March 20, 2021, 05:01:05 PM
grouping by artist album doesn't show duplicate tracks (cause a track can't have multiple artist album)
Regrettably, in MusicBee it can. But let's not go there ;-)
Title: Re: Artists view, how to not get multiple instance of same track?
Post by: hiccup on March 20, 2021, 05:09:56 PM
Yes, I think that is what most people are going for when they tag artists.
Considering this wasn't raised before, you are probably right.

But with large bands having many musicians, let alone classical orchestra's, when sourcing metadata from MusicBrainz or Discogs, you can end up with an enormous amount of 'artists'. I can very well understand you wouldn't want all of them to take up 'artist' space, including their artist pictures.

Since I am not using that view a lot myself, and I am not sure I have a good grasp on everything involved I won't create a wish for this myself.
But to me it looks a valid option and possible improvement to have 'displayed artist' available for grouping.
Title: Re: Artists view, how to not get multiple instance of same track?
Post by: frankz on March 20, 2021, 05:22:02 PM
But to me it looks a valid option and possible improvement to have 'displayed artist' available for grouping.
I believe that if you choose tracks view and group by artist, this is actually what you get.  I'm about 75% sure at this point and still looking.

I think it is only when you are in Artist View that each actual tagged artist gets their own entry, which I think is appropriate.

EDIT BEFORE POSTING: Now I'm 100% sure that what I said above is correct.  I just added an album by Ghost of Vroom, Mike Doughty & Andrew Livingston.  Ghost of Vroom, Mike Doughty & Andrew Livingston is the display artist and each artist (Ghost of Vroom / Mike Doughty / Andrew Livingston) is listed as Artist individually in the splitter.  In tracks view, grouped by artists, the tracks only appear under Ghost of Vroom, Mike Doughty & Andrew Livingston and not any of the three individual artist names.
Title: Re: Artists view, how to not get multiple instance of same track?
Post by: hiccup on March 20, 2021, 05:31:19 PM
I think it is only when you are in Artist View that each actual tagged artist gets their own entry, which I think is appropriate.
Also for classical orchestra's containing 50+ musicians?
As I said, I'm currently not sure about an ideal solution, but I do feel there should be an option for some middle ground.
Having only either 'Artist' or 'Album Artist' doesn't cut it.
Title: Re: Artists view, how to not get multiple instance of same track?
Post by: jonap on March 20, 2021, 05:40:02 PM
@frankz I think you are talking about 2 different views:
Artists and Tracks
in Tracks view, the tracks are not duplicate

But I am talking only of the Artists view, with the panel showing the tracks below
it's there that the duplicate tracks get listed

(https://i.imgur.com/t7PFOGo.png)
Title: Re: Artists view, how to not get multiple instance of same track?
Post by: frankz on March 20, 2021, 05:45:20 PM
I think it is only when you are in Artist View that each actual tagged artist gets their own entry, which I think is appropriate.
Also for classical orchestra's containing 50+ musicians?
As I said, I'm currently not sure about an ideal solution, but I do feel there should be an option for some middle ground.
Having only either 'Artist' or 'Album Artist' doesn't cut it.
Well the middle ground is probably to not tag performers like the second chair flute player as an artist.   :D

I mean, when it comes to orchestral music, the orchestra as a group is an artist, the soloist if there is one is an artist, and the people whose names you don't know because they're not artists probably shouldn't be listed as artists.  

There could be a Displayed Artist view I guess, but that seems very iTunes level simplistic.  

I don't care that much per se, though, so I won't belabor it.  I suggested something that would work for what the OP wants to see and I think that covers my interest in this.

@frankz I think you are talking about 2 different views:
Artists and Tracks
in Tracks view, the tracks are not duplicate

But I am talking only of the Artists view, with the panel showing the tracks below
it's there that the duplicate tracks get listed

No, I understand now.  I'm telling you the view that will show you what you want to see, since the view you want to use can't show you what you want to see.  

Artist view won't do what you want, as we've established.  You can decide if it's more important to see the data as you wish (each track once) or see the view that you want. As hiccup suggested, if artist view won't do what you want a wishlist post is totally appropriate.
Title: Re: Artists view, how to not get multiple instance of same track?
Post by: jonap on March 20, 2021, 05:52:39 PM
oh I see what you mean now, yeah I didn't understand you were suggesting another way
anyway that's not quite the same view, as you don't get the artists shown as picture nor the ability to filter the tracks by click on them
it's an interesting alternative, but not what I was looking for
Title: Re: Artists view, how to not get multiple instance of same track?
Post by: hiccup on March 20, 2021, 05:54:03 PM
oh I see what you mean now, yeah I didn't understand you were suggesting another way
Who/what are you replying to?
Title: Re: Artists view, how to not get multiple instance of same track?
Post by: jonap on March 20, 2021, 05:56:58 PM
sorry, I was replying to frankz
my comments were cause I tought he didn't understand what view I was talking about, instead he did understood and considering it's not possible he was suggesting another view
Title: Re: Artists view, how to not get multiple instance of same track?
Post by: frankz on March 20, 2021, 06:46:23 PM
I know I said I'm not very interested, but it seems I am.

I can't get Artist view to look the way you have it in your screenshot.  Here is mine for that track.  I have Bowie tagged as guest, but even tagging him as artist doesn't duplicate the track.

How are you getting the result you're getting?  I'm sure I'm not set up the way you are, but maybe you could set up the way I am and get what you want after all.

(https://i.imgur.com/JYXV4wH.png)
Title: Re: Artists view, how to not get multiple instance of same track?
Post by: hiccup on March 20, 2021, 06:47:41 PM
I think it is only when you are in Artist View that each actual tagged artist gets their own entry, which I think is appropriate.
Also for classical orchestra's containing 50+ musicians?
It looks like that assumption of mine was wrong.
I think that when you select 'Artists' as grouping, it will only show those labelled as 'Artist', 'Guest Artist', Performer' or 'Remixer'. Not the musician/instrument performers.
(but I am using Picard for tagging, which includes using plugins and some rather complicated scripts, so I can't really speak any 'generic truths' here)

@jonap, if this is important to you, take a good look at how your artists are tagged exactly (use Tag Inspector for that), and how/which ones you would like/expect to have displayed in 'Artists' view.
Then, if you are sure you have a good suggestion for improvement, create a wish for it.
Title: Re: Artists view, how to not get multiple instance of same track?
Post by: jonap on March 20, 2021, 09:22:31 PM
@frankz in that view of yours, if you go to customize panel, you can chose between 3 options
your view has "directly under the selected album" which groups the tracks by album and only after selecting the artist
what I wanted is the "at the bottom of main panel", which leave a bottom panel with a list of all the tracks for every artist selected (when no artist is selected, all the tracks get listed, but with duplicates)

@hiccup I just wanted to know if it was possible, but it's a minor thing, I am gonna make a wishlist thread, but just for the sake of it, in case it's a very easy thing to update, otherwise it's ok anyway
Title: Re: Artists view, how to not get multiple instance of same track?
Post by: frankz on March 20, 2021, 10:43:39 PM
OK I see what you're seeing now. Interesting view.  Wow I was still pretty off base about what you were seeing and why it would be that way.  Thanks for this it's educational I've only spent about 5 minutes ever in Artists view.
(https://i.imgur.com/bQEBmcG.png)
It's an interim view, not an end point.  The program displays an instance of each possible result you could get from clicking one of the options at the top.  I think the program expects that a user would choose one of the displayed artists at the top and drill down further, which would filter the results at the bottom.

I can see the logic of having it the way it is, but I can also see where it would be very difficult to select and queue tracks from here, because you'd obviously only need one of each.  Well, not "very difficult" because you would just have to click one of the artists and be on your way.

If this were a wishlist, I'd be in favor of showing nothing here and making a user drill down to the ultimate artist they wanted to view before displaying any tracks.
Title: Re: Artists view, how to not get multiple instance of same track?
Post by: hiccup on March 20, 2021, 10:57:39 PM
(https://i.imgur.com/t7PFOGo.png)
I only now noticed this screenshot.
It's pretty much impossible that these two tracks are actually the same track/file.
If you right-click the first one, then Search > Locate in Windows Explorer
and then do the same with the second, do they both direct to the exact same file in the exact same location?
I'm pretty sure that can't be.
Title: Re: Artists view, how to not get multiple instance of same track?
Post by: jonap on March 21, 2021, 08:58:40 AM
It's pretty much impossible that these two tracks are actually the same track/file.
If you right-click the first one, then Search > Locate in Windows Explorer
and then do the same with the second, do they both direct to the exact same file in the exact same location?
I'm pretty sure that can't be.

yes, they are the same file and direct to the same single file on your pc
it just gets listed for each of the artist
look at frankz screenshot too
it seems he has 3 tracks, and 1 of them gets listed 7 times

I can see the logic of having it the way it is, but I can also see where it would be very difficult to select and queue tracks from here, because you'd obviously only need one of each.  Well, not "very difficult" because you would just have to click one of the artists and be on your way.

If this were a wishlist, I'd be in favor of showing nothing here and making a user drill down to the ultimate artist they wanted to view before displaying any tracks.

so you would remove a view that exist and provides something, to get a different view that already exists and provide something else?
you can do that in the other customizing options, where the panel only appears after clicking the artist
in this customizing option the panel is always there, and the usefull feature is that lists tracks for each filter, and selecting the artist should be the last filter, not the only way to filter (I am not sure I explained exactly how I see this view to be usefull)
Title: Re: Artists view, how to not get multiple instance of same track?
Post by: hiccup on March 21, 2021, 09:10:15 AM
yes, they are the same file and direct to the same single file on your pc
it just gets listed for each of the artist
look at frankz screenshot too
it seems he has 3 tracks, and 1 of them gets listed 7 times
Ah yes, you are right.
That's unusual to see, I'm not sure if that is how it is intended to work.
Title: Re: Artists view, how to not get multiple instance of same track?
Post by: jonap on March 21, 2021, 09:15:10 AM
I guess it makes sense cause it sees a lot of elements and then lists every sub-elements for each
though it would be pretty easy (I guess) to implement a simple "if" in case the sub-element is already listed
maybe I am gonna post it in bugs first to see if it's just something that slipped or not

Made the thread in bugs and added few screenshots to explain the issue:
https://getmusicbee.com/forum/index.php?topic=34528.0
Title: Re: Artists view, how to not get multiple instance of same track?
Post by: frankz on March 21, 2021, 02:46:59 PM
so you would remove a view that exist and provides something, to get a different view that already exists and provide something else?
you can do that in the other customizing options, where the panel only appears after clicking the artist
in this customizing option the panel is always there, and the usefull feature is that lists tracks for each filter, and selecting the artist should be the last filter, not the only way to filter (I am not sure I explained exactly how I see this view to be usefull)
Yeah, what I said doesn't seem right either.  Because I like MB so much I think I sometimes get defensive of it and try to find a scenario where the way it does things can't be wrong.

This one actually seems like it shouldn't be this way.
Title: Re: Artists view, how to not get multiple instance of same track?
Post by: The Incredible Boom Boom on March 21, 2021, 09:40:24 PM
Yes, I think that is what most people are going for when they tag artists.
Considering this wasn't raised before, you are probably right.

I'm a little late, but I experience what @jonap describes, as I use the Artist view most of the time, and I don't like it, actually.
However, it only displays in this manner under certain circumstances, plus it would likely take some time to "fix" from a programming perspective, so I've never bothered mentioning it.
Title: Re: Artists view, how to not get multiple instance of same track?
Post by: The Incredible Boom Boom on June 18, 2021, 08:49:45 PM
A reddit user (https://www.reddit.com/r/musicbee/comments/o2u7rm/album_displaying_twice/) recently posted about this predicament.
Here's what it looks like with a multiple artist-tagged album in the Artists view when no artist is selected.

(https://i.imgur.com/ZNFBZD9.png)