Folder structure from Windows Explorer

[tinpanalley]

I really like the UI and layout of MusicBee. I've used WinAmp for years and need something a bit more customisable so this caught my eye.

I organise my music on my computer by artist and then album because I listen to entire albums. I don't ever use playlists. I can't stand music playing randomly like on streaming services. So because of this, it's really important that I have access to the folder structure that I have created and curated on my computer. Within any given artist, my folder structure is:
1. Artist
2. Subgrouping (Record labels if there are more than one, or "albums" and "EPs" and "Live")
3. Albums (each in its own folder with artwork, etc and the folder names beginning with year of release so they stay in order in any system, Windows Explorer or whatever.

Ideally, I'd have Windows Explorer but then with some kind of UI that lets me see album covers as well which is why I don't just use Explorer. Can MusicBee help me out with this kind of look? I've been playing with layour and can't seem to get it to work.

[psychoadept]

Are you using the Computer node in the left sidebar to access your music?  That mimics Windows Explorer, and you can filter out whatever folders you don't need: http://musicbee.wikia.com/wiki/Computer#Computer

Or you could create this sorting in your main library by using a custom or virtual tag for Subgrouping and using a custom sort order: Artist / Subgrouping / Year / Album: 
http://musicbee.wikia.com/wiki/Virtual_Tags
http://musicbee.wikia.com/wiki/Custom_Tags

Another thing you might find helpful is to have MB group your albums by folder: http://musicbee.wikia.com/wiki/Sorting_%26_Grouping#Grouping

[tinpanalley]

Wow, thanks. So many suggestions. I'll definitely look into all this with care.
The subgrouping thing looks great, but the "year" is usually just the beginning of the folder name as in "[YYYY] - [ALBUM TITLE] - [BITRATE] [Mono/Stereo]. So year isn't really a field. I know, a lot of this is my unconventional folder structure. But I have several artists where it's...

Artist
>>Discography
>>>>1946 - Album Title - FLAC Mono
>>Live
>>Compilations
...and then most music programs like this just want to take all the album titles and throw them into order which can make a mess of chronological order. The only solution I've seen is to find a way to order EVERYTHING in an artist's catalogue which gets ridiculous.