Auto Tag doesn't update year

[ultrarunner2018]

Hi;
MusicBee ver 3.2.6827, which I checked and is latest version.
I am trying to auto-update my library by track. My main concern is getting the year the song was originally released; not on a greatest hits album.
When I do 'auto-tag by track', the missing fields are filled in, but with the wrong data.
For example, Tom Petty's 'Listen To Her Heart' was first recorded on his 'You're Gonna Get It' album in 1978. But Auto-Tag writes the album as 'Recorded Live in Holland & USA' and the year as 1992.
I tried changing the database order, and un-checking databases, but it makes no difference.

Any ideas?

Thanks
FW

[Freddy Barker]

For example, Tom Petty's 'Listen To Her Heart' was first recorded on his 'You're Gonna Get It' album in 1978. But Auto-Tag writes the album as 'Recorded Live in Holland & USA' and the year as 1992.

Any ideas?

Because some tracks can be Original, Radio Edit, Album version, Remix, etc. then the release year can vary as you've discovered!
I use Wikipedia to check for details, although still no 100% guarantee of accuracy...

[ultrarunner2018]

That's what I've been doing. Wikipedia and just Google.
But I found that even if I enter the correct album name, then do the 'auto-tag by track' or auto-tag by album' MusicBee doesn't always get the year correct.
I guess it all depends on what is in the database I am using. If a later release is all that's there, then that's what I'm going to get.

I was never particularly interested in the year a song was released, but now that I am creating play-lists by decade, that info is important to me.
Perhaps when I find the correct info, I should also update the database online, so others can benefit from my research.

[Freddy Barker]

...from memory, I'm sure that with the "auto-tag by track", you can select, (using the check-boxes) which tags you want updated and those that you wish NOT to be changed. Freddy

[ultrarunner2018]

...from memory, I'm sure that with the "auto-tag by track", you can select, (using the check-boxes) which tags you want updated and those that you wish NOT to be changed. Freddy

OK. That works a little better, but I am finding that often, the year is wrong (much later) even when the album is correct. I suspect this is due to the album being re-mastered at a later date. In this case, I have to enter the date myself, using the info provided by Wikipedia or other Google search result.
I find many of the tracks are listed on Vivo, but even there, the original release date is not always listed.

[psychoadept]

I guess it all depends on what is in the database I am using. If a later release is all that's there, then that's what I'm going to get.

Perhaps when I find the correct info, I should also update the database online, so others can benefit from my research.

This is 100% correct. Many people would be thrilled if you made the effort to update the Musicbrainz database, for sure. Discogs can also be edited by users but Musicbrainz is the more standardized and widely used.

[redwing]

But I found that even if I enter the correct album name, then do the 'auto-tag by track' or auto-tag by album' MusicBee doesn't always get the year correct.

I think what you meant by "correct" year is original release date. But that's another tag you will find in Tags (2) tab of tag editor.
Now which of the two tags you will enter in year tag is your personal choice. But I don't think online databases should show the same original release date as "year" for every re-issued and remastered albums as that information is also important and that tag is for that data.
This might help in quickly finding the original date even though it's a manual search: https://getmusicbee.com/forum/index.php?topic=27205.0

[ultrarunner2018]

Thanks redwing;
I'll check the tag[2] fields. I agree about the release vs re-mastering dates. Both tags are necessary.
Now, all I need to do is copy the data I already (manually) entered into the Year field into the Original Year field.
I haven't attempted to update the musicbrainz database yet, and won't try to do so until I really know what I am doing.
And to make things even more confusing, I find that while MusicBee has both Year and Original Year, another program (Tag&Rename) I use on my PC doesn't include Original Year - Just Year, and 'Release Time'. Perhaps Releae Time is the same as Original Year?
I'll have to play around with editing tags in MusicBee and see what shows up in Tag&Rename.
I would think that tagging a song would work for any software editing or reading the tags, but maybe not.
I understand that iTunes does not use the standard tagging system, but I'm only using it if I want to purchase music from Apple.

[redwing]

A lot of people including myself don't follow the intended use of those tags for various reasons, for instance not many apps can read the original date tag.
My only advice is to keep your date tags consistent in every track. Then when you want to change your tagging scheme later, you could bulk edit those tags without having to go through every track. Also check out Additional Tagging Tools plugin if you want to bulk copy tags.