How to find out which files do not have MusicBrainz tags?

[watdub]

I'm trying to find out which of my files do not have any MusicBrainz tags associated with them.

I've tried searching for the answer but the more I read, the more confused I get  I think I have to set up a virtual tag to look for, say, Musicbrainz_TrackID, then use ASR to copy that to a custom tag and finally filter/playlist for that?  I'm very confused about it and would appreciate any help.  Or maybe there's an easier way!

My normal workflow is EAC --> Musicbrainz Picard --> Musicbee.  And I'm on v. 3.3.7115

TIA

[hiccup]

Can you post a screenshot of how one of such files containing such a tag shows up in your Tag Inspector panel?

[Mr. Trev]

I'm trying to find out which of my files do not have any MusicBrainz tags associated with them.

I've tried searching for the answer but the more I read, the more confused I get  I think I have to set up a virtual tag to look for, say, Musicbrainz_TrackID, then use ASR to copy that to a custom tag and finally filter/playlist for that?  I'm very confused about it and would appreciate any help.  Or maybe there's an easier way!

My normal workflow is EAC --> Musicbrainz Picard --> Musicbee.  And I'm on v. 3.3.7115

TIA

That's mostly what I do. I made a virtual tag for "MUSICBRAINZ_ALBUMID" (all the associated tracks seem to show a value with that tag too). From there I can just make an autoplaylist with the filter MUSICBRAINZ_ALBUMID has a value. I'm only interested in find out if the files have been through Picard or not.

[watdub]

Thanks for the quick reply.  Here's the screenshot.

[watdub]

That's mostly what I do. I made a virtual tag for "MUSICBRAINZ_ALBUMID" (all the associated tracks seem to show a value with that tag too). From there I can just make an autoplaylist with the filter MUSICBRAINZ_ALBUMID has a value. I'm only interested in find out if the files have been through Picard or not.

Thanks!  Can you share your formula for that virtual tag?

I want to do the opposite - find out which files do not have musicbrainz tags.  I'm tidying up my files and this is the last thing on the list...

[hiccup]

You would need to create custom tags for every MusicBrainz_Id tag that you are interested in, and then create a virtual tag that checks if any of these custom tags 'has a value'.

If you are running out of available custom tags, you could combine them into one by using this trick/script for Picard:
https://getmusicbee.com/forum/index.php?topic=16538.msg148820#msg148820

[watdub]

I reckon I'd get away with using just one - almost every song (or album) has a musicbrainz title, for example.  I'm sure there are some albums that are not in MusicBrainz but I'd like to be as thorough as possible.  It's the formula I can't work out.

[psychoadept]

Your first post has it backwards. You don't need to do anything with ASR, you just have to make a custom tag for the MusicBrainz tag (use the value you see under Tag Code in Define New Tags). You can make your virtual tag based on that.

Also, the great thing about MusicBrainz is if the album isn't there, you can add it!

[hiccup]

you just have to make a custom tag for the MusicBrainz tag (use the value you see under Tag Code in Define New Tags). You can make your virtual tag based on that.

You would need to create custom tags for every MusicBrainz_Id tag that you are interested in, and then create a virtual tag that checks if any of these custom tags 'has a value'.

Have you perhaps set me to 'invisible'?
A lot of duplicate answers going on at the moment...

[watdub]

Thanks for the replies - I'm grateful for any at all.  I'm fundamentally misunderstanding something!  I have read the wiki pages for custom and virtual tags.  But I'm thick

I got MUSICBRAINZ_TRACKID from the tag inspector.

1. I have no files selected but I went file - edit preferences - tags (1) - custom tags and typed 'MBtrackID' into custom 2 (custom 1 is already used by an ASR preset).
2. Then 'Define New Tags', typed 'MusicBrainz_TrackID' into the identifier box at the top and tabbed across.  All boxes in the row have the same text. Save
3. File - edit- prefs - tags(1) - custom tags - define new tags -Virtual Tags (Bottom half of the page)
Label = MusicBrainz_TrackID
Formula = MUSICBRAINZ_TRACKID   (no <>, (), If statements)
Preview says OK But Result = MUSICBRAINZ_TRACKID repeatedly
Save
4. Back to tags (1) - custom tags: display name "MusicBrainz"  <--> save to music file as tag "MusicBrainz_TrackID"
5. Picked an album with known Musicbrainz metadata, did a rescan but there was no value in custom tag 2.

I'd appreciate any help.  I didn't expect so many replies so quickly and I've run out of time this evening.  But thank you all for your help so far!  I'll have another crack at it tomorrow.

Have a nice evening!

[hiccup]

The best way to learn this stuff is by doing it and trying things out for yourself.
There is probably enough content in the first couple of replies to help you on your feet with this.
Just let us know if or where you get stuck in the next steps.

One pointer for now:

You said:

"2. Then 'Define New Tags', typed 'MusicBrainz_TrackID' into the identifier box at the top and tabbed across.  All boxes in the row have the same text."

But understand that the columns to the right of 'identifier' are for the different audio formats.
They will rarely be completely identical for all formats.

E.g. for flac (Vorbis) you should have:   MUSICBRAINZ_RELEASETRACKID
but for mp3 (ID3) you should have:       TXXX:MusicBrainz Release Track Id

Also, (I think this was suggested already), remember to have your files rescanned after you have made changes to custom tags.
Usually that will happen automatically, but it doesn't hurt to force it after having made such changes.

[Mr. Trev]

The best way to learn this stuff is by doing it and trying things out for yourself.
There is probably enough content in the first couple of replies to help you on your feet with this.
Just let us know if or where you get stuck in the next steps.

One pointer for now:

You said:

"2. Then 'Define New Tags', typed 'MusicBrainz_TrackID' into the identifier box at the top and tabbed across.  All boxes in the row have the same text."

But understand that the columns to the right of 'identifier' are for the different audio formats.
They will rarely be completely identical for all formats.

E.g. for flac (Vorbis) you should have:   MUSICBRAINZ_RELEASETRACKID
but for mp3 (ID3) you should have:       TXXX:MusicBrainz Release Track Id

Also, (I think this was suggested already), remember to have your files rescanned after you have made changes to custom tags.
Usually that will happen automatically, but it doesn't hurt to force it after having made such changes.

Good call on the rescan reminder. That's tripped me up a couple of times when I first started trying out virtual tags.

[watdub]

I got it done!  And I'm glad I did because approx 10% of my music didn't have MusicBrainz tags.  I expected a few but not so many.

Hiccup's Bible of Tags was a great help in sorting out the right tag descriptions for the different file types.

Rescanning takes a long time if you've a big library so test it on a small selection of files first.

Thanks again for all your help in the matter.