Author Topic: How to add or remove a tag from multiple files, leaving the other tags intact.  (Read 11663 times)

hiccup

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Suppose you want to add a tag value to multiple files at the same time.

That is not a problem if you want all the selected files to have the exact same tag values.
You can use the Tag Editor for that.
But if the files already contain various tag values, and you simply want to add an additional value to all of them while keeping the existing ones intact, it's more difficult.

Let's say for example you have been using the 'keywords' tag, and want to add something like 'Christmas' as a keyword to multiple songs at once.
Without worrying about possibly erasing existing keywords.
Or you want to add 'Ambient' to the 'genre' tag of multiple songs that already have one or more other genres added.

MusicBee doesn't have some straightforward 'add tag value' feature for this.
You can use the Tag Inspector, but it's interface is not ideal for this.
Also the Tag Inspector only allows for bulk editing of tags if the files are all of the same file format.
So if for example you have selected both mp3 and flac files, this won't work.

This is a method that makes it possible to add a tag value to multiple files at once, without deleting existing tag values.

To use it, you need to have the Additional Tagging & Reporting Tools installed.

- - -

Download the preset here

- - -

how to install the preset:
  • open AT&RT's 'Advanced Search & Replace' panel
  • click the 'Import…' button and navigate to the downloaded preset
  • click 'Save All & Close'

how to use:
  • In MusicBee, select the songs or albums that you want to add a tag value to, then:
  • Menu > Tools > Additional Tagging Tools > Advanced Search & Replace
  • tip: if you intend to use this preset more frequently, check the 'Assign hotkey for this preset' in the ASR panel,
  • and then create a keyboard hotkey and/or a toolbar icon for it in MusicBee: 'Tagging Tools: Add a tag value to multiple files'

  • Then:
  • 1   find and select the preset 'Add a tag value to multiple files'
  •       DO NOT check the checkbox in front of it!
  •       MAKE SURE it is not checked!
  • 2   Select the tag (<Tag 1>) that you want to add the value to
  • 3   Type the value that you want to add in the <Custom text 1> field
  •     You can add multiple values using '; ' as separator.  (e.g.: Ambient; Experimental; IDM)
  • 4   Press 'Preview'




Check the preview to make sure you are happy with the results, if so: apply, close.





that's it

- - -

Update:
I have added a preset to the download that can do the opposite: it makes it possible to remove a specific tag value from multiple files.
Last Edit: August 01, 2023, 06:41:48 AM by hiccup

phred

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Nicely done.
And this is going to be quite helpful.
Download the latest MusicBee v3.5 or 3.6 patch from here.
Unzip into your MusicBee directory and overwrite existing files.

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hiccup

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phred

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updated
Are you sure?
The RAR contains the same two presets that I downloaded previously. And they have the same time-stamp as previous.
I assumed there would be a third preset.
Last Edit: January 19, 2022, 04:17:57 PM by phred
Download the latest MusicBee v3.5 or 3.6 patch from here.
Unzip into your MusicBee directory and overwrite existing files.

----------
The FAQ
The Wiki
Posting screenshots is here
Searching the forum with Google is  here

hiccup

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updated
Are you sure?
The RAR contains the same two presets that I downloaded previously.
I assumed there would be a third preset.
I added the 'remove tag' preset to the download link only yesterday.
And I realised just now it would be good to mention that in an 'update post', and also change the title of the thread accordingly.
Thanks for paying attention ;-)

phred

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I added the 'remove tag' preset to the download link only yesterday.
Right - that's when I grabbed both of them even though I already had the first one from June.

Quote
Thanks for paying attention ;-)
It hasn't been easy.
Download the latest MusicBee v3.5 or 3.6 patch from here.
Unzip into your MusicBee directory and overwrite existing files.

----------
The FAQ
The Wiki
Posting screenshots is here
Searching the forum with Google is  here

hiccup

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Right - that's when I grabbed both of them even though I already had the first one from June.
Great.
Let me know if they work well for you too?
I have been testing them quite thoroughly myself, but you never know about other's configurations and user cases.

phred

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Let me know if they work well for you too?
The first one (from June) worked right out of the box with no issues.
I haven't used yesterday's other than to test it on a few tracks and it also worked.

Thanks for creating the preset.
Too bad no one else knows what they're missing. Unless they've downloaded and used without commenting on how useful they are.
Download the latest MusicBee v3.5 or 3.6 patch from here.
Unzip into your MusicBee directory and overwrite existing files.

----------
The FAQ
The Wiki
Posting screenshots is here
Searching the forum with Google is  here

hiccup

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…Unless they've downloaded and used without commenting on how useful they are…
That's probably an uncertainty for the majority of cases where people in general upload their contributions to da internetz.
If there are no, or hardly any responses, all you can do is assume that it's working great without any issues, or that nobody cares ;-)

(as a user/consumer/freeloader, I am probably—usually—not much different from that)


Dalinar

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does anyone have a copy of this preset? the link doesn't work - bit ly says it is harmful

phred

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does anyone have a copy of this preset? the link doesn't work - bit ly says it is harmful
The best way to get the bitly link issue resolved is to fill out the form at the bottom of the warning. The more MB users who do this the better chance we have of getting it unblocked.
Download the latest MusicBee v3.5 or 3.6 patch from here.
Unzip into your MusicBee directory and overwrite existing files.

----------
The FAQ
The Wiki
Posting screenshots is here
Searching the forum with Google is  here

Dalinar

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I figured it out.. I didn't notice the url before because my browser is thin on the right side of my screen now, so I couldn't see the url box.

So I just copied the dropbox out the url in the warning page and decoded it. Then I was able to download the preset rar.. just in case anyone else has this problem.

tjinc

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This weekend I was trying to work out how to add a tag to a batch of files with already existing mixed values. Found this post - with the clear instructions and the presets working straight out of the box this task was made remarkably easy.
I might be a little late to this particular party but thanks, this is good stuff.

boroda

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@hiccup, maybe it's worth to update the preset's installation instruction, considering that there are "import"/"export" buttons in ASR window already for a long time?