Author Topic: Why would this album not merge?  (Read 728 times)

xtreme1

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Usually I just rename the artist and album artist when I run into this, but this time, in my audiobook view, it won't merge the audiobook as a single album in the view despite being in the same folder on the file system, having identical metadata from what I can tell, and finally having no grouping.

Here are some images of what I'm dealing with https://imgur.com/a/t6lQfHF

chin

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check metadata are all matched and complete then rescan the library to update any changes. If all else fails you will have to delete the cd from your library and computer and rip it again ensuring that all metadata is being written correctly.

hiccup

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Are you 100% sure all the files are in the same folder, and there is not (even) one in another folder?

Also, if you care about having proper metadata, and have put in the effort for that, consider not using 'files for each album are organised in their own folder'?
Not saying that is related to this particular issue,  but MusicBee is intended and optimised to be used using proper metadata.
Making folder locations relevant to grouping might complicate things in respect to just being able to rely on your metadata.
Last Edit: May 23, 2023, 07:04:41 AM by hiccup

karbock

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I could not agree more with hiccup.

When albums are defined by the folder, even files with different metadata but in the same folder will show as one album (in that case, MB shows the Album name and Album Artist name stored in the first track). But if for example the tracks are subdivided into 2 folders (even located in the same parent folder), they are treated as belonging to different albums.

For checking purposes, could you do the following?
  • switch to view "Album and Tracks" (and select "detailed list" if needed in its "Customise Panel..." menu)
  • add "Path" to the displayed fields, and widen the column to show the full path
  • check that the path is identical for all the concerned tracks

xtreme1

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I could not agree more with hiccup.

When albums are defined by the folder, even files with different metadata but in the same folder will show as one album (in that case, MB shows the Album name and Album Artist name stored in the first track). But if for example the tracks are subdivided into 2 folders (even located in the same parent folder), they are treated as belonging to different albums.

For checking purposes, could you do the following?
  • switch to view "Album and Tracks" (and select "detailed list" if needed in its "Customise Panel..." menu)
  • add "Path" to the displayed fields, and widen the column to show the full path
  • check that the path is identical for all the concerned tracks

check metadata are all matched and complete then rescan the library to update any changes. If all else fails you will have to delete the cd from your library and computer and rip it again ensuring that all metadata is being written correctly.
Are you 100% sure all the files are in the same folder, and there is not (even) one in another folder?

Also, if you care about having proper metadata, and have put in the effort for that, consider not using 'files for each album are organised in their own folder'?
Not saying that is related to this particular issue,  but MusicBee is intended and optimised to be used using proper metadata.
Making folder locations relevant to grouping might complicate things in respect to just being able to rely on your metadata.


I just confirmed that all 18 tracks are in the  same folder. I really don't want to have to go through all the tracks individually to find out why an album isn't merged. I will try some of the more detailed answers now.

xtreme1

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When I search, they are all collapsed into the same album

xtreme1

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There are about 1000 metadata fields in musicbee. Which should I be checking? I confirmed the Path is the same for all files in MB
Last Edit: May 23, 2023, 09:04:48 PM by xtreme1

karbock

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There are about 1000 metadata fields in musicbee. Which should I be checking? I confirmed the Path is the same for all files in MB

With the setting "files for each album are organised in their own folder", the only metadata fields that could interfere are those selected in the "Sort by" and "Group by" menus.

I have tried to reproduce the behaviour with a test album after applying your settings (files for each album are organised in their own folder, sort by: date added, group by: no grouping), to no avail, even by shifting manually the "date added" by a year for a file of the test album.

My MB version is 3.5.8540 P.

tjinc

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In your third image the 'Date Added' field is blank which suggests not all the tracks have the same value for the Date Added fields. It may be that using this field as a sort criteria is causing the album to split when all dates are not the same.

Karbock - you replied as I was typing but I did manage to replicate this by changing the date added of one track of an audiobook.

Edit: You will need to refresh after changing the date - F5 or re-apply the sort.
Last Edit: May 23, 2023, 10:29:59 PM by tjinc

xtreme1

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While I still don't understand why it was thinking the dates were different per track, by changing my sort to Date Added (Album) it now keeps them all together

Zak

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I really don't want to have to go through all the tracks individually to find out why an album isn't merged.

Mp3tag is good for checking tag values across all tracks at the same time.
Bee excellent to each other...