MM Splitting Albums

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Posts: 94
Joined: Mon Apr 18, 2011 4:49 pm

MM Splitting Albums

Post by plain »

So, since I am here about something that may be solved by altering the artwork I have another question.
If one doesn't have artwork with the album how does MM determine the format method for the main screen?
Reason I ask is I have several albums which MM has decided to split into 2 or more groups. They wind up in sequence on the program main panel but still I wish all albums to just be gathered under one album art. I make sure to only have one artwork referenced when I set up the album in MP3Tag.
I had allowed MM to do all this when I first installed years ago with little success, hence my migration to another tag system.
In one case I finally edited the folder contents by deleting all of each songs info using MP3Tag and then restoring it to the Flac files in the folder. I then rescanned the folder with MMW5 and lo, it showed up as one album and album art group. WooHoo! The next time I opened MM the album was split again. This has been going on for some years. I had finally found the "infer" property in options and cleared it which helped but their are those stubborn groups that MM can't get to cooperate. Any ideas?
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Lowlander
Posts: 56465
Joined: Sat Sep 06, 2003 5:53 pm
Location: MediaMonkey 5

Re: MM Splitting Albums

Post by Lowlander »

MediaMonkey uses Album and Album Artist to determine what files belong to an Album: https://www.mediamonkey.com/wiki/WebHel ... erties/5.0

The common issue is the Album Artist not being the same value for all files on the Album.

Artwork has no impact on Albums in MediaMonkey.
Rob_S
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Re: MM Splitting Albums

Post by Rob_S »

I noticed earlier that it is fussy for Capitalization.

"Ace Of Base" will be separated from "Ace of Base"

I am not certain, but it seems on mine it sometimes separates on date (if present)

ie 1890 is not separated from " " but it will separate from 1891
Using 5.1 LATEST alpha or beta build on Windows 10, HP laptop, managing 13k tracks
Lowlander
Posts: 56465
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Location: MediaMonkey 5

Re: MM Splitting Albums

Post by Lowlander »

That would come down to sorting. What are you sorting on?
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Re: MM Splitting Albums

Post by plain »

Okay, Thanks for the feedback.
This is why I have just lived with some albums splitting up. I guess, looking at the "sorting" link you provided there are plenty of ways to skin the cat here. Typically, I sort by Album.
Specifically, the album I "rebuilt" was "ABBA Definitive Collection", which of course has only one Artist. I have noticed also that as Rob_S pointed out there are other criteria MM uses to split albums. Mine likes to split by dates sometimes.?
So this got me thinking there may be rules that aren't user configurable or that aren't apparent to me that I might search for and modify on my own.
I remember when I used to leave the "infer" option active, things could eventually straighten out on their own but there are stubborn albums that stay split.
Since I only know enough about this to be dangerous I was scratching around for more clues.
I used EAC to rip my CD's and maybe there are bits there that get put into the file that don't show up in MP3Tag. I just don't know enough about all this to go on a quest.
Anyway, you have been very patient and I appreciate you getting back to me.
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If it ain't broke ...give me two minutes with it.
Lowlander
Posts: 56465
Joined: Sat Sep 06, 2003 5:53 pm
Location: MediaMonkey 5

Re: MM Splitting Albums

Post by Lowlander »

When sorting on Album the Album should be shown as 1 Album when Album and Album Artist have the same value. Note that Artist itself can have any value, it's Album Artist that needs the same value.

If you have a case where Albums show split and Album and Album Artist are the same, open Properties on all files that belong to the split Album. Verify that Album and Album Artist show values, click the checkbox for those 2 fields to be sure and OK. If the Album still shows split there may be an actual problem.
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Re: MM Splitting Albums

Post by plain »

Now I'm getting somewhere. So the Album Artist field I left blank in hopes of narrowing my problem. When I entered the Album Artist field the album came back as one.
This leads me to believe that MM arranges according to more than one criteria no matter what the Album is.
That's fine though, I just need to narrow down how to limit its choices.

Thanks!
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If it ain't broke ...give me two minutes with it.
Lowlander
Posts: 56465
Joined: Sat Sep 06, 2003 5:53 pm
Location: MediaMonkey 5

Re: MM Splitting Albums

Post by Lowlander »

Yes, as mentioned both Album and Album Artist are used to define what's an Album.
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Re: MM Splitting Albums

Post by plain »

Thank You!
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If it ain't broke ...give me two minutes with it.
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