Metadata - which fields do you use?

latepaul · 07-09-2016, 11:52 AM

So having discovered how to edit the metadata on my audiobook files more easily (i.e. do it at the start), I'm now wondering how other people organise their files.

In particular when you have an audiobook you have a title, an author (or authors) and a reader (or in some cases a whole cast). Turns out there are different possible metadata fields depending on whether you're using Windows, iTunes or some other program. However what they seem to have in common is they're geared toward music files primarily.

So I'm thinking something like:

Title -> Title
Series -> Album
Author -> Artist
Reader -> Album Artist

However there's also fields like 'composer' (for author?), 'performer' and even 'publisher' that I could use.

What, if anything, do you do?

pwalker8 · 07-09-2016, 12:42 PM

That's an interesting question. My audiobooks are in iTunes on a mac. I have them organized by Author, Title, date added and played. In addition, I have a number of series in their own playlist, in series order. On the ios device, in iBooks, I have some of the series in collections manually ordered in series order. I keep hoping that Apple will eventually rationalize this between the two platforms so any work that I do putting audio books in collections and in series order is synced to my other devices. Or that Audible will finally allow playlist and manual ordering.

silverraven · 07-09-2016, 04:22 PM

I use mp3tag to tag all of my audio books. Within the program you can change what tags you want on your audio book. For my tags I have:
Title
Author/Artist
Album (book)
Year
Track (01, 02, 03 this only applies with multiple track books obviously)
Genre (Mystery, Romance, etc.)
Series
Series Number (where it falls in series)
Narrator
Synopsis
Cover Image

But, I just keep my books in folders according to author name. I don't use iTunes or any other program for my audio books. Maybe one of these days I'll find the perfect one to use!

Hope this helps.
S

07-09-2016, 11:52 AM	#1
latepaul Wizard Posts: 1,270 Karma: 10468300 Join Date: Dec 2011 Device: a variety (mostly kindles and kobos)	Metadata - which fields do you use? So having discovered how to edit the metadata on my audiobook files more easily (i.e. do it at the start), I'm now wondering how other people organise their files. In particular when you have an audiobook you have a title, an author (or authors) and a reader (or in some cases a whole cast). Turns out there are different possible metadata fields depending on whether you're using Windows, iTunes or some other program. However what they seem to have in common is they're geared toward music files primarily. So I'm thinking something like: Title -> Title Series -> Album Author -> Artist Reader -> Album Artist However there's also fields like 'composer' (for author?), 'performer' and even 'publisher' that I could use. What, if anything, do you do? Last edited by latepaul; 07-09-2016 at 11:53 AM. Reason: missing quotes

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07-09-2016, 12:42 PM	#2
pwalker8 Grand Sorcerer Posts: 7,196 Karma: 70314280 Join Date: Dec 2006 Location: Atlanta, GA Device: iPad Pro, iPad mini, Kobo Aura, Amazon paperwhite, Sony PRS-T2	That's an interesting question. My audiobooks are in iTunes on a mac. I have them organized by Author, Title, date added and played. In addition, I have a number of series in their own playlist, in series order. On the ios device, in iBooks, I have some of the series in collections manually ordered in series order. I keep hoping that Apple will eventually rationalize this between the two platforms so any work that I do putting audio books in collections and in series order is synced to my other devices. Or that Audible will finally allow playlist and manual ordering.

07-09-2016, 04:22 PM	#3
silverraven Guru Posts: 970 Karma: 3438612 Join Date: Oct 2009 Device: Kindle Voyage, Kindle 4NTB x 4	I use mp3tag to tag all of my audio books. Within the program you can change what tags you want on your audio book. For my tags I have: Title Author/Artist Album (book) Year Track (01, 02, 03 this only applies with multiple track books obviously) Genre (Mystery, Romance, etc.) Series Series Number (where it falls in series) Narrator Synopsis Cover Image But, I just keep my books in folders according to author name. I don't use iTunes or any other program for my audio books. Maybe one of these days I'll find the perfect one to use! Hope this helps. S

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