INTERACT FORUM

Please login or register.

Login with username, password and session length
Advanced search  
Pages: [1]   Go Down

Author Topic: The problem with Album Artist...  (Read 1496 times)

kstuart

  • Citizen of the Universe
  • *****
  • Posts: 1955
  • Upgraded to MC22 Master using preorder discount
The problem with Album Artist...
« on: February 13, 2013, 02:08:28 am »

... is that it is a string rather than a List.

So, Views need to use Artist, in order to be able to do "collaborations" such as:

* Carlos Santana & John McLaughlin

* Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers with Thelonious Monk

In both cases, I want the album to appear if I select either artist.

I suppose "Album Artist" can then be what appears on the Cover, for documentation purposes only (the entire joint name as I listed above).  And, in fact, that is what you want to appear as the "Artist" for the Track Information.

But, for "Various Artist" albums, "Artist" is what you want for the Track Information.

What is really needed is:

* Artist for the Track Information (string)
* Album Artist for what is on the Cover of the Album (string)
* Sorting Artists for which "Artist" categories to appear under (list)

MrC

  • Citizen of the Universe
  • *****
  • Posts: 10462
  • Your life is short. Give me your money.
Re: The problem with Album Artist...
« Reply #1 on: February 13, 2013, 12:28:06 pm »

You can make ANY string value with ANY separator appear as a list.

Keep in your mind a separation of how the data is stored vs. how it can be presented.

For your Carlos Santana & John McLaughlin album, you can use & as your separator.  Try this in a panes column:

   Replace([Album Artist], &, ;)&datatype=[list]

We can modify the expression to deal with more complex "separartors", such as " with " in "... with Thelonious Monk" type labels, if you are consistent, but it might get a little tricky if "with" is used in AA in other ways non-secondary artist-related:

   regex([Album Artist], /#^(.*?)(?: (?:&|with) (.*))?$#/, -1)[R1];[R2]&datatype=[list]
Logged
The opinions I express represent my own folly.

kstuart

  • Citizen of the Universe
  • *****
  • Posts: 1955
  • Upgraded to MC22 Master using preorder discount
Re: The problem with Album Artist...
« Reply #2 on: February 13, 2013, 02:36:52 pm »

That's worth knowing, but in this case (and I may not have been clear), I was referring to Tags in General, going beyond just MC18.  (Or at least, tagging for use in MC18 while keeping compatibility for non-MC18 use)

Also, a separator won't work in this case because I might want "Carlos Santana & John McLaughlin" to be sorted to both their lists, but I don't want "Derek & The Dominos" to be sorted as "Derek" and separately as "The Dominos" (for those who don't know, it is a fictional name, there was never anyone named Derek in this context).

So, I guess the point is that "Album Artist" could use to be a "List" rather than a "String" for the same reasons that "Artist" is a List.

I'm not sure whether or not MC does this sort of change to a common tag field, only in conjunction with general changes in the Tag standards, or if they sometimes do it unilaterally...

MrC

  • Citizen of the Universe
  • *****
  • Posts: 10462
  • Your life is short. Give me your money.
Re: The problem with Album Artist...
« Reply #3 on: February 13, 2013, 02:56:09 pm »

For your case, it would be best to make a new field, Album Artist (kstuart) that is a list type.  Show it's value when it is non-empty; show Album Artist otherwise.
Logged
The opinions I express represent my own folly.
Pages: [1]   Go Up