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Topic: "Group Compilation Albums" solution in fb2k (Read 3066 times) previous topic - next topic
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"Group Compilation Albums" solution in fb2k

Longtime fb2k user here.

I follow the standard tagging practice of using the ALBUM ARTIST tag on compilation albums.

Over the last year I've been uploading much of my local music collection to Google's Play cloud, and I've only recently noticed a quirk or feature within its browsing system. Correctly interpreting my ALBUM ARTIST tag, on the Artists page online or on my tablet, all compilation items can be found under "Various Artists"; everything else lacking the tag appears as normal, which is how I have my album lists work in foobar. However, when browsing an artist's releases, compilations that feature them will be mixed in (only showing their song) with their regular releases. This is way useful if it's a song that only actually appears on said compilation (which tends to be the case as I rarely rip a compilation song I already own on a regular studio album). So I decided I want foobar to do this too.

In my Google searches I've found that "Squeezebox" also has such functionality--I've heard of Squeezebox but I really have no idea what it is, and I'm not interested in switching over for this feature; I only mention it because they phrase it much better than I do.
http://wiki.slimdevices.com/index.php/Comp...ic_Introduction

I've been wracking my brain tonight trying to come up with some kind of titleformatting string for the album list view that will make this happen but I just can't come up with it. I'm wondering if the tree setup is inherently not able to function this way, or otherwise can only be pulled off with an insanely complex string of code. Any insight would be greatly appreciated.

"Group Compilation Albums" solution in fb2k

Reply #1 –
Just so I'm not mistaken, you want the compilation tracks listed under Various Artists, the artist tag or both. If both, it's not possible.

"Group Compilation Albums" solution in fb2k

Reply #2 –
Quote from: BenB on
Just so I'm not mistaken, you want the compilation tracks listed under Various Artists, the artist tag or both. If both, it's not possible.
Well, you could format artist as a multi-value field and then have the Album List split it using %<artist>%, but certain users may not appreciate the semantic sacrifice this necessitates.

"Group Compilation Albums" solution in fb2k

Reply #3 –
Quote from: BenB on
Just so I'm not mistaken, you want the compilation tracks listed under Various Artists, the artist tag or both. If both, it's not possible.


Essentially. Yes, some tracks would be appear twice in the tree. That is the problem I began to realize I probably could not work around with the tree system.

Quote from: db1989 on
Well, you could format artist as a multi-value field and then have the Album List split it using %<artist>%, but certain users may not appreciate the semantic sacrifice this necessitates.


Some kind of solution like this did also appear possible, but, though I forgot to mention it in the original post, I wanted to avoid much arbitrary tag rewriting if possible. Though, semantics aside, it would possibly be the very simplest solution and might be feasible for a small batch of tracks I'd like to have appear under the artist branch...

Thanks anyway!
 

"Group Compilation Albums" solution in fb2k

Reply #4 –
I think if I were to do something like this, I'd add an ITUNESCOMPILATION tag (with a value of 1) to the compilation tracks and then format a custom tag for the compilation tracks with values which would either be Various Artists, the artist's name or both.

Those tracks I wanted to appear listed under both would obviously have a custom tag containing both while those I wanted to appear under Various Artists or the artist's would have the appropriate singular value.

Then I could use title formatting such as:
Code: [Select]
$if(%itunescompilation%,%<CUSTOM_TAG>%,%<artist>%)

This way I would avoid altering the artist tag.

EDIT:

Of course the presence of the custom tag itself could be used instead of ITUNESCOMPILATION:
Code: [Select]
$if(%CUSTOM_TAG%,%<CUSTOM_TAG>%,%<artist>%)