Adding music to the library: Difference between revisions

From Official Kodi Wiki
Jump to navigation Jump to search
>Gamester17
No edit summary
m (removed Category:FAQ using HotCat)
 
(100 intermediate revisions by 19 users not shown)
Line 1: Line 1:
Preparing your music collection for scanning into your [[Music Library]] may be the most time consuming portion of getting it up and running, but for most users it will probably be well worth it.
{{DISPLAYTITLE:Scanning Music}}
{{MusicLibraryCreate}}
{{mininav|[[Music library]]}}


{|
= Introduction =
| valign="top" |
<section begin="intro"/>This page details the following:
==Music File Tags==
*Adding and removing Sources
Your audio files '''MUST''' have a valid ID tag for them to work properly in the XBMC Music Library. There are third party applications available for download from the internet that allow you to add and manage ID tags in your music files.
*Scan (import) your music collection into the Music Library.
*Troubleshooting common problems <section end="intro"/>


Tagging Notes: Scanning a source will scan in all subdirectories, including full albums, singles, and unsorted music. If you only need to update a single album folder then no need to rescan the entire album collection. Navigate to the album or artist folder and Update your tagging corrections by scanning! MediaMonkey is the recommended utility for tagging your media! At the time of this writing, tagging your music in Vista Explorer or Tag&Rename will cause your ratings of 1-4 to be read as 0-3. According to the dev. team member jmarshall, "It's actually a 0->255 range in the POPM tag itself."
A reminder of the following:
*Ensure the setting ''[[Settings/Media/Music#Fetch_additional_information_during_updates|Fetch additional information during updates]]'' is disabled
*Ensure you have taken care to correctly tag your music and set up your [[Artist information folder]]


XBMC supports mutli-genre tagging i.e. "Acoustic / Live / Alternative". This is a viable option in response to the lack of sub-genre support. Not only that, but maybe you want to create a smart playlist of all live music. Now you can using this method. The smart playlist is brilliant though ratings alone aren't enough to enjoy a DJ free evening with some friends. You almost need a mood or tempo tag to ensure that the party stays lively. For example, you make have some slow RnB jams like Boyz II Men that you rate a 5 and Some up-beat RnB tracks from Usher that you rate a 4. Well those slow jams will come in and put a damper on the party if you don't monitor the list frequently. You might say, make a rule that leaves out BIIM, but the fact remains that there will be various tempos, ratings, from all artists and genres. One way to combat this would be to use a simple number scale in the comment block. 1 being the tranquil and 5 being a wild, you get the idea. You don't have to do this for every track in your library mind you, just those you rate highly, 3 or better that you would like to distinguish from slower equally rated songs, "RnB, Soul, 2". If you required a little more clarification try Tempo2 or the actual temp or mood settings available in mediamonkey. '''(Comment contains 2 or "Tranquil"; Comment contains 1 or "Monrose" ; Comment Does not contain 2) 
'''
Suffice to say, this feature also works for mutli-artist or colaborative works featuring additional artists. Just be sure you put a space in between the artist and the devider just as you did in the genre tag. MS Zune will not insert spaces where needed and in some case may even take out the spaces since it doesn't require them. This will mess up your XBMC library so monitor this carefully!!!
|
[[image:scanning.mymusic.jpg|right|360px]]
|}


===Artist Tags - Resolving Compilations and Multiple Artists===
XBMC reads the ''Album Artist'' tag in ID3, Ogg, APE and MP4 tags and uses it if available to assign an artist to the album (independently of the track's artist information).  This is the "Album Artist" tag, or the TPE2 ID3 tag.  Multiple artists for either a track or album artist can be specified in "Artist1 / Artist2 / Artist3" format.


If no ''Album Artist'' tag exists, XBMC will use the first (primary) artist from the tracks as the ''Album Artist''.  Essentially we do a string comparison of all the track artists, and assign the common artists as the ''Album artist''. This is generally the TPE1 tag in ID3.
= Adding Music to Library =
*'''Populating the music library is a two step process.'''
**The first step reads the tags embedded in the music files. This is referred  to as '''scanning'''. If there is any embedded artwork, this will also be scanned and cached.
**The second optional step fetches additional artwork, artist and album information. This information and artwork can be downloaded from either online sources or fetched from local nfo files. This is referred to as '''scraping''' and is covered in detail in the next step of the guide.
{{-}}
 
 
== Initial Set Source & Scan ==
<section begin="First Time Music Setup" />
This process achieves the following:
*Sets your music '''source(s)''' in {{Kodi}}. Simply explained, this points {{kodi}} to your music files
*Allows {{kodi}} to '''scan''' the tags in the music files and import that data into the library
 
 
<gallery mode="packed" widths="500px" heights="283px">
File:Estuary_home_music.png|'''Step 1:''' On the Home menu select '''Music''' from the menu items.
File:Estuary_music_file_browser.png|'''Step 2:''' In the '''Music File Browser''' select '''Add music'''. In some cases you may need to select '''Files''' to access this.
File:Estuary_add_music_source.png|'''Step 3:''' In the '''Add music source''' window select '''Browse'''.  You can also manually add your source by selecting the box with '''<None>''' then typing in your path.  If you chose to do it this way skip to '''Step 5'''
File:Estuary_music_browse_source.png|'''Step 4:''' In the '''Browse for new share''' window, navigate to where your music is stored, select the folder and then select '''OK'''.
File:Estuary_music_name_source.png|'''Step 5:''' You will now be taken back to the '''Add music source''' window. Under '''Enter a name for this media source''' you can optionally name your media source to replace the suggested name. Select '''OK'''
File:MusicScanSource01.jpg|'''Step 6:''' You will now be asked if you wish to add your media source to the library.  If you do, then select '''Yes''', if you do not, then select '''No'''.  By selecting '''No''' you will only have the option of accessing your media though the '''Music file browser'''
File:MusicScanSource02.jpg|'''Step 7:''' Choosing '''Settings''' in the previous step allows fetching additional info, setting up the scrapers and adding the Artist Information Folder if these have not been done yet. For the first scan, leave these disabled.
File:Estuary_music_scanning_library.png|'''Step 8:''' If you selected '''Yes''' in step 6, Kodi will begin scanning your source to the library. Once finished, you can back out to the Main Menu. There is no ability to queue processes so wait until the first scan is finished before adding more sources.
File:Estuary_home_music_library.png|'''Step 9:''' Once your library is scanned you will be able to see & access '''Recently added albums, Random albums, Random Artist & Unplayed albums''' on the Home menu.
</gallery>
<section end="First Time Music Setup" />
 
<center>{{green|'''At this point you should have a functioning Music Library'''}}</center>
 
 
== Adding Additional Music Sources ==
<gallery widths=500px heights=313px>
File:Music-CategoryList.jpg|To add additional sources to your library, from the Main Menu enter '''Music'''.  Navigate to the to the bottom of the page and select '''Files'''.  Then repeat the steps from '''Step 2''' in the previous section.
</gallery>
 
 


As many users don't yet use the ''Album Artist'' tag, XBMC has an additional filter system for identifying compilation albums, where each track normally has a different artist.  As XBMC scans a folder, it does the following:
== Scan to Library ==
In step 6 above, you were asked ''Do you want to add the media from this source to your library?''  


# Identifies albums based on ''Album'' name alone in the folder and groups the songs that have the same ''Album'' name together as an album.
Click the below link if you selected '''No''' and would now like to add the music files into the library
# Runs through each album's assigned songs.  If there is 2 or more tracks with the same ''Track'' number, the group of songs must come from 2 or more albums, so the ''Album'' name is ruled out as a possible compilation.
# If any of the songs assigned to the ''Album'' name have an ''Album Artist'' tag, then XBMC assumes the user knows what they're doing, and this album is also ruled out from being a compilation.
# If two or more songs assigned to the ''Album'' name then have different primary artists, then the ''Album'' name is considered to be a group of songs from a compilation, and the ''Various Artists''" tag is assigned as the album artist.
# Otherwise, if all the songs have the same primary artist but don't have the same full artist list (eg a song or two has an additional artist) then the album is assigned the primary artist as it's ''Album Artist'', and we assume the additional artists are guest artists.


==Tools to Manipulate Music File Tags==
:'''See: [[Update_Music_Library#Scan_Source_to_Library|Scan Source to Library]]'''
There are several tools out there that will allow you to manipulate music ID tags.
Most commonly available media players allow users to manipulate ID tags ([http://www.microsoft.com/windows/windowsmedia/player/10/default.aspx Windows Media Player], [http://www.apple.com/itunes/ iTunes], [http://www.winamp.com/ Winamp] etc.)


An example of a free ID tag manipulation program is [http://www.mediamonkey.com/ MediaMonkey].


If you want to download album art thumbnails for multiple albums at a time, try [http://team.thenexusnet.com/nexus/AAA/ Album Art Aggregator].


A tutorial has been started on a piece of software called [http://www.softpointer.com/tr.htm Tag&Rename]. Tag&Rename will write ID3 v1 and v2, WMA, Ogg, APE, and Flac tags with information fetched from amazon.com and cddb. It is an efficient way to tag albums and fetch [[My_Music#Album_Art_.26_Thumbnails|album art thumbnails]].
= Troubleshooting =
*[[HOW-TO: Using "Tag&Rename" (the MP3 tag-editor and organizer) to manage your music tags]]
{| width="100%"
|
{{FAQ|
[[image:tags.topic.jpg|right|360px]]
| BGcolor=WhiteSmoke
| Question=Library contains random or duplicated entries
| Answer= This is a result of errors in tagging.
#Take note of the errors and correct them by following the recommended procedure in the previous step of the guide- Music Files and Tagging
#Once errors are corrected follow the steps detailed in '''Remove A Source'''
#Re-add the source using the '''Initial Set Source & Scan''' procedure detailed above
}}
|}
|}


[[category:Usage]]


==Embedded Album Art==
{|
| valign="top" |
XBMC supports embedded album art in music files.
====File formats that do not support embedded Album Art images:====
APE, Ogg, and Flac tags do not support embedded images. To have files of these formats display an image you must either flag the directory a single image by naming an image folder.jpg and placing it inside the directory or if, for example you have song.ogg you must name the image (jpg or png format) song.tbn. For more information on thumbnails see the [[Thumbnails]] portion of the manual
|
|}


[[category:Usage]]
= Network Sources =
[[category:Thumbnails]]
Kodi gives you the ability to listen to music from a variety of sources.
[[category:Scraper]]
<br />
[[category:Library]]
Some examples of sources that allow you to easily access all your digital music collection:
[[category:Video Library]]
* On your computer or a NAS (Network Attached Storage) device/system, which supports [[SMB]] file sharing
* Stored directly on the hard drive
* On CDs/DVDs
* Streamed from the Internet
<br />
 
{{Top}}
 
<div style="{{linear-gradient|left|#f5d3ff, #12b2e7}}">{{next|[[Artist_information_folder|Artist Information Folder]]}} </div>
 
 
{{updated|18}}
[[Category:Index]]
[[Category:Guides]]
[[Category:Manual]]
[[Category:Karellen]]
[[Category:First time user]]
[[Category:Music library]]
[[Category:Quick Start Guide]]

Latest revision as of 19:52, 22 February 2023

Steps to create your Music Library
Nuvola apps kscd.png
1. Guide Main Page
2. Music Settings
3. Music File Tagging
4. Scanning Music Into Library
5. Artist information folder
6. Scraping Additional Music data
7. Update Music Library
8. NFO Files
8.1 Music NFO Files
9. Artwork
9.1 Music Artwork
10. Import-export library
10.1 Music Import-Export
11. Backup & Recover
Zappy.png
Home icon grey.png   ▶ Music library ▶ Adding music to the library

Introduction

This page details the following:

  • Adding and removing Sources
  • Scan (import) your music collection into the Music Library.
  • Troubleshooting common problems

A reminder of the following:


Adding Music to Library

  • Populating the music library is a two step process.
    • The first step reads the tags embedded in the music files. This is referred to as scanning. If there is any embedded artwork, this will also be scanned and cached.
    • The second optional step fetches additional artwork, artist and album information. This information and artwork can be downloaded from either online sources or fetched from local nfo files. This is referred to as scraping and is covered in detail in the next step of the guide.



Initial Set Source & Scan

This process achieves the following:

  • Sets your music source(s) in Kodi. Simply explained, this points Kodi to your music files
  • Allows Kodi to scan the tags in the music files and import that data into the library


  • Step 1: On the Home menu select Music from the menu items.

    Step 1: On the Home menu select Music from the menu items.

  • Step 2: In the Music File Browser select Add music. In some cases you may need to select Files to access this.

    Step 2: In the Music File Browser select Add music. In some cases you may need to select Files to access this.

  • Step 3: In the Add music source window select Browse. You can also manually add your source by selecting the box with <None> then typing in your path. If you chose to do it this way skip to Step 5

    Step 3: In the Add music source window select Browse. You can also manually add your source by selecting the box with <None> then typing in your path. If you chose to do it this way skip to Step 5

  • Step 4: In the Browse for new share window, navigate to where your music is stored, select the folder and then select OK.

    Step 4: In the Browse for new share window, navigate to where your music is stored, select the folder and then select OK.

  • Step 5: You will now be taken back to the Add music source window. Under Enter a name for this media source you can optionally name your media source to replace the suggested name. Select OK

    Step 5: You will now be taken back to the Add music source window. Under Enter a name for this media source you can optionally name your media source to replace the suggested name. Select OK

  • Step 6: You will now be asked if you wish to add your media source to the library. If you do, then select Yes, if you do not, then select No. By selecting No you will only have the option of accessing your media though the Music file browser

    Step 6: You will now be asked if you wish to add your media source to the library. If you do, then select Yes, if you do not, then select No. By selecting No you will only have the option of accessing your media though the Music file browser

  • Step 7: Choosing Settings in the previous step allows fetching additional info, setting up the scrapers and adding the Artist Information Folder if these have not been done yet. For the first scan, leave these disabled.

    Step 7: Choosing Settings in the previous step allows fetching additional info, setting up the scrapers and adding the Artist Information Folder if these have not been done yet. For the first scan, leave these disabled.

  • Step 8: If you selected Yes in step 6, Kodi will begin scanning your source to the library. Once finished, you can back out to the Main Menu. There is no ability to queue processes so wait until the first scan is finished before adding more sources.

    Step 8: If you selected Yes in step 6, Kodi will begin scanning your source to the library. Once finished, you can back out to the Main Menu. There is no ability to queue processes so wait until the first scan is finished before adding more sources.

  • Step 9: Once your library is scanned you will be able to see & access Recently added albums, Random albums, Random Artist & Unplayed albums on the Home menu.

    Step 9: Once your library is scanned you will be able to see & access Recently added albums, Random albums, Random Artist & Unplayed albums on the Home menu.


At this point you should have a functioning Music Library


Adding Additional Music Sources

  • To add additional sources to your library, from the Main Menu enter Music. Navigate to the to the bottom of the page and select Files. Then repeat the steps from Step 2 in the previous section.

    To add additional sources to your library, from the Main Menu enter Music. Navigate to the to the bottom of the page and select Files. Then repeat the steps from Step 2 in the previous section.


Scan to Library

In step 6 above, you were asked Do you want to add the media from this source to your library?

Click the below link if you selected No and would now like to add the music files into the library

See: Scan Source to Library


Troubleshooting


Library contains random or duplicated entries

This is a result of errors in tagging.

  1. Take note of the errors and correct them by following the recommended procedure in the previous step of the guide- Music Files and Tagging
  2. Once errors are corrected follow the steps detailed in Remove A Source
  3. Re-add the source using the Initial Set Source & Scan procedure detailed above


Network Sources

Kodi gives you the ability to listen to music from a variety of sources.
Some examples of sources that allow you to easily access all your digital music collection:

  • On your computer or a NAS (Network Attached Storage) device/system, which supports SMB file sharing
  • Stored directly on the hard drive
  • On CDs/DVDs
  • Streamed from the Internet


Return to top


Next step: Artist Information Folder


Retrieved from "https://kodi.wiki/index.php?title=Adding_music_to_the_library&oldid=244324"