Can Picard read existing file tags and use those for scripting?

[InvisibleMan78]

Something like this?

Preserving tag values from files dependent from the value of the custom1 tag

You could use something like this: $if(%custom1%,$unset(title)) $unset clears the new tag value, so the existing value in the file will be kept. Just make sure you don’t have “clear existing tags” activated.

or

Looking to use %originaldate% so Plex properly sorts my music library for a given artist

This won’t do what you expect because you’re checking for a tag with underscores but then setting a tag with spaces. To check for a tag with spaces, you need to use the $get() function instead of the percent signs. For example, something like: $if($get(Media Release Date),, $set(Media Release Date,%date%) $set(date,%originaldate%)) As for what tags Picard uses and how they are mapped, check out the Tag Mapping appendix in the Picard User Guide.

or

Include Genre and Year Song was released in Output of MusicBrainz Picard Software

The release date is updated by default. There are actually two years that are available by default in the tags Picard writes: date: This is the release date for the specific release your are tagging. It gets written to the release date tags, depending on file format. originaldate: This is the the first release date for the entire release group. It gets written to the tags also. Support for this tag varies. E.g. if you have a 2020 re-release of an album originally released in 1990, the …