Tag Issues-Occasional Multiple Artist Listings

Tags: #<Tag:0x007f39c3c97e68>

Core-Lokt 2016-10-24 01:32:44 UTC #1

Hello. How do I eliminate multiple artists listings? I'm using Kodi and under "Artists" one song has (say) John Doe & Richard Roe and right below there's John Doe/Richard Roe. I even have one song that's showing the artists four times because there's four artists credited.

I'm new to all this and the only way I know is to change the accreditation to a single artist and strip out the MB tags. But surely there's a better way because other songs with multiple artists aren't displaying like these. Thanks in advance for any help.

outsidecontext 2016-10-24 07:11:28 UTC #2

You mean the song is listed twice?

I am not sure why this happens, have never experienced it myself (but haven't used Kodi for a few months now). Have you searched the Kodi forums? Maybe also ask there, people over there might now better But I know there are also a few Kodi users around in the MetaBrainz Community.

Core-Lokt 2016-10-24 09:33:09 UTC #3

Actually, IDK if the song itself is listed multiple times as I'm currently adding artist thumbnails. As of now, it's multiple listings of artists in a coupe of instances..

I don't think it has anything to do with Kodi, as all the other songs with multiple artists display only one listing. I guess it's the way the metadata is written in these two songs that makes the multiple entries since it's not a universal issue. I suppose I could ask at the Kodi forums but I'm pretty sure that since this is confined to just two songs, they'll point back here.

outsidecontext 2016-10-24 10:51:25 UTC #4

If it is only specific files you should probably start by giving details about those files (tags present in the files, file format). Also compare those to other, working, files with multiple artists. There must be something different in the affected files after all.

Core-Lokt 2016-10-24 22:47:51 UTC #5

Do these help? The Buddy Emmons/Lenny Breau artist listing in Kodi has only one slot. The David Bromberg/Vassar Clements artist listing in Kodi is shown twice. It's clear there's a lot more artist name tags in the one.

If I can get help to figure out what to do, I'd like to correct it in mp3Tags.so that I can learn. I wonder if adding the other artist tags would fix matters. Again, thank you for your help.

Core-Lokt 2016-10-24 22:48:44 UTC #6

Looks like since I'm new I can only attach one picture per post.

aerozol 2016-10-25 07:31:28 UTC #7

MB doesn't really have any control over how external programs interpret our metadata - unless the tags are wrong, in which case it should be fixed in our database.
It's a bit tricky also because I have no idea how Kodi works/ how it displays artists - in my music player it just displays each track + artist credit once no matter what. So it might be a bit better to ask Kodi users for help (and then report back here for others to see!)

It's weird that the example of yours that is displaying twice has less tags than the other one... I would have assumed it's the other way round. But if you've tagged everything with MB Picard, the tags should be the same? So try re-tagging both, and tick the clear existing tags button in Picard so you can make sure you're starting from a fresh slate.
The other possibility is that individual tracks are credited differently on the one release? And that Kodi isn't displaying by 'album artist' but displaying an entry for each different 'track artist' combination it finds. Just a thought

Core-Lokt 2016-10-25 09:11:17 UTC #8

I left the Buddy Emmons/Lenny Breau file alone, as it displays correctly. In mp3Tag>Extended Tags I removed any MB tags and re-submitted it in Picard. Now, the metadata looks like the aforementioned file.

Core-Lokt 2016-10-25 09:21:08 UTC #9

However, it still displays twice in Kodi, just as before. If there's nothing obvious to anyone about the original and amended metadata, I can ask over at Kodi forums. Thank you, again.

aerozol 2016-10-25 21:11:31 UTC #10

It helps to start from scratch with both, otherwise we don't know if Picard is really causing the problem. We have to have a test subject that works fine in order to find out how to break it

You can back up a copy that displays correctly first of course!
But anyway, hopefully the people at Kodi can help, and please do let us know if they do.

Core-Lokt 2016-10-25 22:01:36 UTC #11

I have come up with a work-around. In Windows, both the artist and contributing artist show David Bromberg & Vassar Clements. I changed it to Various Artists under contributing artist. Now, I have only one listing in Kodi.

I realize this might might not be satisfying to some, but to be honest, I'm probably at the limit of what I currently understand about amending files. And I'm OK with it.I thank you both again.