BTR AMP
Background
BTR AMP creates Albums based on the following metadata (i.e., ID3 tags) from your audio file(s): ALBUM_NAME, ALBUM_ARTIST, FOLDER_PATH
If your audio files have a blank/empty ALBUM_ARTIST field, BTR AMP will copy the value from the [TRACK] ARTIST field.
Problem
When BTR AMP encounters a set of audio files for a compilation album that have different values for the ARTIST field and no values for the ABLUM_ARTIST field, BTR AMP simply creates a new ALBUM record for each ARTIST found, thus breaking a single album into multiple ALBUM records within BTR AMP.
Solutions
The way to avoid having BTR AMP break up your compilation albums is to populate the ALBUM_ARTIST field in the audio files for the compilation with the same value. In other words, enter something such as “Various”, “Various Artists”, or “Unknown” as the value for the ALBUM_ARTIST field. This can be accomplished by one of the following methods:
- directly within BTR AMP by selecting “Edit” for the files (one at a time as of v10.1 – bulk editing coming soon), entering a value for the Album Artist field, and touching the Save button
- using a third-party tag editor such as one of the following:
- MusicBrainz Picard for Windows, macOS, Linux, etc
https://picard.musicbrainz.org/
Solid, free solution - Tag&Rename for Windows
https://www.softpointer.com/tr.htm
We have been happy, paid users of this app for years - MP3TAG for Windows
https://www.mp3tag.de/en/ - MP3TAG for macOS
https://mp3tag.app/ - Kid3 for Windows, macOS, Linux, etc
https://kid3.kde.org/ - meta for macOS
https://www.nightbirdsevolve.com/meta/
- MusicBrainz Picard for Windows, macOS, Linux, etc
Future Feature(s()
We understand that some users are looking for a “complete solution” for managing and listening to their audio library. We have had that in mind from day one. We already plan on adding a number of additional features in upcoming releases that will make both identifying “broken compilations” and fixing them much easier. Until then, hopefully the above will assist users in getting the most out of BTR AMP without being frustrated.