Music Compilations

[bjhille 3]

I'm a bit embarrassed that I am posting about music compilations seeing as there are many posts describing the exact issue I have, but clearly I'm missing something and I can't figure it out.

Like others have posted, I have several compilation albums that have various artists on them.  When loaded into Emby they are showing as individual albums instead of combined into one.

To start with the basics, this is on a mac running Catalina version 10.15.7, I'm running Emby Server 4.7.11.0, I use mp3tag for Mac as my tag editor, and have researched the forums and read this article (https://support.emby.media/support/solutions/articles/44001159113-music-naming) to get me where I am now.  Here is a screenshot of how my music is tagged:

The article stated: *For these types of compilation albums if you want all tracks to show up as a single entity you want to make sure both the "album" and "album artist" fields are the same for all tracks. Otherwise the album will be split up for the various artists listed.*  That's why you see "The Best of Christmas" with the Album and the Album artist being the same.

The posts I saw said you could use "Various Artists" in the Album Artist field instead of the Album name.  That's why you see "Superstars of Christmas" with the Album artist being Various Artists.

When I refresh my media in Emby (I've tried Refresh Media AND Scan Library Files), they still show up as individual albums.

Any thoughts as to what to try next?

Thanks for the help.  Brian

[ebr 16454]

Hi.  If you "Edit metadata" for a track, what shows up in Emby for those fields?

[bjhille 3]

Thanks for the reply.

Here are the screenshots you asked for.

[ebr 16454]

Hi.  That was actually an album, not a track, correct?  Please look at the Artist and Album Artist values on one of the tracks.

[bjhille 3]

This is what I believe you're looking for and it does explain it!

I guess what I don't understand is why when I refreshed the media it isn't picking up the new tag?  Do I need to remove the albums and re-add?  I would have thought that either refreshing the media or re-scaning would have picked up the changes.

[bjhille 3]

Never mind.  I have it sorted now.  Thanks for the help!

[ebr 16454]

1 hour ago, bjhille said:

Never mind.  I have it sorted now.  Thanks for the help!

What was the issue?  Hidden tags in the media?

[bjhille 3]

Updated music files not in the same location that I added to Emby.  *embarrassed*

 

[chazeb 0]

IS there really no way to have a compilation/soundtrack with varying artist names(not Various Artists) show as 1 album?

[user24 391]

3 hours ago, chazeb said:

IS there really no way to have a compilation/soundtrack with varying artist names(not Various Artists) show as 1 album?

Hi, Yes, there is a way - as per Emby instructions here: https://emby.media/support/articles/Music-Naming.html

Quote

 

Tagging your albums and tracks should be straightforward with the possible exception of various artist or compilation albums.

For these types of compilation albums if you want all tracks to show up as a single entity you want to make sure both the "album" and "album artist" fields are the same for all tracks. Otherwise the album will be split up for the various artists listed.

 

If you don't want to use "Various Artists" perhaps use "Soundtrack" or "Compilation" or any name you wish. You can also assign multiple Album Artist entities to an individual Album if you want to. Emby is very flexible in this regard. I have hundreds of Albums set up in Emby with many different combinations (e.g.) Album below is assigned as both a "Tom Petty (Tribute)" album and as a "Soundtrack" album, even though the individual songs are by "Various Artists".

If you are not familar with Mp3tag, the OP screenshot may not necessarily be showing all tags assigned to a specific track. You need to "View>Extended Tags" to see them all. Sometimes there could be conflicts between (e.g.) "Album Artist" and "AlbumArtist" that might not be visible in the default LHS tag panel.

Also, it's usually a good idea to update your embedded metadata with a tagging app and then import the changes into Emby. If you change the info within Emby only, then any library rescan is likely to revert to the embedded metadata.

Perhaps try a few tagging options for yourself and see if you can set up something that suits your needs? Cheers!