Best way to setup music on emby

[all4dom 101]

I'm building a new server to run emby & one of the things I want to do is add my music. What's the simplest way to setup a music folder? I have all my music in 1 folder. Thanks for your help.

Dom

 

[user24 313]

Hi, a good way to start is to follow the Emby recommendations:

The recommended folder structure for music is Artist\Album\Song

 \Music
    \Artist Name
       \Album Name
          1- Song.mp3
          2- Song.mp3

(As I have a large music library, I have an alphabet level above Artist: #,A,B,C....Z.)

There is more info here:

https://emby.media/support/articles/Music-Naming.html

Also, make sure to select the correct library structure option:

If you don't already use MusicBrainz or Mp3tag you might want to research these, as Emby uses your music embedded metadata.

Its a big subject but this should hopefully get you started. Cheers! 

[all4dom 101]

Ok thank you. That's gonna take me some time but hopefully not too long. Just one more question..... is it possible to setup my music like the series xm satalite setup. Meaning i can scroll access & have my music setup playing based on type?

[Gilgamesh_48 1240]

I do not use Emby for music or other audio at all. I wanted to and i tried but there just are too many problems to get things working correctly, at least for my use. 

I love Emby but I do NOT recommend Emby for music. There are a number of other ways to play music that are much easier and better than using Emby. I use MediaMonkey for audio but that also may not be best for many. I suggest finding a separate system for audio that fits in with how you want to listen. And remember that Emby works best for viewing but there is little need for viewing when listening to audio.
There is much to be said for using one app for all media consumption but Emby is so oriented toward video that forcing it to handle audio is mostly, in my belief, is counterproductive at best.  

Maybe Emby would work better for audio for me if there was a good audio client that did not need a TV interface for setup and control but I have not found one, at least yet.

[user24 313]

I'm not familiar with SiriusXM(?) but based on this webpage:

https://www.siriusxm.com/music?intcmp=AssetGroup:Any_NA_www:Home_Curatedmusicchannels

you should be able to set up Emby music via:

• Genres
• Tags
• Collections
• Playlists

to organize to suit whatever you want.

(Also, some form of Smart Playlists is supposedly going to be part of Emby 4.9?)

Perhaps just try it out and see how you go? Find out for yourself how well it works (or not) for you. If you get stuck, then someone here may be able to help out?

If you decide to use Genres and need to add these or change these, I'd do it with Mp3tag and then import into Emby. If you just add the Genres within Emby, then a rescan of your library may revert back to the embedded metadata and your changes will be lost.

Good luck!

P.S.  I'd recommend to keep your folder structure simple (as per Emby recommendations) and use Genres/Tags/Collections/Playlists for further curation.

Edited April 18, 2025 by user24
added P.S. section

[IsidroTurner 1]

On 4/18/2025 at 3:55 AM, user24 said:

I'm not familiar with SiriusXM(?) but based on this webpage:

https://www.siriusxm.com/music?intcmp=AssetGroup:Any_NA_www:Home_Curatedmusicchannels

you should be able to set up Emby music via:

• Genres
• Tags
• Collections
• Playlists

to organize to suit whatever you want.

(Also, some form of Smart Playlists is supposedly going to be part of Emby 4.9?)

Perhaps just try it out and see how you go? Find out for yourself how well it works (or not) for you. If you get stuck, then someone here may be able to help out?

If you decide to use Genres and need to add these or change these, I'd do it with push facebook and then import into Emby. If you just add the Genres within Emby, then a rescan of your library may revert back to the embedded metadata and your changes will be lost.

Good luck!

P.S.  I'd recommend to keep your folder structure simple (as per Emby recommendations) and use Genres/Tags/Collections/Playlists for further curation.

Using Genres, Tags, Collections, and Playlists in Emby is definitely the way to organize your music the way you want, and it’s smart to edit metadata with something like Mp3tag so your changes stick. Keeping the folder structure simple while relying on Emby’s curation features helps avoid conflicts or resets when rescanning the library. Smart Playlists in Emby 4.9 should make things even easier once they’re fully implemented. The best approach is to experiment a bit and see what setup works for you, and if you run into any issues, the community here can usually offer solutions. Overall, it’s all about balancing your metadata edits and Emby’s organization tools for a smooth experience.

Edited December 23, 2025 by IsidroTurner