consistent audio file meta data in minimized player

[justinrh 259]

I have these albums

 

but when I play songs in those albums, the current song meta data is inconsistent

album/title

album/title

title/artist

title/artist

 

audio file meta data is different but doesn't seem to explain this issue

    

 

In either case, I have the song title, 'album artist', and album title.  So why is the current playing file notation inconsistent?

Edited August 18, 2025 by justinrh

[justinrh 259]

.

Edited August 18, 2025 by justinrh
redacted for non-quality

[Luke 42077]

11 minutes ago, justinrh said:

I have these albums

 

but when I play songs in those albums, the current song meta data is inconsistent

album/title

album/title

title/artist

title/artist

 

audio file meta data is different but doesn't seem to explain this issue

    

 

In either case, I have the song title, 'album artist', and album title.  So why is the current playing file notation inconsistent?

Second screenshot the song is missing Artist information.

[justinrh 259]

You mean the second meta data pic?  Maybe BUT, my dear Luke, in either case, I have the song title, 'album artist', and album title.  Please explain the Emby logic that I'm missing.

(how did I know I'd end up going down in )

[user24 313]

Hi, Out of curiosity, I tried to replicate this to see what is going on. As best as I can determine, the Album Artist field/tag is not a major factor in what Song info is displayed, but the Artist field/tag is. As per what Luke said. Here's my example...

When a Song has Title, Artist and Album, then all three are displayed, in that order, on the Full Screen Now Playing, but only Title and Artist are displayed on the Minimized Bar Now Playing (with Album being dropped). LHS images below:

When a Song has Title and Album only, then both are displayed in that order on the Full Screen, but they are reversed on the Minimized Bar (I have no idea why). RHS images below:

I think these results are the same situation as your examples?

To further complicate things - different results may occur(???) when some Songs on an Album have the Artist, but others don't. And I also had to delete Albums from the library, rescan, put them back and rescan again  to fully clear the database and try again to get the results above.

The reversing of the Song and Album (as per RHS example) seems weird, but perhaps the best approach is just make sure all Songs have Artists assigned, otherwise inconsistences across the two Now Playing screens and across your library will be annoying.

Hopefully this makes sense and is correct? Perhaps Luke can explain further?

Edited August 19, 2025 by user24
minor typo correction

[justinrh 259]

22 hours ago, user24 said:

The reversing of the Song and Album (as per RHS example) seems weird

Indeed!

Thanks for the testing.  I'd still like Emby to explain the logic of this behavior, but Luke is out of it now.

This is what I believe Emby should do for a consistent, meaningful UI for the minimized player:
<song title> / <album>
<album artist>

If any of those elements don't exist, just don't show them, but keep their places.  Album could also look nice in ().

Album artist and Artist are interchangeable, so one doesn't exist put the other.  *If the songs are part of an album, then Album artist is the Artist!*

 

Edited August 19, 2025 by justinrh

[justinrh 259]

reference 

This is what I believe Emby should do for a consistent, meaningful UI for the minimized player:
<song title> / <album>
<album artist>

If any of those elements don't exist, just don't show them, but keep their places.  Album could also look nice in ().

Album artist and Artist are interchangeable, so one doesn't exist put the other.  *If the songs are part of an album, then Album artist is the Artist!*

[user24 313]

No bother at all with the testing. I doubt that I would have ever noticed this myself!

7 hours ago, justinrh said:

This is what I believe Emby should do for a consistent, meaningful UI for the minimized player:
<song title> / <album>
<album artist>

I don’t actually mind the current set-up for the minimized view:

<song title>
<artist>

with the small image being representative enough of the Album itself.

Why? - Album Artist might not necessarily represent the Song Artist(s) of the track being played when it’s a compilation “Various Artists” Album, or any other situation where the Song Artist(s) is not the Album Artist. Yeah, in many instances they are the same and therefore interchangeable, but not always.

Digressing a bit - I’ve been experimenting with some different ways to get Album (Year) and the Song Composer into the Now Playing screens, plus a few other things – something like this:

In this instance the Artist and Composer are the same person, so it seems like overkill, but in many cases they may be different.

Yeah, UI consistency is definitely the best approach, however it is done, but as you say, only Emby can answer on the logic of how it works now…