Help MP3 tags very messed up

[Volt9000]

Apparently I'm not the only one with this problem, but I haven't yet found a solution. This is really pissing me off, and it's one of the things that really makes me regret switching.

I am very careful with tagging my music collection. VERY careful. I've gone over my whole collection with a fine-tooth comb and tagged everything properly, but when I put it on my Galaxy S3 (external SD card) some of the tags get messed up.

For example, I have a Pendulum album, which is tagged as "Drum & Bass" genre. But when I look on my phone, there is no "Drum & Bass" category. I instead find the album under "Electronic", along with a whole bunch of other albums that are certainly NOT tagged as "Electronic."

Then I have this mysterious "ta" genre, which seems to contain only one album. Not sure if this is related, but these files happen to me .m4a files.

I have yet another genre, "<unknown>" which presumably means the genre tag isn't specified, which I know is not the case, because ALL of my songs are properly tagged. I found only one song in here, from an album, the rest of which appears incorrectly in he "Electronic" genre.

Just to be certain the tags aren't corrupted, I copied the offending files from my card back onto my computer and checked the tags-- they are just fine.

This is *EXTREMELY* upsetting. How can something as simple as ID3 tags have been eff'd up so badly on what is supposed to be a top-tier phone?

 

[Volt9000]

I've tried another app (doubleTwist) and it recognizes some more tags, but I still have the cryptic "ta" genre, and I still have mis-sorted music (although slightly different than with the stock app.)

What the hell is going on? How is it that reading an ID3 tag properly seems to be out of reach?

 

[Gomjaba]

One thing which annoys me more than anything. For years I am using proper tags - in fact since iPod times and iTunes as it doesn't care about file naming and it took ages to fix all that. Including albumart.

Now I switched to the S3 and the tags are all over the place (even checked them with software like Tag&Rename). Some albums are now split for no apparent reason, albumart shows only on half the albums, even a purchased album from the Playstore is messed up and shows some tracks separately and album art shows generic pictures.

Hope someone knows a fix for that.

 

[akita]

Just use MP3 Edit to fix the tags.

 

[Volt9000]

Just use MP3 Edit to fix the tags.

Seriously? So the solution to my top-of-the-line phone not being able to read the ID3 tags which I so painstakingly tagged correctly on my computer is to download an app on my phone and go through my thousands of MP3s and manually re-tag them?

You must be joking.

I cannot believe that after this many revisions of Android that a stock music player can't be built to do something that a first-generation MP3 player from 2001 did flawlessly.

 

[sdtag]

good point.

My issue is more with album art. Almost half of my mp3's show Steve Winwood.
I got tired of fighting it. They beat me into submission. I have more important things to worry about.

 

[Gomjaba]

good point.

My issue is more with album art. Almost half of my mp3's show Steve Winwood.
I got tired of fighting it. They beat me into submission. I have more important things to worry about.

I think the music player can't deal with compilations. But yea - albumart is a mess. Akita, MP3 Edit? Really? You clearly haven't read the responses.

 

[Gmash]

How about the music player choosing random pictures from my SD card for album art? Yeah, that happened on my last phone lol.

 

[Gomjaba]

We can't be the only ones - has anyone ever reported this as a bug ?

 

[Volt9000]

We can't be the only ones - has anyone ever reported this as a bug ?

I would love to report this. But to whom do I report it? Samsung or Google?
That begs the question-- is this a problem with Samsung's implementation of their music app, or is this a problem with the underlying ID3 tag library, meaning the fault is Google's API? Do other people experience this problem?

 

[Gomjaba]

I have the issue with the standard app and the google music app (which is used to play purchased music) .. So I guess the answer is : No idea ;(

 

[akita]

Seriously? So the solution to my top-of-the-line phone not being able to read the ID3 tags which I so painstakingly tagged correctly on my computer is to download an app on my phone and go through my thousands of MP3s and manually re-tag them?

You must be joking.

I cannot believe that after this many revisions of Android that a stock music player can't be built to do something that a first-generation MP3 player from 2001 did flawlessly.

What's the point of giving people advice when you get replies with this? Have fun being miserable with your messed up id3 tags.

 

[Volt9000]

What's the point of giving people advice when you get replies with this? Have fun being miserable with your messed up id3 tags.

Ok, maybe I was a bit harsh, and for that I apologize.

However, as you can imagine I'm understandably frustrated and am looking for a solution to the root problem, not a band-aid solution. I don't think it's unrealistic to expect a phone like the GS3 to work properly with something as trivial as ID3 tags, do you?

 

[aeiou2]

One thing i've always hated about Android was the solutions for every problem (whether big or small) was always "download this app and see if it works". Why should I have to download an app for the simple stuff? Apps should be used to enhance the user experience not fix seemingly simple problems.

 

[Gomjaba]

I don't think it's unrealistic to expect a phone like the GS3 to work properly with something as trivial as ID3 tags, do you?

Especially not since ID3 exists since what - the early nineties ? And no other device seems to have a problem with that - It took months and months to properly prepare 1000s of files with proper tags and albumart (when I got my first iPod and iTunes) so I surely won't use yet another Android tool to fix them yet again.

Who says they aren't in different ways broken once I try to re-use the MP3s somewhere else.

I wonder if this is a ID3v1 vs. ID3v2 issue ..

 

[akita]

Ok, maybe I was a bit harsh, and for that I apologize.

However, as you can imagine I'm understandably frustrated and am looking for a solution to the root problem, not a band-aid solution. I don't think it's unrealistic to expect a phone like the GS3 to work properly with something as trivial as ID3 tags, do you?

Understood. Your anger should be directed towards Samsung though. However, it would probably be pointless as I don't think they give a shit. I will admit that there are a few things that they do on the S3 that I don't like in comparison to my previous phones. Personally, I do not use the stock player. I use Winamp because I like their lockscreen player controls(which is 10x better than doubletwists) and then mp3dit to fix any tags

One thing i've always hated about Android was the solutions for every problem (whether big or small) was always "download this app and see if it works". Why should I have to download an app for the simple stuff? Apps should be used to enhance the user experience not fix seemingly simple problems.

Yeah I know what you mean. Unfortunately, that is the norm. Doubt it will ever change

 

[Volt9000]

One thing i've always hated about Android was the solutions for every problem (whether big or small) was always "download this app and see if it works". Why should I have to download an app for the simple stuff? Apps should be used to enhance the user experience not fix seemingly simple problems.

AGREED 100%. And honestly, this is why I favour Apple in that respect. When they do something, they spit-shine and polish the shit out of it until it's perfect. As a software dev myself, I really respect when other devs take the time to do things right, especially considering how much horrible software is out there.

Especially not since ID3 exists since what - the early nineties ? And no other device seems to have a problem with that - It took months and months to properly prepare 1000s of files with proper tags and albumart (when I got my first iPod and iTunes) so I surely won't use yet another Android tool to fix them yet again.

Is this an ANDROID issue or a Galaxy S3 stock player issue? I'm really very curious. If, for example, I root my phone, and use a custom ROM, will the stock player be any better?

Who says they aren't in different ways broken once I try to re-use the MP3s somewhere else.

I wonder if this is a ID3v1 vs. ID3v2 issue ..

I don't think so. All my MP3s are properly tagged with both v1 and v2 tags (at least, they are according to MP3tag, my program of choice.)

Understood. Your anger should be directed towards Samsung though. However, it would probably be pointless as I don't think they give a shit. I will admit that there are a few things that they do on the S3 that I don't like in comparison to my previous phones. Personally, I do not use the stock player. I use Winamp because I like their lockscreen player controls(which is 10x better than doubletwists) and then mp3dit to fix any tags

I don't understand WHY THEY DON'T GIVE A SHIT. I've noticed recently Android is finally giving iOS a run for its money, so WHY WOULDN'T these companies focusing on providing the BEST possible user experience?

Yeah I know what you mean. Unfortunately, that is the norm. Doubt it will ever change

Disgusting and pathetic. Good hardware means jack shit if the supporting firmware and/or software sucks.

I guess that's what Samsung's about-- trying to win over Apple users by out-specing iPhones, but not giving a shit about the user experience. Sorry, Samsung, it doesn't work that way.

I really don't want to say it, but it's reasons like this people switch (back) to iPhone: the user experience. I don't want to have to fight with my phone to get it to do basic things. So I'm left with a choice: use iPhone and live within Apple's walled garden and deal with the piece of crap known as iTunes, or be freed from the shackles and use Android but have to contend with deficiencies in basic functionality that shouldn't be present in N-th generation Android devices.

/rant

Well, I just installed Winamp and it seems to recognize my tags correctly. With one exception: I still have a mysterious "ta" genre which consists of all the songs from one album, all of which happen to be
MPEG 4s. I wonder if Android just can't read tags from this file format properly? Guess this means I'll have to live with it or transcode to MP3.

 

[akita]

Honestly, then you should move to Apple for your next phone or exchange it for this one if you are within your return window. Android/Apple may not be for everybody.

AGREED 100%. And honestly, this is why I favour Apple in that respect. When they do something, they spit-shine and polish the shit out of it until it's perfect. As a software dev myself, I really respect when other devs take the time to do things right, especially considering how much horrible software is out there.



Is this an ANDROID issue or a Galaxy S3 stock player issue? I'm really very curious. If, for example, I root my phone, and use a custom ROM, will the stock player be any better?



I don't think so. All my MP3s are properly tagged with both v1 and v2 tags (at least, they are according to MP3tag, my program of choice.)



I don't understand WHY THEY DON'T GIVE A SHIT. I've noticed recently Android is finally giving iOS a run for its money, so WHY WOULDN'T these companies focusing on providing the BEST possible user experience?



Disgusting and pathetic. Good hardware means jack shit if the supporting firmware and/or software sucks.

I guess that's what Samsung's about-- trying to win over Apple users by out-specing iPhones, but not giving a shit about the user experience. Sorry, Samsung, it doesn't work that way.

I really don't want to say it, but it's reasons like this people switch (back) to iPhone: the user experience. I don't want to have to fight with my phone to get it to do basic things. So I'm left with a choice: use iPhone and live within Apple's walled garden and deal with the piece of crap known as iTunes, or be freed from the shackles and use Android but have to contend with deficiencies in basic functionality that shouldn't be present in N-th generation Android devices.

/rant

Well, I just installed Winamp and it seems to recognize my tags correctly. With one exception: I still have a mysterious "ta" genre which consists of all the songs from one album, all of which happen to be
MPEG 4s. I wonder if Android just can't read tags from this file format properly? Guess this means I'll have to live with it or transcode to MP3.

 

[Volt9000]

Honestly, then you should move to Apple for your next phone or exchange it for this one if you are within your return window. Android/Apple may not be for everybody.

I was seriously thinking about it. Unfortunate, I'm stuck with this phone because I have a new 3-year contract.

And it's not that "Android is not for me". I would have thought I would prefer Android, given that I like to tinker with my phone and whatnot. But considering that my phone has trouble with basic functionality, due mostly to horribly-written, bug-ridden software, I might have to switch back.

I was considering rooting, but I'm not sure how many of my problems that will solve.

 

[3×5]

I've been having mp3 tagging issues that may or may not be related to others in this thread.

I have an s3 and I had a 32gb MicroSD. Music worked fine. I upgraded to 64gb and most of my tags aren't read. Android Media Scanner will always get a few of them correct --- maybe 30 to 70 --- while the other 5,600 songs show unknown artist, unknown genre, unknown album.

The card is from SanDisk and it advertised on the packaging that it was for android phones. Still I had this problem. I am a linux user and I have formatted the card in linux. This corrupted the filesystem. I formatted it in the phone -- same problem with the music tags. I formatted it on Windows 7 using the built in partitioning tool and MiniTools. Same problem. I've formatted it exFat and Fat32 with the same problem. So I don't know what to do now. I know these mp3s are tagged meticulously, and since this worked with my 32gb card it makes me think it has something to do with the card itself.

Oh, another thing I should mention: When I use an mp3 editing tool, or a music app that allows tag editing, I can open a file, save it without editing any tags, and it will show up correctly in any music app. I can run ID3 fixer on a file and all the tags will show up. But when I select them all to fix the program throws back a bunch of errors and they don't show up.