Google Music mis-sorting music

[mmurphy1968]

When I use the Google Music app on my HTC Thunderbolt the music is not correctly sorted. When I try to play Steve Miller Band's "Greatest Hits" album it also lists the songs from Cheap Trick, Tom Petty and every other band's "Greatest Hits" albums I have. It appears to be grouping all of the albums with the title "Greatest Hits" together. However, when I view my music online the incorrect grouping does not occur so I can listen to the desired album by streaming to my computer just fine.

Also, when I view the albums online each has the correct album art and band name but on my phone all of them default to the Cheap Trick album art and Tom Petty band name.

Any ideas how to correct this?

 

[ForkliftFred]

The problem is having multiple albums with the same name. Some media players work better than others at keeping them separate. The same is true of compilation albums that should have the Album Artist listed as "Various Artists" but might display as either the first or last artist in the tracklist but when you open album it will show the individual tracks correctly.

I am currently trialing several players:

WinAmp is quite nice and even the free version includes gapless play but it fails to keep albums separate and compilations are not listed as "Various Artists"

Rocket Player is also nice but fails on both counts.

Double Twist isn't so 'nice' but has swipe to next/previous track and shows both album types correctly

Songbird is mid ground on the 'nice' stakes but fails on both album issues

MusicMod has some nice touches but doesn't quite do it for me and it fails on both album issues

MixZing looks and feels a little clunky but is the only other one I've tried that displays both the album types correctly


So from that list DoubleTwist and MixZing would solve your issue.

One other thing that bugs me is the intelligent listing that ignores 'The' and 'A' at the start of an album name. In most cases it might be appropriate but it would be nice to have the choice because it doesn't always make sense. It would also be good to sort by date but I've not seen that option anywhere either.


[EDIT] Just realised I also have one called Music Player (by Joy Software) which looks nice but has a slow interface doesn't give you access to individual tracks, only albums listed in artist order. It also fails on both duplicate titles and compilations.
I also tried "Ohm Music" "Player3D Music Player" but rejected them for other reasons

 

[mmurphy1968]

Thanks for the response. The problem with using those other players is that I don't think they can access my music. Almost all of my music is stored online using Google's services so I think I am stuck using Google's player.

 

[ForkliftFred]

Sorry, I completely missed that detail
I thought you meant the stock player!

I imagine this won't apply but I have found that putting albums with the same name into separate folders will keep them separate in the library and they will have their own album art.

Access your entire music library instantly with the Google Play Music app, and save your favorites for offline playback.

Is this what you have done? (I can't use the app in the UK but I'm guessing this is the difference between playing on your phone and viewing online) If so, I wonder if you have access to the files and could move them into folders...?

 

[mmurphy1968]

I have them sorted into their own folders, each with their own album art.

 

[slacka]

One of the reason Android does such a poor job of managing your music, it is does not properly support the ID3v2 format. If the media database had full support it could tell the difference between artist in compilations and artists in their own albums.

In addition, with native support for ID3v2 USLT, it could display the embedded lyrics. Better ID3 support would allow the native and 3rd party music players to display lyrics, like the iOS and Windows Phone players can now.
If you want these features added to Android, please star the request below, and post your comments.

ID3 artist in compilations support:
Issue 5938 - android - Better support for Album Artist vs. Artist tag data in music player - Android - An Open Handset Alliance Project - Google Project Hosting

Embedded ID3 Lyric support:
Issue 32547 - android - Add ID3v2 Lyrics Support to Media Database - Android - An Open Handset Alliance Project - Google Project Hosting