# BUG: Sorting Artist Name **URL:** \ **Category:** Metadata & Adding Files\ **Tags:** server-synology, plex-web, library-management\ **Created:** [November 27, 2023, 9:31am UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/bug-sorting-artist-name/860815 "2023-11-27T09:31:23Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![mrevenflow86](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/67e7ee/32.png) [@mrevenflow86](https://forums.plex.tv/u/mrevenflow86)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2023, 9:31am UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/bug-sorting-artist-name/860815/1 "2023-11-27T09:31:23Z")
Hey, I had this issue last year and it seems to have come back. See below for original post > [@BUG: Sorting Artist Name](https://forums.plex.tv/t/bug-sorting-artist-name/803682/1): > > Server Version#: 1.28.1.6018 Player Version#: 4.87.2 Hey guys, I’m hoping someone can shed some light on this. For a long time my library would sort out artist by surname first, so for example, Andy Summers would go under ‘S’. Below though you can see instead of it going under ‘S’ it’s been put in A. Same with Andy McKee etc. Why is this happening? My metadata is set up correctly and Plex used to honour this. [Screenshot 2022-08-05 at 09.06.35] [Screenshot 2022-08-05 at 14.19.26] I’ve not… This time it’s a different artist and it’s not affecting other artists from what I can see. Can someone please shed some light on this? Thanks Server Version#: v.1.32.7.7621 Player Version#: Version 4.119.1 ---
**Author:** ![aubrey.wodonga](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/plex/user_avatar/forums.plex.tv/aubrey.wodonga/32/175408_2.png) [@aubrey.wodonga](https://forums.plex.tv/u/aubrey.wodonga)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2023, 10:54pm UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/bug-sorting-artist-name/860815/2 "2023-11-27T22:54:23Z")
I’m not aware of any issues with this at the moment. Are you able to confirm that the tracks under the artist experiencing the issue have the correct sort tags (like in your previous post)? ---
**Author:** ![mrevenflow86](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/67e7ee/32.png) [@mrevenflow86](https://forums.plex.tv/u/mrevenflow86)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2023, 11:13am UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/bug-sorting-artist-name/860815/3 "2023-11-28T11:13:42Z")
Hey @aubrey.wodonga Sure, here’s some screenshots to help. Below is showing a section of my library and Jamie Lenman is coming up under J, when he should be under L. You can also see Michael Jackson is in the J section which is correct. ![Screenshot 2023-11-28 at 11.04.35](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/plex/original/4X/c/0/2/c023544760cededda7b1003edc0f58c1ff90617b.jpeg) Here’s edit section open on Plex for Jamie Lenman and it’s showing sort artist as Jamie Lenman which isn’t correct ![Screenshot 2023-11-28 at 11.06.45](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/plex/original/4X/f/8/0/f80e6031028742a2c6a0dcb1cd71c4030347cb91.png) Finally, here’s how the metadata looks on one of Jamie Lenman’s albums. Notice how I’ve got his name as Lenman, Jamie under the sort album artist section ![Screenshot 2023-11-28 at 11.06.20](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/plex/original/4X/d/3/a/d3a483a0fc8cf734208c57b8a2da0475abc84e83.png) Let me know if you need any additional info for this. I just can’t see where it’s going wrong. ---
**Author:** ![Andreas\_B](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/plex/user_avatar/forums.plex.tv/andreas_b/32/4859_2.png) [@Andreas\_B](https://forums.plex.tv/u/Andreas_B)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2023, 11:20am UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/bug-sorting-artist-name/860815/4 "2023-11-28T11:20:36Z")
Can you please show the same screenshot (Artist/Sort Artist) for one Michael Jackson album? ---
**Author:** ![anon5074910](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/db5fbb/32.png) [@anon5074910](https://forums.plex.tv/u/anon5074910)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2023, 11:23am UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/bug-sorting-artist-name/860815/5 "2023-11-28T11:23:27Z")
Also… What is the artist sort tag set to? Not album artist sort, artist sort. BTW… Have you seen this thread [Sorting music artists by surname using ALBUMARTISTSORT not working?](https://forums.plex.tv/t/sorting-music-artists-by-surname-using-albumartistsort-not-working/819380). It may help. ---
**Author:** ![OttoKerner](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/plex/user_avatar/forums.plex.tv/ottokerner/32/10079_2.png) [@OttoKerner](https://forums.plex.tv/u/OttoKerner)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2023, 11:43am UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/bug-sorting-artist-name/860815/6 "2023-11-28T11:43:22Z")
Was the same artist previously in the library, with another album? Because the Sort Artist tag is only read if an album by that artist is being added for the first time into Plex. On all subsequent album additions, it is no longer observed. Instead, the sorting order that is already in the database is being used. ---
**Author:** ![mrevenflow86](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/67e7ee/32.png) [@mrevenflow86](https://forums.plex.tv/u/mrevenflow86)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2023, 2:02pm UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/bug-sorting-artist-name/860815/7 "2023-11-28T14:02:09Z")
Thanks for the replies everyone. @Andreas_B As for Michael Jackson, I selected all the releases I had by him in kid3 and this is what it shows ![Screenshot 2023-11-28 at 13.54.53](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/plex/original/4X/3/0/b/30ba2e0b6827a0cc2f97e876efe2762dfccc0848.png) @anon5074910 Not sure what you mean? I add all my own metadata. The screenshots show how I tag my music. @OttoKerner The artist has been in my library for a long time. I did add one album by him the other day. But it’s tagged the same as the others. As per the screenshot below. ![Screenshot 2023-11-28 at 13.53.25](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/plex/original/4X/d/c/9/dc9aade3b202d1ea1dba123b18cd82a8f79e5029.png) ---
**Author:** ![OttoKerner](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/plex/user_avatar/forums.plex.tv/ottokerner/32/10079_2.png) [@OttoKerner](https://forums.plex.tv/u/OttoKerner)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2023, 2:05pm UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/bug-sorting-artist-name/860815/8 "2023-11-28T14:05:14Z")
> [@mrevenflow86](#): > > The artist has been in my library for a long time. I did add one album by him the other day. But it’s tagged the same as the others. As per the screenshot below. Adding another album by an artist that is already in your Plex library won’t change the sort artist. If the artist sorting order was correct before, it will remain correct. If it was incorrect before, it will remain incorrect, --no matter how many albums with correct meta tags you are adding after that. ---
**Author:** ![anon5074910](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/db5fbb/32.png) [@anon5074910](https://forums.plex.tv/u/anon5074910)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2023, 2:13pm UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/bug-sorting-artist-name/860815/9 "2023-11-28T14:13:23Z")
> [@mrevenflow86](#): > > @anon5074910 > Not sure what you mean? I add all my own metadata. The screenshots show how I tag my music. I use MusicBrainz Picard to tag my media for plex. When I started using plex with my music media I initially had trouble with the sorting tags and found it best to ensure tags “albumartistsort” and “artistsort” match the sorting I wanted from my artists. I ended up scripting this in MusicBrainz setting the albumartistsort and artistsort tags to be the same value as albumartist. This works for me but can you use any value you want yourself. ```auto $set(artistsort,%albumartist%) $set(albumartistsort,%albumartist%) ``` Here are the tags from one of my albums. ![Screenshot from 2023-11-28 14-06-14](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/plex/original/4X/2/6/d/26d8a8a20a70fea0ca9dadf06142b02dadffa159.jpeg) BTW… otto makes a great point regarding **“Sort Artist tag is only read if an album by that artist is being added for the first time”**. For this reason I would recommend a full [plex dance](https://forums.plex.tv/t/the-plex-dance/197064) of the entire artist and all its albums when changing artist level tags, like sort. That way you can be sure plex will pick them up correctly. ---
**Author:** ![mrevenflow86](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/67e7ee/32.png) [@mrevenflow86](https://forums.plex.tv/u/mrevenflow86)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2023, 3:23pm UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/bug-sorting-artist-name/860815/10 "2023-11-28T15:23:45Z")
Hey, I did a [plex dance](https://forums.plex.tv/t/the-plex-dance/197064), which took a little while as I’ve got several releases from Jamie Lenman. Anyway, after doing that it seems to have sorted it. ![Screenshot 2023-11-28 at 15.15.57](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/plex/original/4X/8/c/1/8c1773667c7bfeba504114bf000231ae45f8ebf2.jpeg) Not sure why this happened in the first place. But cool it’s sorted. Thanks for the help everyone. ---
**Author:** ![system](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/plex/original/3X/2/a/2acb9765406f63293d357b4ec509ec39aa28f2ad.png) [@system](https://forums.plex.tv/u/system)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2024, 3:24pm UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/bug-sorting-artist-name/860815/11 "2024-02-26T15:24:14Z")
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