I once tried Plex but didn’t like what happened to my local files system. I then tried Emby and while I didn’t have the files issue its end user app sucks donkey dongs. I have long used Subsonic but it is abandoned and I assume will eventually break.
I currently have almost 2 TB of carefully curated audio files dutifully organized exactly how I want - directory structures, tags, embedded artwork.
Are there Plex server/library settings I can choose that will respect my local files structure and use my own tags and artwork?
All I want from Plex is to serve up my files as they are. Possible?
I’ve found that, if your tags are meticulously correct, Plex won’t care about your folder/filename structure, as long as you use the “Plex Music” scanner (as opposed to the older “Plex Music Scanner” scanner). The following is not officially supported, as you just read , so this is at your own risk.
I ran kind of an extreme test case by copying a bunch of well-tagged music files from multiple artists into a single folder, and gave them generic filenames, so there were no clues in the folder/file names for Plex to rely on. Plex built the library nearly perfectly using the embedded tags.
There are some caveats, so pay close attention to the “Potential issues with embedded tags” section in the How-To I linked above. If classical music is important to you, be sure to check the “Classical Music” section as well.
Thanks, backfield. Being half my collection classical is hugely important. That Plex does not support the composer’s tag is a deal breaker. There is absolutely no way in Hades I’m going to edit the Artist tag for a TB worth of files. Absurd considering how long Plex has been around.
And I did as backfield suggested - trial setup. Things were indeed better, but not good enough, especially as regards classical. Just gotta have Composers as a choice when looking at my library - Artists and Album views don’t cut it.
, so this is at your own risk.