Music CDs: Multidisc Album

Plex Media Server Metadata & Adding Files
1

I just purchased a multidisc music album and was wondering how to properly input this into Plex. I looked at my past multidisc CDs, and determined that I had done this wrong - splitting everything out into different CD folders.

I am now trying to fix this, and not sure what to do. I did find Adding Music Media From Folders | Plex Support, and renamed all of the file accordingly and combined into a single directory. I also went into Plex and put the correct disc number into each of the song files, but the system is still splitting them into different play lists rather than a single list organized by disc number.

I’m guessing that I’m missing some meta tag somewhere, but unsure of where to look. I’d like to fix my current CDs before adding the new purchase into my server. Any suggestions on where to look?

2

Assuming your files contain more embedded metadata… verify they share the same album title and album artist.

3
  • Which file format do you use?
  • Is the check box “Prefer local metadata” checked or clear (in the properties of the Plex music library)?
  • Did you add internal metadata to your files?

What do you mean by “play list”?
Please add a screenshot to illustrate.

4

Yep, I had already confirmed that as well:

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Unless there’s a different place to look at?

5

  1. These files are in WMA format, but I can rip them again into MP3 if that helps. (WMA was the default years ago, but now it’s MP3.)

  2. Prefer local metadata is not checked.

  3. I did not manually add metadata to any files.

  4. “Playlist” was an inaccurate term. I think “album” should have been used:

In this case, there are four CDs for this album, and all four show up separately.

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6

What about my other questions above?
Please show the file names and how the files are organized in folders.

7

Sorry about that - I was editing my post as you responded. Please see edit above.

All the files are in a single folder (Plex\Music\George Strait\Strait Out of the Box):

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8

And I assume that the folder
Plex\Music\ has been added to the music library?
Are there embedded meta tags in the files?

9

Yes, Plex is the root of all my Plex media. Music is the music folder. I can listen to all music fine - I’m just trying to organize it properly.

Regarding the meta tags, that’s what I think I’m missing as I mentioned in my original post - but it’s just a hypothesis. Where should I be looking for the meta data? Within Plex, as posted earlier, it shows the Artist, Album, track and Disc correctly, but I’m thinking I need to look somewhere else. Maybe there’s a tool I should be using?

Edit: I might have found it, maybe… I expanded the explorer properties to include Album and each one shows “Strait Out of the Box Disc #”. Should the “Disc #” be removed? If so, is there a quick way to batch change them? (Note: The Disc property is blank.)

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10

Use a metadata editor like mp3tag.
Your files have different album names for each disc. Make sure they have the same album name (in the file) before adding them to Plex.

Within mp3tag you can also verify the other tags (your windows file explorer isn’t an adequate solution for that.

11

Your album name is the culprit here. And since you don’t have prefer local metadata turned on you need to be very clear with your album file names.

Remove Disc 1, Disc 2, etc. from the file names. Then refresh metadata.

12

In other words: the disc number doesn’t belong in the Album Title. There is a separate meta tag for the disc number.

13

That’s exactly the info I needed - I was on the right track, but didn’t know exactly where to look. I had read in other forum posts about it, but wasn’t 100% sure. I did have to remove the CDs from Plex and then add them back for Plex to recognize the data.

Thanks to ALL of you!! :thanks::folded_hands:

14

After I fixed the metadata using mp3tag, I did try refreshing the metadata within Plex, but it just wouldn’t take. I could see it looking at everything, but it kept there. So I just moved the files outside Plex, waited for Plex to remove the album info and then put the files back. Now it looks correct.

15

You have discovered one piece of the time tested Plex Dance