# Working with MetaData and ID3 Tags **URL:** \ **Category:** General Discussions\ **Created:** [December 2, 2017, 5:55pm UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/working-with-metadata-and-id3-tags/216217 "2017-12-02T17:55:10Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![fgustafsson](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/plex/user_avatar/forums.plex.tv/fgustafsson/32/22157_2.png) [@fgustafsson](https://forums.plex.tv/u/fgustafsson)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2017, 5:55pm UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/working-with-metadata-and-id3-tags/216217/1 "2017-12-02T17:55:10Z")
I’ve been struggling with the accuracy of my MP3 library. All of my MP3 files have ID3 tags set in the metadata. Yet, there are hundreds of files that do not get imported correctly into the Plex database. I get “Unknown Artist” and “Unknown Album” errors on MP3 file objects that have proper ID3 tags set on them. The folder/file structure is by artist / album / mp3 files. My most recent test was to take a two CD set where each song shows up with “Unknown Artist”, even though it is under the correct artist in Plex. The songs are also out of order because of the 2 disc set and even though I have set the ‘Disc’ & ‘DiscCount’ tags correctly for each song, Plex shows every song object with a DiscCount of ‘1’. What standard is being used when reading metadata tags in Plex? The following are the ID3 tags I have on each MP3 file object. Does Plex read all of these or are some added and/or omitted? I’m using the “taglib-sharp.dll” extension to read & set the media file tags. StartTag : EndTag : TagTypes : Tags : Title : Performers : PerformersSort : AlbumArtistsSort : AlbumArtists : Composers : ComposersSort : TitleSort : AlbumSort : Album : Comment : Genres : Year : Track : TrackCount : Disc : DiscCount : Lyrics : Grouping : BeatsPerMinute : Conductor : Copyright : MusicBrainzArtistId : MusicBrainzReleaseId : MusicBrainzReleaseArtistId : MusicBrainzTrackId : MusicBrainzDiscId : MusicIpId : AmazonId : MusicBrainzReleaseStatus : MusicBrainzReleaseType : MusicBrainzReleaseCountry : Pictures : IsEmpty : Artists : FirstArtist : FirstAlbumArtist : FirstAlbumArtistSort : FirstPerformer : FirstPerformerSort : FirstComposerSort : FirstComposer : FirstGenre : JoinedArtists : JoinedAlbumArtists : JoinedPerformers : JoinedPerformersSort : JoinedComposers : JoinedGenres : ---
**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:** [December 2, 2017, 5:56pm UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/working-with-metadata-and-id3-tags/216217/2 "2017-12-02T17:56:43Z")
Here are some tips regarding music multi-disc albums [https://forums.plex.tv/discussion/comment/1050849/#Comment\_1050849](https://forums.plex.tv/discussion/comment/1050849/#Comment_1050849) handling singles and EP’s [https://forums.plex.tv/discussion/comment/1093611/#Comment\_1093611](https://forums.plex.tv/discussion/comment/1093611/#Comment_1093611) possible ‘side car’ files for music [https://forums.plex.tv/discussion/comment/1319703/#Comment\_1319703](https://forums.plex.tv/discussion/comment/1319703/#Comment_1319703) soundtracks and ‘various artists’ [https://forums.plex.tv/discussion/comment/1472799/#Comment\_1472799](https://forums.plex.tv/discussion/comment/1472799/#Comment_1472799) ---
**Author:** ![fgustafsson](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/plex/user_avatar/forums.plex.tv/fgustafsson/32/22157_2.png) [@fgustafsson](https://forums.plex.tv/u/fgustafsson)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2017, 10:12pm UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/working-with-metadata-and-id3-tags/216217/3 "2017-12-03T22:12:15Z")
It looks like the Plex developers still have a lot of work to do with scanning and importing metadata. We shouldn’t have to format our file/folder structure in a certain way in order to properly bring the information in. If I am able to scan my collection of mp3 files and export all the file location and necessary metadata into a CSV or XML file, does Plex have the ability to import that information into the database? If so, is it a full import every time or can new data be appended to the database as it is added? I think a system like this would work well for users like me who are able to create a powershell script that will scan all my files and put them into a readable delimited or XML format. Can you list all the attributes that Plex reads and/or uses for MP3 files within the database? Is there a KB article that shows this information online? Movie (mp4) file metadata comes in just fine most of the time. I don’t have any issues or complaints there. But my audio library is over 10x larger than my movie collection and I’d like that to be just as accurate. Perhaps these need to be new feature requests… Thoughts / suggestions? ---
**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:** [December 3, 2017, 10:23pm UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/working-with-metadata-and-id3-tags/216217/4 "2017-12-03T22:23:58Z")
> @fgustafsson said: > We shouldn’t have to format our file/folder structure in a certain way in order to properly bring the information in. If your embedded metadata have all the necessary information, then the file names and folders tructure is not that important. It comes only into play as a ‘fallback’ when Plex cannot read the metadata. > If I am able to scan my collection of mp3 files and export all the file location and necessary metadata into a CSV or XML file, does Plex have the ability to import that information into the database? No, that is not possible. > Can you list all the attributes that Plex reads and/or uses for MP3 files within the database? Is there a KB article that shows this information online? No, but there are not that many tags read by Plex. The most important ones for keeping albums together are ‘AlbumTitle’ ‘AlbumArtist’ these two must be present and **be identical** for all tracks which belong into one album together. Track numbers should be present as well. The most common mistake is to include a ‘disc number’ or ‘disc name’ into the ‘AlbumTitle’ tag. This will cause Plex to ‘split’ albums. ---
**Author:** ![system](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/plex/original/3X/2/a/2acb9765406f63293d357b4ec509ec39aa28f2ad.png) [@system](https://forums.plex.tv/u/system)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2020, 12:13am UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/working-with-metadata-and-id3-tags/216217/5 "2020-01-08T00:13:20Z")