Life Without Metadata

When you send me an album without proper metadata for the tracks, this is what I do:

I unzip the archive.I load it into VLC for a quick listen. (Recommendations for alternate, elegant, quick-listen apps on a Mac appreciated.)I notice the tracks have little if any information — and may even be in the wrong order.I pull up AudioRanger, which is the software I use to edit the metadata of audio files. (If other tools are recommended, please lemme know.)I see in the grid what is missing. The main things I look for are:

Title (track)
Artist
Album (title)
Track number
Release dateI proceed to fill those in manually. The biggest hassle is the track title information.I then locate the album’s cover, either in your .zip file (thank you!) or on your Bandcamp page. Sometimes I can’t find it. I then attach the image to the files, again using AudioRanger.Then I save this material.Then I load it into my digital jukebox (I use Plex).Often these promotional .zip archives don’t actually include the press materials. Easily some 75% of the time, I create a .txt file and copy and paste in the background information, and then I save that in the folder with your audio files.

Think of how much easier it would be for the people to whom you’re sending your music if you just took the extra step to edit your metadata. On a positive note, something about Bandcamp’s audio hosting process generally seems to ensure that all such information is in the right place (sometimes excepting the press information).