MP3 Tag Format String

mp3Tag is able to edit tags of MP3, WMA, WAV, FLAC, APE, OGG Vorbis, AAC, WavPack, MPC/MPP/MP+, and M4a/MP4 files. You can edit tags for a group of audio files manually, download tags from FreeDB or Amazon, import tags from a text file.

However, there is one feature that gives you unbelievable flexibility. It's the format string. You can see it when renaming files, or extracting tags from filenames, or importing tags from a text file. You can find it in the left upper corner of the Rename/Generate window:

What does it mean?

The format string contains of variables, each of them stands for some field. For example, %A means "Artist", %T means "Title", and so on. Actually, most of the variables are listed on the right from the format string:

Rename Files

If you are renaming files, the format string defines how information from different fields should be put together to create filenames.

For example, if the "Artist" field of your file contains "Robbie Williams", and the "Title" field contains "Things", "%A - %T" format will rename your file to "Robbie Williams - Things", and "%T - %A" will rename the file to "Things - Robbie Williams".

Of course, you may add Track # and other fields as well. The variables can be used in any succession.

It is also possible to create folders while renaming files. If you type "%L\%A - %T" into the format field, a new folder named "Swing When You're Winning" (the name of the album) will be created, and your file will be put there under the name "Robbie Williams - Things".

So, '\' in the format string means that a folder will be created.

Example: if you want to create a folder hierarchy like:

Genre\Artist\Year - Album\Track# - Title

use the following format:

%G\%A\%Y - %L\%# - %T

You can add your own strings when creating filenames. For example, if you want to add "this is my file" to every filename, you can type into the format string something like:

%A - %T - this is my file

Generate Tags from Filenames

If you are generating tags from filenames, the format string defines how parts of filenames should be read by the program. Suppose that your files are named like the following:

05 - Robbie Williams - It Was A Very Good Year

We can recognize that the first item ("05") is the track number. The second item ("Robbie Williams") is definitely the artist. The third item ("It Was A Very Good Year") is the title.

Let's tell the program this. Type into the format string the following:

%# - %A - %T

In the preview area, you will immediately see that the corresponding fields are no more empty. They contain correct information!

You can freely experiment with variables and observe results in the preview area. If some file is different from the others, you can edit its information directly in the preview area manually.

If you don't want to extract some part of filenames, you can type something like "%x" into the format string, or just use a variable that won't be written (for example, bit rate).

Note that the variables are separated by the same characters that are used in the filenames: ' - '. If your filenames have other delimiters, you should use them instead. For example, if our filenames look like:

05 Robbie Williams - It Was A Very Good Year

we can extract necessary information using the following format:

%# %A - %T

To include the name of the folder, type "%L\" (the variable that you should use depends on the actual meaning of the name). It is possible to include the whole folder hierarchy. For example, if your files are sorted as following:

Genre\Artist\Year - Album\Track# - Title

you can extract everything:

%G\%A\%Y - %L\%# - %T

Thus any desired information can be extracted, no matter what pattern has been used for the filenames.

Most popular formats are predefined. Registered users can add their own formats to the list. To add a new format, type it into the format field and click the green "+". To remove a format, select it from the list and click the yellow "-".

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