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hows that for a title?
i have been using xbmc for exactly a year now. i could not be happier.
i cut the satellite cord and have not looked back.
my movies, tv shows, documentaries and streaming media are all working great.
and my wife is starting to get the hang of xbmc also.
only one problem, my iTunes music library and xbmc.
i admit my iTunes library is a mess. and that need sorting first.
but what to do? do i stay with iTunes or dump it for something else?
my main goal is xbmc music library integration.
i see the skin screen captures of other users music libraries and it looks so cool.
my attempts at scraping into xbmc are a big disappointment.
so if you were starting from the ground up with around 8,000 unorganized and incomplete id tagged titles what would you do?
keep iTunes or not?
use musicbrainz picard or other?
forget using xbmc for music play?
stay with iTunes it is not as bad as i think?
any help or suggestions are appreatiated.
by the way i have spent the last three days researching this and am more confused. that is why i am asking here.
thanks
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Don't know what kind of iTunes integration exists but tag them using Picard and they'll work fine in both iTunes and XBMC. Separate libraries are of course needed. Smaller tag edits can then be made in iTunes and XBMC will pick them up when you update the library.
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Start by tagging your media properly. I know its a huge pain but its necessary if you want your media to look good across all devices, eg xbmc, phones, tablets. Plus once its done its easy to keep on top of. I like using the software mp3tag for tagging mp3s.
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thank you for the reply.
spacemonkey- what do you mean "Separate libraries are of course needed."?
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I cleaned up my tags and used id3v2.2 or 2.3 (google for best for itunes and xbmc). Then i just pointed xbmc at the itunes music library - it has been flawless.
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thanks
i just downloaded picard and will dive in soon.
anyone know what space monkey was referring to here "Separate libraries are of course needed."?
or is gigantur's method as straight forward as it sounds?
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What i meant is that you seemed to think that choosing one application would rule out the other.
Tag your music, add them to iTunes if you want to use it. Then add your tagged music directory to XBMC and scan it to your library if you want to use it. One library for iTunes, one for XBMC but no extra work really.
Maybe there's an add-on for connecting XBMC directly to an existing iTunes library, don't know about that.
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great thanks,
as usual i was making it harder than it really is. some times google searches can get confusing.
just a little misunderstanding of terminology on my part. i got it now. glad i asked here.
thanks again.
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I also found adding artwork to the mp3's gave a better result. There are plenty of widgets which get the images and insert into itunes. I can't remember if I added artwork to every song in an album or first one- try both on a single album. Compilations tend to be the messiest - google "albumartist various" ..
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o.k., still a little confused.
i read that xbmc can not read the metadata (album art) from the embedded tag, the art must be separate in the albums folder.
is this true?
thanks
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Sorry my memory is rusty will look tonight. Easy to do a test for a single album. I think in my case embedding the image (not a link to it) in the mp3 was a good result - certainly more reliable in iTunes and by memory xbmc. Obviously artist and other info etc comes from the scraper ..
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thank you gigantur- you went above and beyond, in helping me sort things out.
i don't know where i read that xbmc does not read embedded album art.
but this was the start of my spiral down into itunes/xbmc confusion.
it appears the real issue is correct tagging. if this is done right all else will fall into place.
now i need only roll up my sleeves and start cleaning and tagging.
one last question i have is, do i really need a program like picard or will itunes be good enough?
i see some very complex naming and tagging schemes but i have no idea how to choose.
gigantur- the links you provided suggest that itunes is all i need. yet google search suggests that itunes tagging sucks and i need to use something more powerful. it is difficult to sort out the good advice from that not so good found in searching.
i just want a basic structure that will allow for easy search and organization with an emphasis on art.
i guessing something like file name = artist,album, date.
again thank you.
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Everyone has a different view. All approaches will work ..
In my case i used itunes and tuneupmedia and manually fixed the compilation albums. Needs a lot of patience as well as some trial and error.
I found the itunes list by all songs then sorted in albums revealed a whole lot of issues easily - basically if itunes thinks songs from one album are diffferent albums then that is a good place to start. Use get info to make sure album name is right and use Albumartist for compilations.
Fix tag issues - Try xbmc source and scan - check results .. REPEAT ..
If you let itunes find track name when importing and primarily imported whole albums then task may not be so hard. If you have lots of escoteric classical then it will be harder.
PM me if you get stuck. Good luck
