Managing your MP3 library can be confusing and frustrating. Letting your music pile up, without any sort of setup, can lead to disaster down the line. MP3 problems that are not properly managed can also spread to other devices. Especially if you move music between your laptop and, for example, your smartphone.
Luckily, there are many tools available to help you tackle your MP3 management. So here’s a selection of tools to help you cure your music management migraine.
- MediaMonkey
MediaMonkey doubles as a music player and MP3 manager software. This makes it a great tool to have on your desktop. Before you jump in and grab MediaMonkey, it’s worth noting that this is not a lightweight application. This is a very comprehensive way to store your music collection. This means beginners may struggle with the various tools available.
However, if MediaMonkey is interesting, then there is a world of MP3 management in front of you. First, you can organize your music by genre, year, artist name or album title. This means finding files will be much easier. Not only that, but you can edit tags for each music file. The software includes tons of tools that can even do it for you, automatically!
Whether your MP3 collection consists of podcasts, audiobooks, or plain old music, MediaMonkey offers consistency throughout. MediaMonkey will allow you to check your playlists too, with complete playlist creation and editing. In addition, whenever you add music to the library folder on your hard drive, MediaMonkey will update it the next time it is launched.
One last feature we want to highlight is the ability to share your music across devices. So, if your computer is set up as a media server, you can wirelessly connect your smartphone to your computer and play files remotely. This means you don’t even have to physically store music on your smartphone, which makes organizing MP3s even easier! A Pro version is also available which adds more features to the free version of the app.
- MusicBrainz Picard
MusicBrainz Picard is a cross-platform open source MP3 organizing software. It is available for Windows, macOS, Linux, Haiku, FreeBSD, and OpenBSD. Best of all, it’s completely free! That means you can order your music collection without paying for expensive packages. Plus, it supports a large number of formats. So whether you have MP3, WAV, or FLAC files, MusicBrainz Picard is here to help get them all in boat shape.
However, one of its best features is the AcoustID song identifier. Even the most organized MP3 collections will have tracks with little or no metadata. Maybe even the song was given the wrong title. The AcoustID feature works by checking a track’s “audio fingerprint” against a database of songs. If it finds a match, it will populate the tag data for you, saving you work.
Of course, you can still edit all the metadata yourself as well. Clicking on an MP3 file that MusicBrainz Picard finds will bring up the editing panel. This will display the current data, along with any missing entries. You can add it yourself using text entry. The more metadata that matches, say, the other tracks on an album, the more organized your MP3 collection will be. You won’t have random MP3 files littering your hard drive!
- Mp3 tags
Mp3tag is great if you have a lot of fake MP3 files. This is because it has a really cool batch converter. That means you can take a bunch of your MP3s and let Mp3tag be busy sorting them. You can also edit the metadata yourself. It is very similar to MusicBrainz Picard in terms of its capabilities, apart from being a batch converter. It can actually use the MusicBrainz database to retrieve file info.
Despite its name, Mp3tag supports all popular (and some less so) media formats. The app also supports cover art for albums, EPs and singles. This will save the cover art to it’s own file. So not only will your music be organized, but it will also look like when you scroll through your MP3s.
This application is also interesting because it allows you to export your library data. With all HTML, RTF, and CSV exports available, you’ll be able to see exactly what’s in the dinghy
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