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  #1  
Old May 25, 2020, 08:40 AM
Cat Slobber Cat Slobber is offline
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Default ID3 tagging VGM collection?

I use iTunes (now Apple Music) for playing and tagging my personal collection of game music. The albums can be effectively categorized into two types: game OSTs and arrangement albums.

My dilemma is how can I accurately tag these? Let me explain.

Genre: per song? Per album? What about OST vs arrangement? Or arrangement albums with lots of variation, such as symphony, rock, or Latin? Should it all just be labeled Game Music?

Composer is easy, but what about the arranger? There’s no standard tag for that role.

Artist and album artist. Easy to understand for arrangements but what about OSTs?
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Old May 25, 2020, 03:32 PM
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Jedi QuestMaster Jedi QuestMaster is offline
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Genre: do whatever the hell is easiest for you; there are 2,405,518,376 ways to tag genre in music and that's roughly the same amount of internet users in the world.

I wasn't aware that ARRANGER was a tag. Unless you mean ARTIST? Regardless, I put whoever is directly responsible for the production of the music you hear. ie. Hiro Tanaka composes the Samus Appearance Fanfare jingle, which is used in Super Metroid, so in Super Metroid "Sound in Action" track 30 is credited to 'Hirokazu Tanaka' for COMPOSER and whoever arranged it for Super Metroid is credited as ARTIST, however, that track is uncredited, so... screw [pun intended] us, right?

If there are vocals involved, I like to credit the singer in the ARTIST field as well and credit the lyricist (the one who wrote the lyrics) in the COMPOSER field as well.

For ALBUM ARTIST, if there's one artist the stands more prominently than the rest, I just use that. If not, I'll sometimes pair two or three artists on that field and even make a distinct artist folder for them. If there's anymore than that, I'll just type in 'Various Artists' and file the album under a 'Various Artists' folder (eff your 'Compilations,' iTunes!).

Take DK Jamz for example. Two prominent composers: David Wise and Eveline Fischer (or Eveline Novakovic now). But there's also one Robin Beanland track and an arranged track by Yoshiyuki Ito. So I use 'Various Artists' for the ALBUM ARTIST field.

Last edited by Jedi QuestMaster; May 25, 2020 at 03:37 PM.
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Old May 25, 2020, 04:19 PM
RFGalaxy RFGalaxy is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Jedi QuestMaster View Post
If there are vocals involved, I like to credit the singer in the ARTIST field
Where did this convention come from, if I may ask? It always seems odd to me. It's like randomly picking out the bass player for an album and crediting them in the artist field; they're only a part of the overall sound. If you remove the bass player from the song, the sound is just as incomplete as if you had removed the piano player, the percussionist, or the vocalist. They're only part of the overall performance. Unless that particular person also wrote/arranged the music, it just never made sense to me.
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Old May 25, 2020, 04:22 PM
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Aifread Aifread is offline
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First order of business: delete iTunes from your computer and replace it with something better.

I basically ignore genre because I don't find it that useful and it's too much of a hassle to add to every track (by album wouldn't work in most cases due to the eclectic nature of VGM).

Composer tags for composers, 'artist' for arrangers or prominent performers/vocalists as JQM said. I'll usually add all the performers with their own tags and roles (don't remember if iTunes even lets you add new ones like this). For album artist I'll typically include all composers unless someone had an absolutely minuscule role with only one track or something. I only like to use 'various artists' for massive compilations like this one.
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Old May 25, 2020, 04:24 PM
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Aifread Aifread is offline
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Originally Posted by RFGalaxy View Post
Where did this convention come from, if I may ask? It always seems odd to me. It's like randomly picking out the bass player for an album and crediting them in the artist field; they're only a part of the overall sound. If you remove the bass player from the song, the sound is just as incomplete as if you had removed the piano player, the percussionist, or the vocalist. They're only part of the overall performance. Unless that particular person also wrote/arranged the music, it just never made sense to me.
I also find it odd, but I think it just comes from mainstream music being focused on the careers of vocalists. No one cares who played bass for Adele.
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Old May 25, 2020, 11:07 PM
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Jedi QuestMaster Jedi QuestMaster is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by RFGalaxy View Post
Where did this convention come from, if I may ask? It always seems odd to me. It's like randomly picking out the bass player for an album and crediting them in the artist field; they're only a part of the overall sound. If you remove the bass player from the song, the sound is just as incomplete as if you had removed the piano player, the percussionist, or the vocalist. They're only part of the overall performance. Unless that particular person also wrote/arranged the music, it just never made sense to me.
I didn't know this was a convention. That's just what I do, but as for the reason, here's how I look at it: the vocals are such a big part of the music, and, often, the singer may be distinct from the rest of the band (like having a cameo). Vocals aren't always worth crediting. If it were just acappela, I wouldn't consider searching for the singer just to credit that.

As for crediting other noteworthy instrumentalists, I would consider crediting a prominent solo guitarist or violinist if he/she were separate from an album's band or artist.
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Old May 26, 2020, 04:18 AM
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TerraEpon TerraEpon is offline
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Genre for me is 'Game'.

The problem with that word is that it's often confused with 'style' and 'medium'. Technically Game Music is a medium, but *shrug*

As for singers being individually credited, there's actually a good reason for that beyond pop music conventions, but on the flip side they shouldn't get sole weight (I find it hard to explain this with words).
In general I try to credit anyone credited individually unless it's part of a collective ensemble (in the case of an unnamed one, they usully are 'Studio Orchestra' or 'Studio Ensemble'). So if there's a guitar player specifically on track three, they are added. Whatever.

One thing I absolutely despise about tagging that isn't my own is crediting someone on a track where they don;t perform on. If a singer is only on 10 of the 15 tracks, DON'T CREDIT THEM FOR THOSE FIVE TRACKS. It's infuriating.

Anyway....do what you want, really.
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