# How can I alter MP3 files? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [January 14, 2011, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-i-alter-mp3-files/567629 "2011-01-14T18:52:27Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![guizot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guizot/32/3636_2.png) [@guizot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/guizot)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2011, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-i-alter-mp3-files/567629/1 "2011-01-14T18:52:27Z")
Particularly, the coding that informs players like iTunes about the “artist,” “album,” “genre,” as well as the graphic (“album art”).etc. Is there some software which will allow me to add or change this info? In [this thread](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=593048), **Eutychus** has a problem with how iTunes recognizes Frank Zappa-related recordings, and really–why can’t s/he just change the files themselves, instead of readjusting the player each time? If I create MP3s from analog recordings, they won’t have any of this info, and I’d like to make players recognize them the same way they recognize MP3s ripped from CDs, etc. Is there a way to do this? ---
**Author:** ![Pitchmeister](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pitchmeister/32/3459_2.png) [@Pitchmeister](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pitchmeister)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2011, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-i-alter-mp3-files/567629/2 "2011-01-14T18:56:37Z")
Yes. It’s called iTunes. ---
**Author:** ![Eutychus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Eutychus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eutychus)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2011, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-i-alter-mp3-files/567629/3 "2011-01-14T18:58:38Z")
> [@Pitchmeister](#): > > Yes. > > It’s called iTunes. \< snort \> If you don’t want to use iTunes, though, I use [MP3Tag](http://www.mp3tag.de/en/). ---
**Author:** ![Kinthalis](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kinthalis/32/16084_2.png) [@Kinthalis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kinthalis)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2011, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-i-alter-mp3-files/567629/4 "2011-01-14T18:58:42Z")
Sure. This information is stored in the file itself and is super easy to access and change. There are many programs out there that will do this for you including iTunes itself. I am partial to TagScanner myself. ---
**Author:** ![Palooka](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/palooka/32/2902_2.png) [@Palooka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Palooka)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2011, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-i-alter-mp3-files/567629/5 "2011-01-14T19:01:56Z")
They’re called id3 tags. There are hundreds of programs for editing them. Virtually all mp3 playback applications include the ability to edit them. Windows offers the ability under the “Details” tab of an mp3 files properties. For a specific recommendation, I like Tag&Rename since it’s very good at batch jobs and will also rename all of your mp3s, which is great for an old school folder-based organizer like me (and my six mp3s). ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2011, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-i-alter-mp3-files/567629/6 "2011-01-14T19:02:27Z")
Another vote for iTunes. I change tags in songs and add artwork all of the time before transferring them to my iPhone. If iTunes can’t fetch the artwork, you can Google the album art and copy-n-paste it to the song info in iTunes. ---
**Author:** ![md2000](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/73ab20/32.png) [@md2000](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/md2000)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2011, 7:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-i-alter-mp3-files/567629/7 "2011-01-14T19:03:52Z")
The advantage of iTunes is that you can select more than one song at a time and use the “Get Info” to change the tags in all of the selected items together, at once. Whatever you change in the Info panel (say, artist name, album, or genre of music) will be applied to all selected songs. ---
**Author:** ![guizot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guizot/32/3636_2.png) [@guizot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/guizot)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2011, 7:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-i-alter-mp3-files/567629/8 "2011-01-14T19:06:12Z")
> [@Pitchmeister](#): > > Yes. > > It’s called iTunes. Doesn’t that just alter some index within iTunes, rather than the file itself? ---
**Author:** ![Atrael](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Atrael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atrael)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2011, 7:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-i-alter-mp3-files/567629/9 "2011-01-14T19:09:44Z")
> [@guizot](#): > > Doesn’t that just alter some index within iTunes, rather than the file itself? For **video** files, and possibly audio books and such, this is true (based upon file type and a few other variables), but for .mp3 files, I’m 99% sure that the tag data is embedded into the file. ---
**Author:** ![AHunter3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ahunter3/32/368_2.png) [@AHunter3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AHunter3)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2011, 7:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-i-alter-mp3-files/567629/10 "2011-01-14T19:20:02Z")
Yes, editing MP3 files in iTunes edits the file itself. I personally don’t like iTunes and I have not as of yet been dragged away from Audion, elderly and out-of-date though it is. ---
**Author:** ![gazpacho](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/6f9a4e/32.png) [@gazpacho](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gazpacho)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2011, 7:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-i-alter-mp3-files/567629/11 "2011-01-14T19:26:51Z")
I find that [tag&rename](http://www.softpointer.com/tr.htm) is far better than itunes. I tunes does not seem to put the album image in the mp3 file or the containing folder. For albums there are a lot of entries for the files that are the same tag and rename allows you to enter this once for all the files. I have not figured out how to do this easily with itunes. ---
**Author:** ![Markxxx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5daacb/32.png) [@Markxxx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Markxxx)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2011, 1:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-i-alter-mp3-files/567629/12 "2011-01-15T01:25:54Z")
I use [mp3tag](http://www.mp3tag.de/en/). It does all sorts of formats from mp3, mp4, all losseless (FLAC, Wavpack, ALAC etc). It’s easy and free. You can easily add album art or subtract it and can do mulitple files or folders at once. ---
**Author:** ![mittu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ecd19e/32.png) [@mittu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mittu)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2011, 1:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-i-alter-mp3-files/567629/13 "2011-01-15T01:31:45Z")
> [@gazpacho](#): > > I find that [tag&rename](http://www.softpointer.com/tr.htm) is far better than itunes. I tunes does not seem to put the album image in the mp3 file or the containing folder. For albums there are a lot of entries for the files that are the same tag and rename allows you to enter this once for all the files. I have not figured out how to do this easily with itunes. I strongly recommend Tag&Rename as well. It is very good at identifying albums as well, so if you have ripped a CD and just have Track01, Track02 etc. it will search for matching albums and automatically fill in all the tags, album art and then rename the files according to a scheme you select e.g. %tracknumber% - %albumtitle% - %tracktitle%. Other programs try to automatically fill in album information but Tag&Rename has a far higher success rate in my experience, especially when you take into account foreign releases with added tracks etc. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2011, 8:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-i-alter-mp3-files/567629/14 "2011-01-15T08:20:50Z")
I was told that ID3 information could be set in Explorer in versions of Windows past XP. To simulate this in XP, I use [AudioShell](http://www.softpointer.com/AudioShell.htm). I also second Tag&Rename or any other program that uses the freedb if you need to get ID3 information for a bunch of files. I’ve gotten even MP3s ripped from Worship CDs produced by my Church to become properly labeled. But, for what the OP wants, I prefer being able to modify the file from the File Properties box. BTW: Windows Media Player can also do it. In details view, just double click on one of the fields, and you can edit it, or right-click and choose properties to edit them all. ---
**Author:** ![mhendo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mhendo/32/3159_2.png) [@mhendo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mhendo)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2011, 8:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-i-alter-mp3-files/567629/15 "2011-01-15T08:35:56Z")
> [@md2000](#): > > The advantage of iTunes is that you can select more than one song at a time and use the “Get Info” to change the tags in all of the selected items together, at once. Whatever you change in the Info panel (say, artist name, album, or genre of music) will be applied to all selected songs. There are dozens of half-decent tagging programs that will do this. Another vote for Tag&Rename here. I think it’s great. ---
**Author:** ![si\_blakely](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d9b06d/32.png) [@si\_blakely](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/si_blakely)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2011, 9:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-i-alter-mp3-files/567629/16 "2011-01-17T21:35:03Z")
My vote is for [Media Monkey](http://www.mediamonkey.com) - the free edition is very good (just don’t install the toolbar thingie it suggests you install - it is benign but of no use) and it does Cover Art/Tagging/Renaming really easily (including searching Amazon for info). A great product, and I haven’t found a linux tool as good. Si ---
**Author:** ![guizot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guizot/32/3636_2.png) [@guizot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/guizot)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2011, 10:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-i-alter-mp3-files/567629/17 "2011-01-17T22:21:46Z")
I’ve just now discovered something really annoying about iTunes: After I went to all the effort to change file names to the name of the song/recording only, whenever I play a file with iTunes, it changes the file name to begin with the track number–always. How can I stop this, other than by not using iTunes? ---
**Author:** ![Disheavel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e274bd/32.png) [@Disheavel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Disheavel)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2011, 10:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-i-alter-mp3-files/567629/18 "2011-01-17T22:50:16Z")
> [@guizot](#): > > I’ve just now discovered something really annoying about iTunes: After I went to all the effort to change file names to the name of the song/recording only, whenever I play a file with iTunes, it changes the file name to begin with the track number–always. How can I stop this, other than by not using iTunes? How did you change the file name? In iTunes you change the name of the song or something else? Are you sure you are seeing the name of the file being changed to a number? Or is the song title in iTunes changing to a number? Or is the “banner” when a song plays just including a track number? I’m sorry to be so simple with my questions, but I cannot conceive of what could be causing what you are seeing so I’m trying to eliminate the jargon and the “user error” possibilities. ---
**Author:** ![ChrisBooth12](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e95f7d/32.png) [@ChrisBooth12](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ChrisBooth12)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2011, 12:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-i-alter-mp3-files/567629/19 "2011-01-18T00:45:26Z")
PicardMP3 will scan the file so you know what version of a song it is many songs have been recorded many times for different albums ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2011, 4:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-i-alter-mp3-files/567629/20 "2011-01-19T04:44:42Z")
I think there’s a preference called “Name tracks with Track Number” that you can uncheck. I’ve had great luck with iTunes-- I resisted getting an iPod for years, trying other brands, but I have a lot of music/audiobooks, and I really like iTunes-- and the iTunes Store – for music and podcasts. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-i-alter-mp3-files/567629.md?page=2)