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qwertyjjj · 2012-02-01, 16:32

What is the best way to download artwork for albums?
I just ripped a load of CDs into the library but it didn't download any artwork for them even when I select scan library.

jhsrennie · 2012-02-01, 19:15

You need to go into System settings, Music, Library and enable "Download additional information during updates". Then rescan.

JR

qwertyjjj · 2012-02-02, 00:13

jhsrennie Wrote:You need to go into System settings, Music, Library and enable "Download additional information during updates". Then rescan.

JR

No, still doesn't work.
It is on many albums but one is The Avalanches - Since I Left You.
Doesn't pick up any info. even when I click Update library.

DDDamian · 2012-02-02, 00:47

Which scraper have you set? Is there a cover for that album when you go to it in the web page the scraper is targeting?

qwertyjjj · (This post was last modified: 2012-02-02, 01:09 by qwertyjjj.)

DDDamian Wrote:Which scraper have you set? Is there a cover for that album when you go to it in the web page the scraper is targeting?

Is AllMusic the scraper?
How do I set the scraper for music? With videos it has a "set content" menu but it's not there for music.

http://www.allmusic.com/album/since-i-left-you-r522636

It's starnge because when it ripped the album from the CD, it obviously picked up the correct info. - is it CDDB when it's ripping? Why doesn;t it just grab the artwork and other info at the same time.

d'Wooluf · 2012-02-02, 03:51

I wasn't even sure that xbmc retrieved album art so what do I know?, but...

does xbmc retrieve any album information (genre/review/...) for any of your rips? If the answer is 'no', then make sure your library is properly tagged.

Whether or not you get this working you may want to look at a little application called Album Art Downloader XUI (google). Xbmc won't get album art for all of your albums, and this app will help fill in the gaps.

DDDamian · 2012-02-02, 04:03

@qwertyjjj - If you go to System>Settings>Music>Library you'll find the default scraper (AllMusic - currently down for copyright reasons, LastFm, etc).

When you add an album and update your library it will go to either the scraper set for that album or the default scraper and try get the info including the cover and fanart.

Proper tagging of your files is important, and so is the directory structure you use. Arrange files by <artist>/<album>/<song>.

I would set the default scraper as LastFM as described above. Then go to the album and right-click it (in XBMC). Click <Album Information>. In the window that pops up click <Refresh>.

Make sure you're in Library mode. From the main menu Click <Music> then anything except <Files> and you'll be in library mode. Everything should be there.

Follow the same procedure for artist info.

qwertyjjj · (This post was last modified: 2012-02-02, 10:25 by qwertyjjj.)

DDDamian Wrote:@qwertyjjj - If you go to System>Settings>Music>Library you'll find the default scraper (AllMusic - currently down for copyright reasons, LastFm, etc).

When you add an album and update your library it will go to either the scraper set for that album or the default scraper and try get the info including the cover and fanart.

Proper tagging of your files is important, and so is the directory structure you use. Arrange files by <artist>/<album>/<song>.

I would set the default scraper as LastFM as described above. Then go to the album and right-click it (in XBMC). Click <Album Information>. In the window that pops up click <Refresh>.

Make sure you're in Library mode. From the main menu Click <Music> then anything except <Files> and you'll be in library mode. Everything should be there.

Follow the same procedure for artist info.

The default ripping structure is Artist - Album then Album then Track names.
The above seemed to work for The Avalanches and it downloaded the artwork with Last.fm but how can I change the entire library to Last.fm?
I right clicked on Albums under library mode and selected last fm but then when I went to the Avalanches album it was still on All Music so I had to change it manually. Also, it seems I need to keep clicking run automated scan when trying to update these manually.

To make it more confusing, when I go back into File Mode, the Avalanches album that had an image in Library mode does not in File Mode. The image is attached to the tracks but not to the folder when navigating. Yet other albums have images.
Very strange.

DDDamian · 2012-02-02, 19:21

Once an album is assigned a scraper (from the default) it seems to stick, so changing the default after does not seem to affect already added files.

You may need to remove the source, clean the library, set the default scraper, then re-add the source.

I believe in File Mode it depends on the presence of a folder.jpg image.

qwertyjjj · 2012-02-03, 10:38

DDDamian Wrote:Once an album is assigned a scraper (from the default) it seems to stick, so changing the default after does not seem to affect already added files.

You may need to remove the source, clean the library, set the default scraper, then re-add the source.

I believe in File Mode it depends on the presence of a folder.jpg image.

The problem is that I have manymany singles and this really clogs up the library so in fact I prefer using file mode. However, file mode misses all the nice album/artist information and some pictures.
Is there a way to have only albums in the library and exclude singles?
I presume to get access to the singles I still have to have them added as a source?
They are in different folders currently: Music and Music Singles

qwertyjjj · 2012-02-03, 15:03

DDDamian Wrote:Proper tagging of your files is important, and so is the directory structure you use. Arrange files by <artist>/<album>/<song>.

XBMC includes rips in the following format automatically:
<artist> - <album>/<songs>

Should I be changing all of them to:
<artist>/<album>/<song> ?

Also, on some albums they have been created with Various - Album Name/song
Should I change these to <various>/<album name>/<song> ?
Does the Various Artist include them all into an artists called various or will the library pick up the artist name from the mp3 tags only?

DDDamian · 2012-02-03, 17:37

Before you launch on the folder restructing try System>Settings>Music>Library and disable "Include artists who appear only on compilations" and see if that cleans it up for you.

qwertyjjj · 2012-02-03, 19:39

DDDamian Wrote:Before you launch on the folder restructing try System>Settings>Music>Library and disable "Include artists who appear only on compilations" and see if that cleans it up for you.

No it didn't seem to.
Presumably, xbmc doesn't know what is and isn't a compilation until it has scraped it and if it can't scrape then it just includes everything?

DDDamian · 2012-02-03, 20:06

qwertyjjj Wrote:No it didn't seem to.
Presumably, xbmc doesn't know what is and isn't a compilation until it has scraped it and if it can't scrape then it just includes everything?

It would need to scrape it first. Only then will it know there's mixed artists there. You can tag the albumartist as "Various Artists" and they will show up under that in the Library once scraped, then use the "Include Artists who only show up on compilations" turned off to unclutter the artist list.

qwertyjjj · 2012-02-03, 20:23

DDDamian Wrote:It would need to scrape it first. Only then will it know there's mixed artists there. You can tag the albumartist as "Various Artists" and they will show up under that in the Library once scraped, then use the "Include Artists who only show up on compilations" turned off to unclutter the artist list.

Do I have to tag each song or can I just put them in a folder called
Various Artists --> Album Name --> Song name
--> Album Name --> Song name
--> Album Name --> Song name