Changing music file format in library
#1
Hi

I'd like to replace my lossy mp3 files with flac. File names will be the same except from the obvious file extension.
Is there any chance to keep the music library? I'm basically interested in the 'play count' information.
Is it possible to export the music library, edit the path and file extension and import it back?

Thanks for your help
Reply
#2
Yes, from v18 onwards song playback history (playcount, lastplayed, user rating ) can be exported and imported. See settings>media>library music section Export (scroll down the page to see it and not the video library item). When exporting to a single file then "songs" is one of the items you can choose to export - see wiki https://kodi.wiki/view/Import-export_lib...ingle_File - it is just playback history that is exported all other song data comes from music file metadata.

You still have to scan your nice new music files to populate the library. So export the song playback history data, clean out the library (drop the source and clean from settings>media>library music section, add your nice new FLAC files  and scan the tags to build the library.
On this newly created music library you can then import this xml file of song playback history. IIRC the import matches songs first on album mbid (if present) album title and album artist, then each track on mbid (if present),  track, and song title, so you do not need to edit file name and path changes in the xml. The filename is in the export xml file just for human diagnostics and not used by import functionality.

Scraped album and artist information and art can also be exported to a single file or NFO, and thus make rebuilding your library quicker and put less load on the remote sites.
Reply
#3
Thank you @DaveBlake for all the information!
I started with a few albums and the procedure you described works perfect.
Since I've to re-rip hundreds of Discs with EAC first, it will take some time to complete this...

If I want to correct some typos in the song title is it ok to edit the <title> tag within the exported .xml file?

Cheers
Reply
#4
(2020-01-11, 20:55).Erich Wrote: If I want to correct some typos in the song title is it ok to edit the <title> tag within the exported .xml file?
Yes, edit to match your new tag values. Happy ripping Smile
Reply

Logout Mark Read Team Forum Stats Members Help
Changing music file format in library0