Favorite MP3 Tagging App: QMP
QMP = Quintessential Media Player
I’m a tad anal-retentive when it comes to my MP3 collection (over 20gb). I like to have everything tagged properly and the file name formatted in the right way. How do I do it? I use QMP. To me, it’s simply the best solution for tagging and renaming my media files.
Recently I tried a few tagging applications; MP3Tag and MediaMonkey thinking I might find a stand-alone tagging app that may be better than QMP. Although they do an okay job of tagging, the interfaces and options are over complicated and results aren’t always a lock.
QMP, although it’s primary role is a media player, it has a killer tagging utility. Extremely easy to use and has all the features you need; multi-edit, file rename + formatting options, etc… What I like is its integration with GraceNote. It’s very rare that GraceNote won’t match the track I’m trying to tag - unless the file name or initial tags are completely wrong.
I used QMP for years as my media player but since buying a Zune, I now use the Zune software to play my music. Why not utilize the Zune software for my ripping and tagging needs? #1. I have a wide variety of music and some times the Zune app does not recognize the CD or tracks. #2. There a little to no customizing options when ripping and near zero for tag/filename options. It’s a love hate relationship with the Zune software. I like how it’s laid out but I hate that it doesn’t have certain features built in. It’s a bit dumbed-down. Not to mention that it frequently misdiagnoses an album or track or ignores tag changes. That last one bugs me. 98% of the time the Zune software will recognize changes to a file’s tags right away, but when it doesn’t, there’s not much you can do other than wipe the Zune’s “meta database”; which causes it to re-catalog your entire library. Very annoying.
Typically I follow these rules when managing my music library:
- Always start with a good rip; I use either QMP, or CDEx to rip my CD to MP3 format, tag the files (at rip time) and name the files properly.
- If #1 is not an option, then I utilize QMP to re-tag and rename.
Following those rules make for a neatly managed library and the Zune typically follows suit.
So if you’re looking for a good tagging app, look no further than Quintessential Media Player.