Change Metadata Items for Scroll Playing MP3s in Windows Media Player Without Losing Tracks Information

Change Metadata Items - Scroll Playing MP3s - Windows Media Player - Without Losing Tracks Information

Windows Media Player is a versatile and powerful program for playing a wide range of audio and video file formats. When it comes to playing MP3 files, you can seamlessly scroll through your music collection while listening. However, editing or changing metadata items in Windows Media Player, such as song title, artist name, or year, can be a challenge.

Editing metadata with Windows Media Player

Although the default Windows Media Player interface does not support editing metadata in a straightforward manner, there is a way to do it:

1. Open Windows Media Player.

2. Select the MP3 file for which you want to change the metadata.

3. Right-click on the file and then click on "Find album information" or "Search online for media information." Windows Media Player will seek out the metadata online based on the filename or partial filename.

4. If Windows Media Player finds the correct metadata, you can choose to apply it. However, sometimes it can return incorrect or incomplete information.

Changing metadata using dedicated software

There are other programs that better handle editing metadata for your MP3 files. One such program is the free and open-source tool, "Mp3tag" (https://www.mp3tag.de/en/index.html). With Mp3tag, you can easily change or edit metadata items for your MP3 files in batch:

1. Download and install Mp3tag (if not already installed) from the provided URL.

2. Launch Mp3tag.

3. Add the MP3 files for which you want to change metadata by drag and drop, or clicking "Add directory" or "Add files."

4. Select the files for which you want to edit the metadata. You can edit one file at a time or multiple files simultaneously.

5. Double-click on the specific metadata item you want to edit (e.g., Title, Artist, or Year). Edit the text as required, and then press Enter to save it.

6. Repeat step 5 for other metadata items if required.

7. Once you have finished editing the metadata, click the "Save" button to commit the changes.

Retaining metadata during file transfers

When copying files from one location to another or when transferring them over a network, metadata can be lost. To keep the metadata intact:

1. Compress the files into a ZIP archive format using a compression tool, such as 7-Zip (https://www.7-zip.org/).

2. Transfer the ZIP archive to the target location.

3. Extract the files from the ZIP archive in the target location.

Metadata handling in Windows Explorer

Windows Explorer offers some basic metadata editing features, but only for specific files and metadata items. To edit metadata with Windows Explorer:

1. In the Windows ```vbnet Explorer window, select the MP3 files for which you want to change metadata. ```

2. Right-click on one of the selected MP3 files and then click "Properties."

3. Go to the "Details" tab, where you'll find available metadata items for editing, such as Title, Author, or Tags.

4. Double-click on a metadata item and change it as needed, then press Enter to save it.

5. Repeat step 4 for other metadata items if required.

Ensuring metadata during playlists

Playlists in formats such as the Windows Media Player Playlist (.wpl) and the Media Collection Playlist (.m3u) can retain the metadata when used in conjunction with the aforementioned metadata editing methods:

1. First, edit the MP3 metadata with Mp3tag or other dedicated software.

2. Create a playlist in Windows Media Player by dragging and dropping the MP3 files from the library into the playlist.

3. Save the playlist file in either the .wpl or .m3u format.

Editing metadata for playing MP3s in Windows Media Player without losing any track information is possible, but sometimes requires third-party software or an understanding of different metadata editing tools within the Windows ecosystem. With these methods, you can easily customize and manage your music library.

• Mp3tag - Free and open-source software for editing metadata of audio files.
• 7-Zip - A free and open-source file archiving program for Windows.