MP3 organization question

[HoyaSaxa03]

So I decided to go digital with my music collection about 6 months ago when I got my iPod. I have about 65gb (15,000+) in MP3s, and the whole organization thing is really getting tough. Anyone have any tips?
 
 I had been using MusicMatch for a long time, but switched over to iTunes, which I find is a lot better for managing huge amounts of music.
 
 But iTunes still doesn't really do it for me. The main issue is genres: I don't try to get too specific with categorizing stuff because I do it for my own use in making playlists, not as some academic exercise.
 
 But still, it would be nice to assign two or three genres to something instead of just 1. i.e., I have all my shoegazing stuff under "Dream Pop", but I also have stuff like Yo La Tengo and Sigur Ros under there too. I don't want to get too specific and have like 150 genres with really specific shit like Shoegaze, Slowcore, and Riotgrrrl, but it's also frustrating having hundreds of very different albums under "Indie Rock" or "Dream Pop". It would also be nice to tag something as "lo-fi" or some shit like that too.
 
 So the question is:  what is better for organizing large amounts of crap than iTunes? Is it possible to tag multiple genres with anything else?
 
 ps: anyone else use grouper (www.grouper.com)?  It's a great program for transferring among friends, but for some reason you can't transfer MP3s, so I switched all my shit over to .M4A ... PM me if you want an invite, especially if you got a lot to share...

[markie]

In itunes you can create genres.....
 
 Do it for a whole artists work at a time.
 
 Highlite artist and click "{apple} i" (is that control click on a pc?)
 
 It will ask if you want to change multiple things at once, "click OK" Then you can make the genre whatever you want.
 
 I just renamed the A House back-catologue as "Mock Rock" Thanks, Brennser.

[markie]

Whoops, I misunderstood you.....
 
 I guess you are just going to end up with a lot of genres.
 
 Could be worse.

[HoyaSaxa03]

Originally posted by Deepak Chopra:
  In itunes you can create genres.....
 
 Do it for a whole artists work at a time.
 
 Highlite artist and click "{apple} i" (is that control click on a pc?)
 
 It will ask if you want to change multiple things at once, "click OK" Then you can make the genre whatever you want.
 
 I just renamed the A House back-catologue as "Mock Rock" Thanks, Brennser.

I think we're talking over each others' heads.  I definitely tag things by genre, but the frustrating part is that:
 
 I could get really specific and have 150 or so genres, which would:
  -- make it easier to find exactly what i'm looking for
  -- make it annoyingly specific when i'm just looking for general "indie" stuff or "folk" stuff
 
 I could go really broad and just call everything "indie rock" or "folk", but that means I can't get specific at all ...
 
 The best of both worlds would be to have genre1, genre2, and genre3 ... do any programs allow that?
 
 Any other ideas on how to be specific enough but also not too broad?

[bellenseb]

Try getting specific in the tags, then creating playlists of groupings of micro-genres (into "indie rock" say) that you can shuffle through?

[HoyaSaxa03]

Originally posted by bellenseb:
  Try getting specific in the tags, then creating playlists of groupings of micro-genres (into "indie rock" say) that you can shuffle through?

yeah, i guess i could create smart playlists that incorporate multiple genres, good idea...
 
 one of my favorite smart playlists is "Classic Rock":
 a) my rating is: 4 stars or better
 b) genre is not: jazz, traditional country, soul
 c) year is before: 1976

[kosmo vinyl]

Are you using an MAC or PC?  If you are using a MAC checkout the iTunes script files at http://www.malcolmadams.com/itunes/index.php.  There are several scripts there that make reclassifying and mass editing of information in iTunes easier.  However it's only available for a MAC, and I haven't seen if there is any scripts for the PC.

[HoyaSaxa03]

Originally posted by kosmo vinyl:
  Are you using an MAC or PC?  If you are using a MAC checkout the iTunes script files at  http://www.malcolmadams.com/itunes/index.php.   There are several scripts there that make reclassifying and mass editing of information in iTunes easier.  However it's only available for a MAC, and I haven't seen if there is any scripts for the PC.

that stuff looks great, unfortunately i'm on a PC ... i'd love to be able to change the BPM field, for example, to Genre2 ...

[godsshoeshine]

that site is fantastic, kosmo

[Darth Ed]

Check out  http://www.smartplaylists.com/  for some iTunes tips.
 
 My preferred method for implementing multiple genres per song in iTunes utilizes the Comments fields and smart playlists. Just pick a generic category for the Genre. Under comments, put something like this:
 
 Subgenre: shoegazer
 Subgenre: indie
 etc. (Repeat for each subgenre applicable to the song.)
 
 Then create a bunch of smart playlists for each subgenre. Make the search criteria be the following: comments contains "Subgenre: whatever".
 
 Here's a link with some more info:
  http://www.macosxhints.com/article.php?story=20030409021945127

[HoyaSaxa03]

this is exactly what i was looking for, thanks for the tips Darth
 
 

Originally posted by Darth Ed:
  Check out   http://www.smartplaylists.com/   for some iTunes tips.
 
 My preferred method for implementing multiple genres per song in iTunes utilizes the Comments fields and smart playlists. Just pick a generic category for the Genre. Under comments, put something like this:
 
 Subgenre: shoegazer
 Subgenre: indie
 etc. (Repeat for each subgenre applicable to the song.)
 
 Then create a bunch of smart playlists for each subgenre. Make the search criteria be the following: comments contains "Subgenre: whatever".
 
 Here's a link with some more info:
   http://www.macosxhints.com/article.php?story=20030409021945127

[calecp01]

I use the "grouping" field for similar purposes...
 
 -cale

[TheWaz]

First of all i think 15,000 songs will be more like 70-75 gigs.  
 
 I use itunes for my huge library, but i dont even use the genre field (except for soundtracks), do you really need it?  I mean, what do peopoe use that field for?
 
 But if you insist, instead of making playlists, you could jsut use the other fields nobody fills in like "composer", and when you search in itunes it will search that field.