Compilation TAG

[Flavio61]

My files coming from compilations disks are all tagged with the “Compilation” field equal to 1. When I import these files into Roon the “Compilation” tag of the album is not activated to “Yes”. Which tag should I insert in the files to make Roon activate the “Compilation” tag?

[BlackJack]

This information comes from external metadata providers exclusively. There is no way to set this with file tags at the moment. See also the metadata editor for albums where only *Prefer Roon?" is shown in contrast to other data that can be imported from file tags where it reads “Prefer Roon or File?”.

[garym]

I’ve found that Roon’s interpretation of what constitutes a compilation can be quite different from my own use of the term (in my case, I think of a compilation as an album that has more than one artist).

[Jazzfan_NJ (Listening to JAZZ since 1972!)]

I believe that Roon will also label a collection of tracks by one artist taken from various sources as a compilation, e.g. a greatest hits album will be labelled as a compilation.

In addition many live albums are also labelled as compilations for the same reason as stated above.

[BlackJack]

Sadly there seems to be no generally accepted definition of the term “Compilation” amongst the different metadata providers (and users).

• “Greatest Hits” albums: A collection of previously released tracks of an artist
  Mostly all marked as compilation in Roon

• Soundtrack: Can be a collection of tracks from different artists used in a specific movie
  In my library not marked as compilation

• Tribute albums: Can be a collection of tracks best known from a specific artist, interpreted here by other artist(s)
  The compilation mark seems to depend on the album (artist) credit

See also this older thread:

Compilation vs collection vs anthology vs compendium

How does Roon define and differentiate the following: Compilation Collection Anthology Compendium To my mind a compilation should consist of various artists, whereas a collection has a mixture of tracks by the same artist (but not an album). Anthology and compendium would be similar to collection in this regards. Thanks.

[garym]

I believe that Roon will also label a collection of tracks by one artist taken from various sources as a compilation, e.g. a greatest hits album will be labelled as a compilation.

In addition many live albums are also labelled as compilations for the same reason as stated above.

Yep. I see this too in my own collection.

[Jazzfan_NJ (Listening to JAZZ since 1972!)]

My files coming from compilations disks are all tagged with the “Compilation” field equal to 1. When I import these files into Roon the “Compilation” tag of the album is not activated to “Yes”. Which tag should I insert in the files to make Roon activate the “Compilation” tag?

When the “compilation” field is set to “1” Roon does recognize the album as belonging to “Various Artists” regardless of whether or not the album is “identified” by Roon.

So the way to think of the “compilation” field within the file tags is that when it is set to a value of “1”, Roon will see the album as belonging to various or multiple artists. For Roon to display the word “compilation” when showing the album depends on the metadata the Roon finds when identifying the album.

Below are a few examples:

This album has the compilation field set to “1”, is unidentified by Roon and is shown as belonging to Various Artists. By the way the term “Various Artists” is not in any of the fields within the file tags.

This album has the compilation field set to “1”, is identified by Roon and is shown as belonging to Various Artists.

This album has the compilation field blank, which is the same as “0”, is identified by Roon and is shown as a “compilation”

This live album has the compilation field blank, which is the same as “0”, is unidentified by Roon and therefore is NOT shown as “live” or “compilation” by Roon.

Hopefully you are now as confused I am.

[Flavio61]

It seems to me that Roon does what he wants to determine if a record is a compilation or not a compilation. Wouldn’t it be better to just read the “Compilation” tag?

[Jazzfan_NJ (Listening to JAZZ since 1972!)]

Wouldn’t it be better to just read the “Compilation” tag?

Roon does read the compilation tag and marks the album as belonging to Various Artists, unless an album artist is tagged. See my post above.

[Flavio61]

Ok I agree, but I don’t understand why in some disks that have the TAG “Compilation” active Roon does not have to activate the flag.

[dylan (Dylan Caudill)]

Hi @Flavio61,

Can you share some screenshots of an example of this? We can take a look and let you know why Roon is displaying as it does.

We will want to see screenshots of the following:

1. Roon album page
2. File tags
3. Import settings from Settings > Library

Thanks!

[Flavio61]

Ok.

[dylan (Dylan Caudill)]

Hi @Flavio61,

I checked with the team on this to confirm — Currently we do not import Compilation status from file tags. This can be manually edited in Roon, but not imported.

In the example album above, the album is not identified, which is why it cannot have the Compilation status without manual editing. Compilation status can only come from our metadata providers (from an identified album) or an edit.

I would recommend also posting your suggestion in the 'feature request" section of the site.

Our product team and developers keep a close eye on that category, so that’s definitely the best place to propose a change like this and get feedback from the Community.

Thanks for the feedback!