Strange Problem or it seems strange to me [Resolved - local files issue]

I am not sure about the extent of this problem, as it appears to be random. There may be examples I do not know about. I will try to be clear.

Somehow Ornette Coleman (whom I listen to a lot) has impinged on the territory of John Coltrane and a few other avant-garde jazz artists I also listen to a lot-- Eric Dolphy, Cecil Taylor, William Parker, Matthew Shipp, and others. I have playlists of work by these people. I would have to check through a lot artists to see how common this phenomenon is. It does not happen with some other artist I listen to a lot–Miles Davis, Sonny Rollins. As far as I know, however, it happens mostly with artists who are my favorites ,and I have never encountered it with artists whom I listen to only rarely.

Here’s what happens: I search “Coltrane” and it takes me properly to “Search results for Coltrane.” The little round picture is John Coltrane. The page mentions Alice Coltrane and Ravi Coltrane, but that keeps it in the family.

However, I click top results, and it takes me to the main page of Ornette, whose picture is across the top of the page with his dates, the introductory essay to his work. The popular tracks are all by Ornette. Under albums in by library, however, it lists the Coltrane albums (I suppose all or most of them that should be there) but many Ornette albums and albums by the artists that I list above.

But there are others. Connie Crothers shows up in the list of albums under Ornette along with many albums Ornette and Coltrane, but when I click on her Top search results, it gives me her albums (I think she does not have a main page). The Ornette page also lists Mal Waldron. When I click on his albums, it goes to his home page, giving the banner with his picture, and introductory essay, not Ornette’s.

If I click on a Coltrane album 9or any other), it plays it properly, and sometimes gives me the correct information. If I play Coltrane’s My Favorite Things album, it gives me the correct composer of My Favorite Things (Richard Rogers). If I play, Live at the Village Vanguard Again, My Favorite Things is again attributed properly to Richard Rogers, but on the same track list, Naima, which was composed by Coltrane, is attributed to Ornette Coleman.

On a playlist of Coltrane Albums, it gets everything right but the artist, which it lists as Ornette.

This has been happening for a while, not sure when it started. It took a while to figure a pattern in the seemingly random stuff.

I am using an old Mac Mini (2011) running Sierra, Tidal, and a USB hard drive with 1.8 tb of ripped CDs. It is connected by ethernet to Microrendu and April Eximus DP1 DAC and to Ultrarendu and early Brooklyn Bridge DAC. Remotes on Iphone 7 and Ipad Mini 4 (14.4 software). Latest Roon Software on all devices.

Don Byrd

Moved to support, metadata issues.
If I search for coltrane I get

Then if I click on top result I get

Yes, that is what I would expect. When I click top results, I get the front page for Ornette Coleman, with the big banner across the top and a picture of Ornette. If I click top results for Dolphy, David S. Ware, William Parker, Matthew Shipp, and others, I also get the Coleman page with his full banner picture. The discography includes the artist I originally searched for, the Ornette discography. Other artists whom I listen to alot–Sonny Rollins–it works as expected. I tried to give a very accurate (but probably incomplete) account. I thought Miles Davis searches were working correctly, but last night I discovered that the album Complete recordings of Davis and Coltrane also showed Coleman as a performer.

Are these all of your ripped files or are you using streaming services as well?

I am using Tidal and ripped files

So you got it. I ejected the HD and the problem disappeared. So Something is wrong in the metadata on the HD. I wonder how I trace that down?

Review the metadata on the HD. I use mp3Tag but there are plenty of others available.

Thanks Anthony

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I posted this a month or so ago, and I was told the problem was in my metadata and that I needed to get MP3Tag and fix it. So I now have MP3, and I see it is a powerful and potentially useful app, but I have no idea what to look for in the metadata that might cause this problem.

Hey @Don_Byrd

Pull a few of your affected Coltrane albums into MP3 tag and survey the metadata tags for erroneous Ornette Coleman entires in the Artist and Album Artists fields. That’s a good start.

Thanks for the reply, Jamie. For reasons that had nothing to do with this problem, I moved my core from an ancient Mac Mini to a newer one, and the problem seems to have disappeared.

Hi @Don_Byrd

This is great news, I’m glad that things are working for you now! Please feel free to reach out if you ever have any other questions or issues. Happy listening :headphones: