How do you guys keep your music library clean? I might be going tag-crazy

The trick is to not create extraneous (and useless) detail. My music collection is not the library of congress. I just need a fast way to generate sets of similar sounding material for dancing, background, productions, or whatever.

I have a very limited set of tags I use, and just a handful of delineations relative to frequently used event themes.

Pop
Rock
R&B Dance
Hip-Hop
Rap
Slow
Easy Listening
Motown
Big Band
Jazz
Classical
Production
Novelty
Holiday
World
Soundtracks
EVERY SONG has to fit into one of these categories. I won't bother to differentiate Rock, Heavy Metal, Punk, Alternative, etc. If it sounds like Rock that's how it's tagged regardless of how any artist or pool might classify it. I'm the DJ - I tag sounds based on what kind of set I would use them in.

R&B Dance for example, is all I need to know. Whether it's Disco, Funk, Techno, etc. Is irrelevant. I already know how to identify those styles or artists.

Motown gets it's own tag because it's so discreet, as do a few other often party themed genres.

The point is to not get mired in the detail - but, to create smaller sub-libraries that can be used to build sets of coherently matched sounds even if the exact "genre" is not what a music snob would label it.

Since the dawn of file naming in a computer (not tagging...reaming the .mp3/.mp4 file), every file in my system follows this formula>>>

Last Name, First Name <space>hyphen<space>Song Title<space>[last two digits of year and chart position<space>dance step or style]<space>bpm<space>source.mp3/.mp4

Example: Four Seasons - Sherry [6201 bubblegum cha cha] 117 xtmhd.mp4

Sherry by the Four Seasons reached #1 on the billboard charts in 1962 and is a classic cha cha, 60's or ballroom, has a bpm of 117 and is sourced from Xtendamix in high-def video file.

The two digit year/two digit chart position is invaluable at reunions, themed events, anniversaries, and birthday parties. Mush easier getting chart info now than it was thumbing through Joel Whitburn's encyclopedias.

Once your files have all been named in this universal file naming protocol, using the MP3tag editor program, one can easily batch convert thousands of files at once. But, getting your music files renamed is a daunting, perhaps overwhelming task. Thankfully, I was able to see what information would be valuable in the file naming for search purposes, which easily transposed into tagging. 21,000 .mp3 files and 27,500 .mp4 files, all named following the same naming protocol.

I use VDJ and it loves this method of importing files into their databse.

Cap Capello said:

Example: Four Seasons - Sherry [6201 bubblegum cha cha] 117 xtmhd.mp4

Sherry by the Four Seasons reached #1 on the billboard charts in 1962 and is a classic cha cha, 60's or ballroom, has a bpm of 117 and is sourced from Xtendamix in high-def video file.

The two digit year/two digit chart position is invaluable at reunions, themed events, anniversaries, and birthday parties. Mush easier getting chart info now than it was thumbing through Joel Whitburn's encyclopedias.

Click to expand...

That might be useful if I was the only person with technology and my music library was the ONLY thing getting digitally indexed as time marches on.

The fact is, we can all find an indexed list of appropriate reunion hits in under 10 seconds. AI will soon do it for us in less. Personally, I'm happy not to have overly invested my time in data tagging digital music files.

With records, CDs, or tape - the issue was never "what song to play" it was always "where in my library can I find it." Hence, my catalog data (clubs, mobile, multi-ops) was a road map to finding the song I wanted in whatever collection I was using. I could literally do that in under 10 seconds even with printed catalogs and old school media. Today, I don't even have to do that. Just a partial spelling of a title, artist, or genre is enough to find it.

OtsAV (now outdated) was a unique software in the fact that it allowed multiple genre tags to be used. I'm sure there are tips and tricks to multi-tag in Serato, VDJ, Mixxx and more, but I simply haven't found a need to do so. Today's consumer is very particular and quite vocal about the music program they want, and much of the work is actually being done for us. It's rare to book a job today that isn't accompanied by an well endowed playlist of favorites and preferences.