Large amounts of music in MP3 format usually mix perfectly tagged and completely untagged albums and files into a far-from-perfectly-organized collection. MP3 Tag Express can help you solve this problem without having to go from file to file filling in blanks, looking for artwork and lyrics, and checking misspellings. Its blend of automated and manual functionality will save you time that you can spend in listening to the music instead.
The program’s interface may seem a bit cluttered at first, but it is actually very clear and easy to move around. The top side of the window lists all the functions available, both for manual tagging and for the “Auto Lookup” routines. The bottom part is a built-in player, complete with album artwork (when available) and an audio equalizer. The large space between these two sections is devoted to your music collection. I advise you to maximize the window to fit your screen, so that you can see as many tags as possible for each track at a glance. ID3 tags are not exclusive to MP3 files, and that is why this program supports tagging M4A, FLAC, WAV, and WMA audio files too.
MP3 Tag Express will let you modify both the track’s tags and its file name to help you turn your chaotic MP3 collection into a neat and nicely organized music library. Likewise, you can also move your albums and tracks around for a quicker and more efficient retrieval process. The program supports all versions of ID3 tags, so you can modify and add not only the usual suspects (title, artist, genre, year, etc.), but also artwork, lyrics, comments, and more. Tags can be filled in or modified either one by one or by using the Multi-Edit function, which allows you to insert tags that are common to more than one file (albums, discographies, etc.). Tags can also be created from the file names and the folders that hold them, and vice versa – build new file names using the existing tags. When changing or creating new file names, you can add character trimming, numbering, and substitution algorithms to automate tasks involving large numbers of files.
The Auto Lookup function will help you recover tags from the Internet, saving you the fuss of looking it up for yourself. I haven’t yet found an auto-tag function that works to perfection, and this one is not an exception, I’m afraid. I understand that some albums are easier to locate than others, and that some good and accurate basic information (the album name, the artist, complete track names...) makes searching a tag easier. I tried this tool with not-so-good loose tracks, which the program failed to locate in the Web, quite understandably. However, when trying to complete some extra information for some of the tagged albums in my collection, the results were much more satisfying.
As a bonus, the program includes a CD ripper and tagger that will perform both tasks in one single operation. You can also export your tags as CSV files, and even normalize the audio of your MP3 files for a more homogeneous listening experience. The program’s main functionality, though, is still the tagging and file-renaming part, and it does so in a simple and very efficient way. This, and its very reasonable price tag, are good enough reasons to give MP3 Tag Express a try.
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