Options that affect how the artist metadata is stored in our files
Romanize non-Latin script artist names wherever possible
If the artist names is in a non-Latin script such as Chinese, Japanese or Cyrillic its Latin equivalent will be used if available. This is very useful for Western speakers who typically only can only pronounce Latin script but may have music from other cultures because then it allows them to pronounce the names of any of the artists in their collection. The Latin name is often stored as an additional alias within the original MusicBrainz database, it maybe a transliteration of the original name or an alternative Latin based name that the artists is known by in the Western world. The SongKong database additionally links Discogs artists to the corresponding MusicBrainz artist if it exists so that now you can often get Latin names even when your songs only match a Discogs album and not a MusicBrainz album.
This option will not just romanize performers it will also romanize all individuals associated with the release such as composers, conductors and engineers.
Use standard Artist name instead of name displayed on cover
Sometimes an artist may use a different name on some of their releases, this can make it harder to manage your collection so if you enable this option then their standard name is always used.
Use Recording Artist instead of Track Artist
The exact same recording can be found on multiple releases and sometimes the recording is credited to different artists (or artists in a different order) on different releases. If you would like to use the same artist credit for all occurrences of the song then enable this option.
Complete artist metadata when no match is found
When SongKong is unable to match a song to MusicBrainz or Discogs, it can still try to complete missing artist metadata using the information already stored in the file. For example, it may create missing Artists or Album Artists fields from the existing Artist or Album Artist values, look for an unambiguous MusicBrainz artist in order to add artist IDs and sort names, or identify a collection as a Various Artists album. Because this information is derived from the existing text rather than from a confirmed release match, it may occasionally be incorrect. Disable this option if you prefer SongKong to leave artist metadata unchanged when no match is found.
When tracks contain featured artists
Sometimes tracks are credited to multiple artists, and with the default Add all contributing artists to the artist field option set all these artists will be used in the artist field for this song. But sometimes this can make it difficult to organize your songs because songs by the same main artist can be split up by your music player if the artist worked with a number of contributing artists. To make things simpler we can ignore these additional artists by selecting the Only use main artist in the artist field and discard other artists option. Alternatively if you don’t want the featured artists information to be completely lost they can be added to the title field instead with the Only use main artist in the artist field and add others to the title field . Note if a song is equally credited to multiple artists then the multiple artists will be added to the artist field whatever option is selected, the options only have an effect when there is a main artist and featured or guest artists.
When albums contain featured albums artists
Sometimes albums are credited to multiple artists, and with the default Add all contributing artists to the album artist field option set all these artists will be used in the album artist field for songs of this album. But sometimes we are just interested in the main album artist so we can ignore these additional artists by selecting the Only use main artist in the album artist field and discard other artists option. Note when the album is equally credited to multiple artists then the multiple artists will be added to the album artist field whatever option is selected, the options only have an effect when there is a main artist and featured or guest artists.
Maximum Album Artists Allowed
Sometimes an album can have alot of album artists, this is particularly the case for some Classical albums. The most important album artists are listed first and it can be neater and less distracting to limit the number of albums artists we add for an album to only the first x artists.