We usually store files of all kinds on our computer, including audio files. If we are organized users, surely we would like to have our entire music library well managed and labeled. This is something that we can do manually, which can become tedious and boring, especially if we have a large collection of files. To help us with this work, we find tools such as TagComplete , which we will talk about below.
If we are regular consumers of multimedia and special music files stored on our computer, this application can be as useful as it is interesting. We are talking about TagComplete, a free tool that is responsible for tagging songs automatically using a database built by the community.
To conduct its work, this application is based on a technology known as MAFF (Mediapurge Acoustic FingerPrint), by which is responsible for listening to the content of the song and then search for metadata in the community to finally add automatically, information collected to the metadata of our songs.
To ensure maximum user privacy, the developers ensure that the recognition of titles is done locally, since only hidden fingerprints and metadata are exchanged with the central database. In this way, the data is always transmitted anonymously, so no personal data is collected.
Keep your songs organized automatically
Once we run the application, its main menu appears, with an interface divided into two panels, as well as a toolbar in the form of tabs at the top. The application is entirely in English, with no possibility for the moment to choose Spanish as the language.
Select the song directory
The first step is to click on the “Step 1 Select Directory” button on the left bar, which will help us select any folder we want to scan. When we press it, the options we have both to add or exclude subfolders will appear on the right side.
Next, we must take some time to choose all the folders where we have our music stored through the “Add Directory” tab. The navigation system will allow us to examine the subdirectories or load a previous compilation from the last time we ran it. In the event that we want to add specific files instead of folders, we must press the “Add File Selection” button. The list with the added directories and files will be displayed in the middle box. Once finished, click on “Next” for the next step.
Cache scan
In the next step, “Step 2 Database / cache update”, the application will begin to prepare the cache, through which it will automatically analyze and update the cache, showing the information on the tags that match our music. During the entire scan, a progress bar will fill in as the entire process is carried out. Keep in mind that the entire scan takes a long time, especially if we have a large music library, so we must be quite patient. Once it has finished, we must click on “Next” to continue.
Comparisons between local files and the database
Finally, the third step is “Step 3 Title identification and comparison”. Now we only have to compare the metadata of our songs with those obtained from the community database, so that we can see all the differences in a single column. Then, we can only accept or discard any of the differences that we have found. Once finished, click on the “Apply” button to confirm and modify the labels automatically.
Conclusions: is TagComplete worth using?
As we have seen, TagComplete is a tool that works quite well. Unlike other similar programs, this application is based on a complete database that is maintained by the community. The program is in charge of efficiently identifying the songs by scanning fingerprints through the MAFP function, and once it finds untitled songs, the tags are automatically extracted by extracting the metadata from the community database.
On the contrary, it should be noted that the cache creation process is too slow which may not be to the liking of many users. And it is that surely, we miss that the program is able to work without connection, which would make all the time spent caching the songs unnecessary. If this is not a problem and we have patience, it is an application that can be of great help to keep the metadata of our songs updated and organized.
Free Download TagComplete
TagComplete is an application that is characterized by being 100% free, so it will only be necessary to download it from its website. It is compatible with the Windows operating system, both for the versions of Vista, 7, 8 and 10 of 64 bits. The installation does not present any complexity since it is done quickly through the wizard, without at any time trying to sneak unwanted third-party software into us.
Alternatives to TagComplete
If we are looking for a program that helps us edit the metadata of our songs, we suggest some alternatives to Tag Complete that may be of interest to us.
Mp3tag
It is an application that allows us to edit or delete hidden data from this type of audio files. To do this, it supports the editing of labels of various types where we find the most common. It supports Internet database searches, such as Discogs, MusicBrainz or freedb, through which we can automatically join the labels and download covers. We can download it for free from this link .
Musicbee
This application is focused on audio and for this it has different functions for managing, searching and playing music files from our computer. It allows us to improve the organization of our music by means of labels, since we can modify them to keep the tracks perfectly organized and identified. MusicBee is a free application that we can download from here.
