Formatting Your Podcasts and MP3s
Recently the issue of editing the meta-info–or ID3 tags–of mp3 files came across my desk. Here is a brief tutorial on how to edit these tags, and why you should. The purpose of these tags is to identify your mp3s to search engines, podcast clients, and audio players on the computers of people who download your programs. Without these tags your mp3 files will not get properly identified, nor will people know what they are listening to if they add your mp3 to their library.
Editing the ID3 tags is pretty simple, whether you are using Macintosh, or Windows (I have never done this on Linux, but I am assuming if you’re smart enough to use Linux, you can figure this out too). On both the Mac and Windows platform, with what ever program you are using, you should look for options to edit the “tags” of the file, including the title of the mp3 (not to be confused with editing the actual name of the file).
You can also edit the tags of your mp3 by using the Windows Explorer’s property inspector (right mouse click on the mp3). The property inspector for your file will look similar to the image on the left. Here you can see the size of the file and edit the file name (again, this is different than the title of the mp3). I recommend that you name the file something unique that includes the date of production (no spaces in the file name, thank you). Next, click on the Summary tab of the property inspector.
Here is the meat of what we want to edit, in the summary tab. The fields we want to concentrate on are Artist, Album Title, Year, Genre, and Title.
- Artist: Your name or the creator of the program.
- Album Title: Name and date of the program (if you like, same as the recommended file name, but in this case you can include spaces)
- Year: no problem here
- Genre: Podcast (if this is what you’re editing)
- Title: More specific title of the program. If your program is a series, then the series name is part of the album title; if this specific show has a title it belongs here
When you’re finished editing the tags close the property inspector. Your file is now ready to upload and share.
If you are part of the iTunes tribe (Macintosh or Windows) your job is similarly easy. At left is an image of the “Get Info” window in iTunes, which you’ll notice contains most of the same fields as the Windows properties image. You can find “get info” by selecting the file in iTunes (after importing the file), and then right-clicking.
Taking the time to complete these tags will make your mp3 files easier to find and categorize.
Tags: Committees, Committees, id3_tags, Latest Station News, Latest Station News, mp3_files, Podcast, Web, Web
