Ever since I first started using iTunes, I have been trying to figure out what the “Grouping” column was for. I rarely, if ever, saw any data in this column after importing CD’s, and there was no information on this column in iTunes’ help. I finally found this:
grouping (Unicode text) : the grouping (piece) of the track. Generally used to denote movements within a classical work.
in the AppleScript dictionary for iTunes.
Finding this in such an odd spot got me wondering where else I might find documentation for the iTunes Library. Since iTunes pulls CD information from Gracenote (formerlly CDDB), I looked around there. I found lots of useful information on their “Guidelines for submissions” page, such as:
- “Part of a compilation” checkbox (iTunes) is used to indicate that tracks on this disc are by different artists. Turn on the “Part of a compilation” checkbox for all tracks on this CD, and enter the Artist for each track.
- Speaking of the Artist column, what do I put in this column for classical music–composer or performer? See the “Artist Name (classical)” section of Guidelines for submissions.
- Multi-disc releases (”box sets”) should have the disc number added to the end of the Album title, e.g. “The Wall (Disc 1)” for the first disc of Pink Floyd’s “The Wall” album. Be sure to enter it exactly as: “«space»(Disc «digit»)”. (I’ve always stripped this off in iTunes because it makes multi-disc albums difficult to work with, but it now appears to be a bug in iTunes.)
- There is quite a long section on First Name versus Last Name of artists, but I don’t think this applies to iTunes. (Too bad, because it looks like it would help quite a bit!)
There’s some very helpful explanations on the Guidelines for submissions page, and I really wish iTunes had a link to it!
