Computer Tips From A Computer Guy

How to automatically tag MP3 files using Winamp

Posted: 17 Jun 2009 03:59 AM PDT

Sometimes we get MP3s that are not tagged with the proper titles and artists. Traditionally, the audio CD format does not include the disc name or track names, so a supplemental database is needed to supply this information when discs are used with modern media systems.

This is why after ripping a CD, the MP3 files do not have their tags unless you use a separate software to tag them. Since version 5, Winamp has a capability to query Gracenote – an online information service containing data of compact discs – to determine an MP3 file's title, artist, album and other information.

Below is an example of a playlist in Winamp with MP3 files not tagged with their appropriate information.

To tag the MP3 files, select all files that you want to tag then right-click and choose Send to > Auto-tag:

This will open a new window that will show the status of each MP3 files being queried against the Gracenote database.

Once the status says queried you can check the queried details by clicking the file once and looking at the tag's details on the lower right part of the window:

Once all the file's status says "done" click the apply changes button to apply the tag information on those files. It will update the files' tags in a few seconds.