Name the things that matter.

Keep the recording, its release and the file on your disk as separate ideas.

A useful starting record

Title

The name of the track. Keep edition notes such as “live” or “instrumental” in a separate field when your project needs them.

Artist credit

The name as printed on the release. Do not discard featured performers just to produce a simpler display label.

Release and position

The album or single title, disc number and track number. A track can appear on more than one release.

Duration

Choose one unit, such as milliseconds, for storage. Format it as minutes and seconds only when presenting it to a reader.

Keep unknown values honest

Use an absent field or an explicit null for information you do not have. A made-up release year is harder to correct than a missing one. Keep the original source text when normalising a difficult credit.

Before importing a collection

1. Try the model on a single-disc album and a compilation.
2. Check how it handles multiple performers.
3. Keep a small record of the transformations you apply.

Next: a worked JSON example →