Album Artist and Compilations

Album artist is the field that holds compilation albums together. Without it, a 20-track Various Artists album would scatter across 20 different artist entries in your library. This guide explains how BitDek handles album artists and compilation detection.

Understanding Album Artist

Two distinct fields describe who made a track:

Artist - The performer of this specific track. On a compilation, each track has a different artist.

Album Artist - The primary artist for the album as a whole. On a compilation, this is typically “Various Artists.” On a regular album, it matches the track artist.

When you browse by artist in BitDek, you’re browsing by album artist. This keeps compilations grouped together instead of fragmented across your library.

The Ideal Case: Album Artist Is Tagged

When your files have the album artist field properly set, BitDek uses it directly:

Album Artist = “The Beatles” → Album appears under The Beatles
Album Artist = “Various Artists” → Album appears under Various Artists
Album Artist = “Original Soundtrack” → Album appears under Original Soundtrack

If your collection has consistent album artist tags, you’re done. BitDek respects what you’ve tagged.

When Album Artist Is Missing

Many files lack an album artist tag. This was especially common in collections built before album artist became a standard field (roughly pre-2005). BitDek handles this through a three-tier detection system.

Tier 1: Compilation Flag

The compilation flag is a yes/no indicator that marks an album as a compilation.

Where it lives:

FLAC: COMPILATION=1 or COMPILATION=true
MP3: TCMP frame (the iTunes compilation flag)
M4A: cpil atom

What BitDek does: If the compilation flag is set and album artist is missing, BitDek assigns “Various Artists” as the album artist.

This is the most reliable detection method. If your tagging software sets the compilation flag, BitDek will handle your compilations correctly.

Tier 2: Directory-Based Detection

What if the compilation flag isn’t set? BitDek looks for evidence of multiple artists within the same album folder.

How it works:

During import, BitDek notes each track’s artist and album
When a new track arrives without an album artist, BitDek queries existing tracks
The query looks for tracks in the same directory with the same album name
If two or more different artists exist, this is likely a compilation

Example:

/Music/Compilations/Summer Hits 2005/
    01 - Artist A - Track 1.mp3
    02 - Artist B - Track 2.mp3
    03 - Artist C - Track 3.mp3

When Track 2 imports, BitDek sees Track 1 already exists with a different artist but the same album. This triggers Various Artists assignment.

Requirement: This detection only works when the album name is known. If your files lack both album artist AND album tags, folder-based detection may not trigger.

Tier 3: Conservative Fallback

When Tier 1 and Tier 2 don’t apply (no compilation flag, no detected multi-artist situation), BitDek uses the track artist as the album artist.

This is the safe default. A solo album by a single artist should have album artist = track artist anyway.

Import Order Matters

Directory-based detection (Tier 2) compares incoming tracks against already-imported tracks. This means:

First track of a compilation: May import under the track artist initially Second+ tracks: Trigger detection, causing “Various Artists” assignment

BitDek includes a retroactive fix for this edge case. When the second track triggers Various Artists detection, the first track’s album assignment is corrected automatically.

You don’t need to worry about import order. BitDek handles the cleanup.

Best Practices for Your Collection

If You’re Tagging Fresh

Set the album artist field explicitly. Don’t rely on detection.

Regular albums: Album Artist = Track Artist
Compilations: Album Artist = “Various Artists”
Soundtracks: Album Artist = “Original Soundtrack” or the film title

Also set the compilation flag on actual compilations. Belt and suspenders.

If You Have an Existing Collection

Three options:

Option 1: Fix the tags Use a tagging tool to add album artist fields. MusicBrainz Picard does this automatically when it identifies albums.

Option 2: Set compilation flags Faster than adding album artist to every track. Just mark compilation albums as compilations.

Option 3: Trust the detection Import your files and let BitDek detect compilations. Check the results. Fix any misidentified albums by editing their tags.

Checking Your Results

After importing, look for these symptoms of album artist problems:

Album split across multiple entries - Different album artist values on same album
Compilation tracks scattered by artist - Missing album artist and failed detection
Single-artist album marked Various Artists - Incorrectly set compilation flag

The fix is always the same: correct the album artist tag in the source file.

Special Cases

Split Artists (feat. / with)

A track credited to “Artist A feat. Artist B” is still by Artist A for album artist purposes. BitDek doesn’t split featured artist credits.

If you want featured artists searchable, your tagging tool may support storing them in a separate field.

Self-Titled Albums

An album titled “The Beatles” by The Beatles isn’t a problem. Artist matching is separate from album title matching.

Multi-Disc Compilations

Works the same as single-disc. All discs share the same album artist. BitDek groups them by album title and disc number.

Classical Compilations

A compilation of different composers’ works might use “Various Composers” or the performer’s name as album artist, depending on how the album is marketed.

BitDek doesn’t have special handling for classical compilations. The three-tier detection applies normally.

Technical Details

Detection Query

Tier 2 detection uses a SwiftData predicate that matches:

Tracks in the same directory (by import path)
Tracks with the same album title
Excludes the current track

If the resulting set contains two or more unique artist names, Various Artists is assigned.

Retroactive Fix Scope

When a compilation is detected, BitDek looks for orphaned albums: albums with the same title but a different album artist (the first track’s artist). These tracks are moved to the Various Artists album, and the orphaned album entry is deleted.

This only affects albums created in the current import session. It won’t modify albums from previous imports.

Format-Specific Notes

FLAC: Album artist can be stored as ALBUMARTIST or ALBUM ARTIST. BitDek checks both.

MP3: The TPE2 frame is technically “Band/Orchestra/Accompaniment” but is universally used for album artist.

M4A: The aART atom is the standard album artist location.