Individual track album art work on Google Play Music

[Michael D Mc]

Hi all,

This is an issue that annoys me with the Google Play Music app (also in the Music app on my GS4 mini).

For example, say I have a miscellaneous list of tracks of the same genre so using mp3tag on my PC I give this collection the album tite "Pop MP3 Collection". I have used mp3tag to give each track in the last its correct individual art work, e.g. the art that single was released with. Each track has its own different art embedded into its tag but because they are all in the same "album" Google Play Music will pick one art and assign it to all tracks in that album (fine for a compilation album). This annoys me a lot. iTunes on my PC doesn't render like this and picks up the individual artwork correctly, as does VLC and WMP. Samsung stock music player has the same annoying issue as Google Play Music.

Trying a few apps on my phone Poweramp is an example of one that does work correctly picking individual tracks artwork. All files are correctly tagged so I know its the way the Google Play Music app sees it just. I think this is a bad design flaw and its the same problem when uploading tracks via Music Manager. Apple have had this correct with iTunes for a long time.

Some might say I am been fussy but it just annoys me they can't do it right. Correct art on screen when listening is important to me.
I'd like to use Play Music but my question is anyone aware of way to fix this? Or does anyone understand what I am saying?

Cheers

 

[DanPLC]

The Google Play Music app, as well as the Samsung stock music player, are probably using the album art provided by the Android media database, which is assigned per album. A music app needs to be specifically coded to pull the embedded album art from the file to accomplish what you're looking for. In the app I developed, Music Player (Remix), I provide an option on the Preferences screen to either pull the album art from the album or from the individual file (see screenshot below). By default it's set to "album-sourced" because when "file-sourced" it does slow things down a little bit when browsing through lists (Songs, Albums, etc.) since it has to read the images directly from each file.

But to answer your question, unless Google changes their app to provide this option, you're out of luck in regards to their app.

 

[Michael D Mc]

Thanks for your reply. I figured there may not be a way round it. So would I be correct in saying that iTunes picks from individual file art work then? Certainly with poweramp I haven't experienced any significant lag flicking through tracks. I don't know I just think it's a little poor from a design point of view but maybe not something that bothers enough people to warrant them to change it.

Posted via Android Central App

 

[Michael D Mc]

Also must check out your app.

Posted via Android Central App

 

[DanPLC]

Thanks for your reply. I figured there may not be a way round it. So would I be correct in saying that iTunes picks from individual file art work then? Certainly with poweramp I haven't experienced any significant lag flicking through tracks. I don't know I just think it's a little poor from a design point of view but maybe not something that bothers enough people to warrant them to change it.

Posted via Android Central App

On newer devices, the speed difference would probably be negligible. But I still mention it since on slower devices it would be a tad bit slower when scrolling (while in thumbnail mode only of course).

I'm not sure I would consider Google Play Music's choice "poor design". It's just another mentality. Some people want to display the actual album's artwork, while others may want to display the individual track's artwork. I prefer the album's artwork to be displayed, but I provide the option for those like yourself who prefer it the other way.

 

[Michael D Mc]

On newer devices, the speed difference would probably be negligible. But I still mention it since on slower devices it would be a tad bit slower when scrolling (while in thumbnail mode only of course).

I'm not sure I would consider Google Play Music's choice "poor design". It's just another mentality. Some people want to display the actual album's artwork, while others may want to display the individual track's artwork. I prefer the album's artwork to be displayed, but I provide the option for those like yourself who prefer it the other way.

Ok thanks for your help. I tried a different approach to achieve what I want but also to no avail. I removed the album tag info and the album artist tag info but unfortunately Google Play Music will now see the folder they are within as the album and again assign one cover. I guess there is no easy way, if any to achieve what I would like the app to do,

 

[wolfer2626]

I am so far behind with technology. I have a samsung s4 with lots of mp3's loaded. I have no idea how or what app I can use or how to use it to grab cover art for each song. Idea's???