merging folders in the file manager

djyoung4 · 2012-06-05 07:06:01

I am trying to merge folders in my music collection with the same folder name. All of my music is in the hierarchy of Artist>Album>song.mp3. Whenever I try and add a folder with an already existing similar folder into my music library I get this

Is there a possible way to add a merge option. All of my google searches have turned up nothing. I have no problem using the terminal or any other application. any help is greatly appreciated

tomk · 2012-06-05 07:17:42

cp /some_path/same_folder_name/*.mp3 /some_other_path/same_folder_name

djyoung4 · 2012-06-05 07:23:07

tomk wrote:

cp /some_path/same_folder_name/*.mp3 /some_other_path/same_folder_name

So it would be

cp /home/djyoung4/Desktop/Artist/Album/*.mp3 (Where I download my new music to and put it in the correct hierarchy) /home/djyoung4/Music/Artist

correct?

tomk · 2012-06-05 07:26:47

I thought you said you wanted to merge identically-named directories?

djyoung4 · 2012-06-05 07:33:48

my fault. should have explained better. When I download my music I put it on my desktop and then use tagging software to update the correct info then use easy tag to put it in the hierarchy of Artist/Album/songs.mp3. Then I move that to my main music collection but without the merge option it is tedious work if I already have a folder with that particular artist.

tomk · 2012-06-05 07:41:59

So you're downloading/tagging/renaming albums that you already have?

djyoung4 · 2012-06-05 07:54:51

no different songs on different albums by the same artist. so say I have artist1. I download one of his songs to my desktop. then I use puddletag to change all the tag information of the multiple songs that I have recently downloaded. Then I use easytag to put it in the /desktop/artist1/album/songs.mp3. after that I move all of those folders which are usually multiple different artists to my main music folder. If I dont have any music from the artist already then it is no problem but if I already have artist1 for example then it asks if I want to cancel, skip, or overwrite but I would like to merge those two folders. Hopefully that is explained in someway that is understandable

tomk · 2012-06-05 08:01:29

Still not clear. "different songs on different albums by the same artist" translates to artist1/album1/track.mp3, artist1/album2/track.mp3, etc. So all you need to do is copy the album1, album2, etc directories to the destination artist1 directory.

djyoung4 · 2012-06-05 08:03:29

yeah but its tedious work because I have thousands of artists and was just wondering if there was an easier way that anyone might know of. and sometimes some music is from the same album so artist1/album1/track1.mp3 in my music folder and try and add artist1/album1/track2.mp3 so both folders have to be merged.

Last edited by djyoung4 (2012-06-05 08:05:15)

tomk · 2012-06-05 08:18:39

Sounds like you need some dedicated music manager/organiser app then. I believe there are various alternatives, although I don't use such things myself.

djyoung4 · 2012-06-05 08:21:18

Probably a good idea. thank you for all the help though anyway

finswimmer · 2012-06-05 09:03:59

Why didn't you just choose "Apply this option to all existing files" and click on overwrite? Normally the folder will be merged than. (Maybe you should test it before )

fin swimmer

ANOKNUSA · 2012-06-05 13:53:34

Correct me if I'm wrong: You label a single directory with an artist's name, then just dump every song by that artist into that directory? Why not organize according to album, instead of having one directory with 80 files that all have 150-character names?

Terminator · 2012-06-05 14:43:41

ANOKNUSA wrote:

Correct me if I'm wrong: You label a single directory with an artist's name, then just dump every song by that artist into that directory? Why not organize according to album, instead of having one directory with 80 files that all have 150-character names?

djyoung4 wrote:

All of my music is in the hierarchy of Artist>Album>song.mp3.

:-/

@djyoung: Why don't you just make your tagging software put the songs in the correct place?

ANOKNUSA · 2012-06-05 15:45:34

Yup, I read that wrong. I was under the impression that the OP named the files with "Artist - Album - Title," rather than using a tagging program to move files around for some reason. Anyway, here's what I do:

1) New downloads go to ~/audio/new/, and rename folder for album to ~/audio/new/<release year> - <album title>

2) Use easytag to update tags, then use "scanner" option to rename all files "<track number> - Title.mp3"

3) Move "<release year> - <album title>" folder to ~/audio/music/<artist>

Your method is going to be tedious no matter what you do, since you're deliberately creating new, temporary folders with the same name as the destination with the intention of getting rid of them minutes later. What you're looking for is just going to be another step in an already convoluted process. If you're downloading individual tracks rather than full albums, then just download them to the end destination and then fix the tags. There's really no sense in creating multiple folders just to destroy them, or in having two tagging programs, and it might be better to use a file manager to move your files around rather than easytag.

Arch Linux

#1 2012-06-05 07:06:01

merging folders in the file manager

#2 2012-06-05 07:17:42

Re: merging folders in the file manager

#3 2012-06-05 07:23:07

Re: merging folders in the file manager

#4 2012-06-05 07:26:47

Re: merging folders in the file manager

#5 2012-06-05 07:33:48

Re: merging folders in the file manager

#6 2012-06-05 07:41:59

Re: merging folders in the file manager

#7 2012-06-05 07:54:51

Re: merging folders in the file manager

#8 2012-06-05 08:01:29

Re: merging folders in the file manager

#9 2012-06-05 08:03:29

Re: merging folders in the file manager

#10 2012-06-05 08:18:39

Re: merging folders in the file manager

#11 2012-06-05 08:21:18

Re: merging folders in the file manager

#12 2012-06-05 09:03:59

Re: merging folders in the file manager

#13 2012-06-05 13:53:34

Re: merging folders in the file manager

#14 2012-06-05 14:43:41

Re: merging folders in the file manager

#15 2012-06-05 15:45:34

Re: merging folders in the file manager

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