# Convert plugin creates MP3 files with multiple duplicate values for Artist and Album Artist

**URL:** <https://discourse.beets.io/t/convert-plugin-creates-mp3-files-with-multiple-duplicate-values-for-artist-and-album-artist/617>\
**Category:** Help\
**Created:** [February 11, 2019, 2:41am UTC](https://discourse.beets.io/t/convert-plugin-creates-mp3-files-with-multiple-duplicate-values-for-artist-and-album-artist/617 "2019-02-11T02:41:35Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 6\
**Page:** 1

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![mattflac](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/da6949/32.png) [@mattflac](https://discourse.beets.io/u/mattflac)\
**Post date:** [February 11, 2019, 2:41am UTC](https://discourse.beets.io/t/convert-plugin-creates-mp3-files-with-multiple-duplicate-values-for-artist-and-album-artist/617/1 "2019-02-11T02:41:35Z")

</div>

I’m using beets via the [linuxserver.io](http://linuxserver.io) Docker image. My library is exclusively FLAC and I’m experimenting with the convert plugin as a replacement for MediaMonkey’s USB Sync feature (transcode mp3s for playback on my car stereo).

I’ve run a few tests and it seems that the Musicbrainz tags for album artist, artist, and disc number are saved to the transcoded file in addition to the standard id3 tag. This results in mp3 files with “Adele; Adele” in the artist field, as an example.

I don’t know if the multiple values will affect the car stereo, but I’d like to understand what’s causing the extra tags to be pushed through.

Any ideas?

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![adrian](https://yyz1.discourse-cdn.com/flex029/user_avatar/discourse.beets.io/adrian/32/4_2.png) [@adrian](https://discourse.beets.io/u/adrian)\
**Post date:** [February 11, 2019, 3:02am UTC](https://discourse.beets.io/t/convert-plugin-creates-mp3-files-with-multiple-duplicate-values-for-artist-and-album-artist/617/2 "2019-02-11T03:02:57Z")

</div>

You might be running into this issue:

> <https://github.com/beetbox/beets/issues/350>

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![adrian](https://yyz1.discourse-cdn.com/flex029/user_avatar/discourse.beets.io/adrian/32/4_2.png) [@adrian](https://discourse.beets.io/u/adrian)\
**Post date:** [February 11, 2019, 3:04am UTC](https://discourse.beets.io/t/convert-plugin-creates-mp3-files-with-multiple-duplicate-values-for-artist-and-album-artist/617/3 "2019-02-11T03:04:53Z")

</div>

Hmm, but maybe not, since you said you’re looking at the MP3s. Can you explain a little bit more about what you mean by “the standard ID3 tag”? Or what you’re using (presumably not beets itself) to see the version of the artist field with a semicolon in it?

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![mattflac](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/da6949/32.png) [@mattflac](https://discourse.beets.io/u/mattflac)\
**Post date:** [February 11, 2019, 3:33am UTC](https://discourse.beets.io/t/convert-plugin-creates-mp3-files-with-multiple-duplicate-values-for-artist-and-album-artist/617/4 "2019-02-11T03:33:09Z")

</div>

Thanks for the quick reply! Here’s some extra detail -

I’m using foobar on Windows 7 to look at the resulting transcoded mp3s. Foobar has some basic tag types, which it displays in the “Properties” palette without any special formatting. The additional tags are surrounded by \<\> and appear below the basic tags.

Here’s a little screenclip of a particular file from Adele’s “21” album.

 ![foobar%20tags](https://canada1.discourse-cdn.com/flex029/uploads/beets/original/1X/cc31fda3b32e15e2424ce4c1128c02a63565b12a.png)

I opened these same files in MP3Tag (another Windows program) and I don’t see the multiple values, so now I’m even more confused. 🤔

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![adrian](https://yyz1.discourse-cdn.com/flex029/user_avatar/discourse.beets.io/adrian/32/4_2.png) [@adrian](https://discourse.beets.io/u/adrian)\
**Post date:** [February 11, 2019, 4:51am UTC](https://discourse.beets.io/t/convert-plugin-creates-mp3-files-with-multiple-duplicate-values-for-artist-and-album-artist/617/5 "2019-02-11T04:51:34Z")

</div>

Huh. It seems like it might be a quirk of this software—and perhaps benign?

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![mattflac](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/da6949/32.png) [@mattflac](https://discourse.beets.io/u/mattflac)\
**Post date:** [February 11, 2019, 9:44pm UTC](https://discourse.beets.io/t/convert-plugin-creates-mp3-files-with-multiple-duplicate-values-for-artist-and-album-artist/617/6 "2019-02-11T21:44:22Z")

</div>

I took a few files out to the car, and they seem to play and display without any trouble.

I’ll do a little more digging out of curiosity, but it seems benign as you suggest.