Using Beets to Manage Huge Music Libraries: Best Practices and Suggestions

Show and Tell
1

Hello Everyone :hugs:,

I recently started organising my huge music collection, and I have to say that Beets has changed the game in terms of usefulness and efficiency. But keeping a sizable collection brings its own set of difficulties, so I’m hoping to learn some tips and tricks from other users who have managed sizable music libraries.

Here are some particular places where I could benefit from guidance:

First Configuration and Importing:

  • How should a library containing over 100,000 tracks be put up in Beets? :thinking:
  • What specific plugins or configurations are required to manage big imports without overloading the system? :thinking:

Accuracy of Metadata:

  • How can the accuracy of information be ensured, particularly for uncommon or obscure tracks? :thinking:
  • Do you suggest connecting any databases or third-party sources with Beets to improve metadata fetching? :thinking:

File Structure:

  • Which naming conventions and folder structures are most effective for a huge library? :thinking:
  • What is your approach to different editions of the same album, compilations, and albums by different artists? :thinking:

Optimising Performance:

  • Are there any tricks for maintaining a huge database while using Beets efficiently? :thinking:
  • How do you handle and debug performance problems while doing large-scale tasks like renaming or mass retagging? :thinking:

Maintenance and Backup:

  • Which techniques do you employ for backing up your Beets settings and library? :thinking:
  • What are the essential steps to guarantee the long-term health of the library, and how frequently do you carry out maintenance tasks? :thinking:

I also checked this :point_right: https://discourse.beets.io/t/importing-large-music-library/power-apps

I’d be interested in learning about your encounters, any difficulties you’ve had, and the fixes that work for you. Furthermore, do share any tools, guidelines, or resources that you’ve found really useful!

Thank you :pray: in advance.

2

This is absolutely a matter of personal preference. That’s kinda the point of beets.

Personally, I import albums one at a time, as I want to listen to them. This has the added benefit of allowing me to see how much of my music collection I actually find myself listening to.

I also do a deep dive on each album, figuring out exactly which release I have, and finding that specific release on musicbrainz or discogs and adding it if it isn’t there.

My directory structure is a simple artist/album setup but my naming for albums is based on how I want things to naturally sort when I browse the filesystem.

original year, album name, disambiguations, album type, format, label, release year.

backing up is simply making a copy of the DB file (and, of course, the music itself)

I don’t do anything en-masse. The joy of having a large library is to browse through it and get to know it.