An easy and scalable way to manage your library’s meta-data is with a .csv file (comma separated text file) containing the data for all your tracks. You can do this using any spreadsheet software like Excel, Google Docs (free) or iWork. The file must contain a header row and beneath it, each track's data in a separate row. Many users do all their track meta-data management on a .csv instead of using the ‘Edit Track’ page as it’s considerably faster, especially when importing multiple tracks at the same time.

A good way to start is first to configure the catalog's meta-data fields (see the Configure dialog [link to D2]), then ‘Add’ a few tracks manually and then Export that file. Open the file to see the format with the fields "populated" with your own track's meta-data. This will give you a good orientation to understand how to add the rest of your catalog's data into your spreadsheet. Be sure to save in .csv format and then use that file to import into your library.

To Export your current track configuration, open the ‘Tracks/Songs’ page and click ‘Import/Export’.

You’ll then be give a choice of exporting to Disk (your desktop) or to Google (Google Docs). If you are logged into your Google account it will appear as a Google sheet. It will contain all data including audio file references. It’s a good idea to make a backup of the sheet you export before any editing is done.

If you’d prefer to go straight ahead without first manually adding tracks you can download the empty License Quote template [link to the LQ Import Template].

This default template contains the following fields:

Artist, Album, Catalog, Track Name (Mandatory), Copyright, Composer, Publisher, Description (Mandatory), Tags, Genre//Subgenre, Type (Mandatory), Source (Mandatory), Rate Card (Mandatory), Master File (Mandatory), Preview File (Mandatory), Visible, Lyrics

Some of these fields have special data requirements as follows:

Tags

Can have multiple entries separated by a comma e.g. “Climactic, Intense, Heroic, Grand”

Genre//Subgenre

Must be in this format – Genre//Subgenre. e.g. “Electronica//Techno” or “Pop//Indie-Folk”

You can have up to 6 Genre/Subgenre sets as defined in Store & Settings > Change Store Filters > Genre/Subgenre Sets. Each set must be separated by a comma. Note that any Genre/Subgenre sets you insert here will automatically be entered in your Genres set up on the ‘Genres’ page (see here [link to B7]).

Type

Must be one of “Unspecified”, “Song/Vocal”, “Instrumental Melody”, “Instrumental Bed”, “Sound Design”, “Bumper/Stinger”, “Loops”, “Beats”, or “Sound Effects” (make sure that the words are written exactly like this or you’ll get an error).

Source

Must be one of “Unspecified”, “Original Composition”, “Cover”, or “Public Domain” (make sure that the words are written exactly like this or you’ll get an error).

Rate Card

Must be one of the cards as defined on the ‘Rate Cards’ page. The rate card is where you define how much a license costs based on usage, term, territory, etc.

Master File / Preview File

If you have uploaded your tracks, this will be just the file name of the file you uploaded. e.g. “SAS_Abbas-Harris_Hazel-Eyes.wav”. Any referenced files must be uploaded before you import.

If your tracks reside on a 3rd party server, you need to put the full URL. e.g. https://s3.amazonaws.com/SaneSongs/SAS_Abbas-Harris_Hazel-Eyes.wav

Linking to files is error prone and not recommended unless you have a large catalog (over 1000 tracks) AND have the files already on your own server (Dropbox, Drive, Live or any other “cloud” services won’t work, it must be real file hosting or a real server).

Visible

This must be set to 1 for the track to be visible in your store.

Lyrics

Separate lines by using a line break. e.g. I am a lineman for the county<br>And I drive the main road<br>Searchin' in the sun for another overload

Custom Metadata

You may also use Custom Fields as defined in Tracks/Songs > Configure.

There are 2 types of custom field:

a) ‘Single Value’ -  A single word, or word combination (sentence). You would use this for an absolute definition that you want to use in a pull-down menu in your store such as tempo. e.g. “Fast”.

b) ‘Multiple Values’ – Multiple words separated by a comma. You use this when you want to assign multiple values to a track, that you want to each appear individually in a pull-down menu in your store. For example featured instrument. A track may have 3 featured instruments: banjo, flute, and slide guitar. Entering “Banjo, Flute, Slide Guitar” into this field would mean that each of these instruments would appear separately in the pull-down menu. It also means that when the user filters by any one of the three, this track will show.

Note that you can hide any field and use it for internal use (like track ID) or for search only.

It’s recommended to do this before you export your first file and add data to it, so it will contain these extra fields already.

Importing your metadata

To import the CSV file (sheet), click on ‘Import/Export’ and select to import from either Disk or Google. You’ll then be presented with a number of options. Read these VERY CAREFULLY before uploading your .csv.

Notes for preparing the data:

• Make sure that data conforms to the requirements of its field.
• Don’t exceed the character count in the custom fields. (See image above e.g. ‘32 chars, single value’)
• When using a quotation mark inside a field ("), you must preface it with a backslash (\).
• Fields that contain special characters like commas (or others characters that produce errors) might need to be enclosed with quotation marks ("data").

If you need help converting your existing data format to the LicenseQuote format, please contact customer support [link to contact form] for assistance.

Step 1:

Make sure to read the upload notes carefully.

In particular:

• "Rate Cards" must exist (be predefined).
• The "Type" and "Source" fields must contain one of the LQ predefined values (see the Add Track page for a list of supported keywords).
• The track/song files you reference in the import data file, in the Master and Preview columns, must be first uploaded (Files/Upload page), before the import process is started (unless you are remotely linking to them using URLs).
• All other fields can contain new data, and it will be automatically defined for you (things like track name, genres, brands and tags will be added on the fly).

Step 2:

Run a test first?

Will check your data before importing. It’s a good idea to do this as a dry run before uploading. If there are any errors it will indicate which line number the error is in so that you can address it. This does not detect all possible problems, but it does detect the most common ones.

When a duplicate track is encountered (tracks are identified by name), do you wish to accept and add a number to its name, replace the existing track's data or to ignore the data from the import file?

A. Ignore: Will NOT import edited data on existing tracks. They will be skipped.

A. Replace: Will import edited data over existing tracks. They will be overridden (select this option for normal use).

Click the ‘Advanced…’ link for more settings:

Preview files are ‘Mandatory’ or ‘Optional’.

The default ‘Mandatory’ is a failsafe to make sure that tracks are not displayed in your store without an associated audio file. Meta-data will not be uploaded for these tracks. (This does not apply to tracks that are remotely linked to 3rd party servers). Click ‘Optional’ to override this if you still want to upload meta-data and attach your files later.

Delete all catalog data before import?

You can choose to delete all the catalog data before importing. Be very careful with this. If you are using a track sort feature like ‘Recently Added’ (so that the most recent uploads appear first) this information will be lost. Also some statistical information like ‘Most Played Tracks’ will be lost.

Values are separated by:

Choose whether your spreadsheet program exported to CSV using Commas or Semicolons as the separator character. Unfortunately there is no one standard for this. The default is to use commas.

Step 3:

Select the file to import and click Upload.

Watch patiently as the file is processed or is errors are displayed.

Do not close this window before it completes.