Releases and metadata
Most music apps model “an album”: one title, one cover, one track list. Real collections don’t work that way. You might own the original CD, the remaster, and a vinyl pressing of the same record, and they differ in track lists, timings, artwork, and credits. bae models releases: each import is a specific pressing, and pressings of the same album are grouped together.
Albums group releases
Section titled “Albums group releases”In the library, an album with several pressings is one entry. The album page shows a release picker; each release keeps its own track list, cover, year, label, catalog number, and credits. One release is the primary: the one the album grid and playback default to. Set any release as primary from the album menu, and pick a different release for listening at any time; bae remembers your choice per album.
What a release knows
Section titled “What a release knows”Identified releases carry the databases’ knowledge, not just track names:
- Pressing details: label, catalog number, barcode, country, format, year.
- Credits: performers, producers, engineers, per release and per track.
- Classical structure: composers, works, and their parts, linked to the recordings of them. The library’s composer view is built from this; see Browsing and search.
- Identity: which MusicBrainz or Discogs entry this is, and whether the match is exact or approximate.
The raw source records are kept too, so the release can be re-interpreted later without asking the databases again.
Editing
Section titled “Editing”Metadata is yours to correct. Edit metadata on any release opens the same form the import confirmation uses: album title and artist, pressing details, and every track’s title, artist, and numbering. Reset to source returns to what the database said.
Edits live in bae’s database only. Your files’ embedded tags are never rewritten; the files stay byte-for-byte as imported.
Re-identify
Section titled “Re-identify”If a release was imported as unknown, matched to the wrong pressing, or the database has since improved, Re-identify runs the identification flow again on the existing release: same signals, same search tools. After the new match commits, bae asks whether to refresh the metadata from the new source (overwriting your edits) or keep what you have.
Covers
Section titled “Covers”Every release has one display cover. Change cover offers the databases’ artwork and the image files that came with the release. bae keeps its own copy of the chosen cover, sized for display, so the original scan in your folder stays untouched. Tap a cover anywhere to open the full gallery of a release’s images.
Deleting
Section titled “Deleting”Deleting a release removes it from the library and, for managed releases, from your cloud home. Files that were imported in place, unmanaged, are never deleted: bae only forgets about them.