Artist Versus Album Artist

[Phillip Dyson]

Can anyone tell me the difference between the Artist and Album Artist tags? I know that one of them is the overall artist, and the other is more specific to a song. And most cases they have the same value. But I haven't been able to determine the difference in how software uses them for sorting.

[Darius Wey]

Can anyone tell me the difference between the Artist and Album Artist tags? I know that one of them is the overall artist, and the other is more specific to a song. And most cases they have the same value.

"Album Artist" is the overall artist, while "Artist" is specific to a song. In most cases, they have the same value. Compilations and albums where the artist collaborates with one or more artists are good examples of where they won't always have the same value.

But I haven't been able to determine the difference in how software uses them for sorting.

Most software and supporting media players will use "Album Artist" for sorting in album view.