Custom metadata fields
Custom fields store information beyond the standard tag list: a personal category, a source link, a catalog note, or another text value you want to keep with your music.
Definition, key, and value
These are three different things:
- Display title: the friendly name shown in Audexis, such as
My category. - Metadata key: the name stored in the file, such as
MY_CATEGORY. - Value: the information for one song, such as
Late-night listening.
A saved definition contains the display title, key, and field type. Saving it makes the field reusable; it does not insert the same value into all your songs.
Create a definition
- Open Settings → Custom Fields. The Songs header’s Manage Custom Fields… action opens this section too.
- Choose New Field.
- Enter a display title and metadata key.
- Choose Text or URL.
- Choose Save Fields.
Changing or removing a definition does not rename or delete existing tags. To move values to a new key, edit the actual song fields as well.
Save a value into a song
- Open Get Info → Custom Fields.
- If several songs are selected, choose the song to edit.
- Add a saved field, or create an individual text/URL row.
- Enter its key and value.
- Choose Save Song Values.
You can save a row’s key and type as a reusable definition. Removing a row and saving removes that custom entry from the selected file. Reset discards the pending custom-field draft.
Key rules
Use simple ASCII keys such as SOURCE_URL or MY_CATEGORY. The editor rejects
empty keys, NUL characters, and equals signs in keys. It also restricts the
accepted key character range and rejects duplicate names within the same field
type.
The equals sign separates a name from its value in formats such as Vorbis
comments; it belongs in the value, not the key. For example, the key can be
SOURCE_URL and the value can be https://example.org/track?id=42.
Semicolons and equals signs in values are preserved as text. URL values must be ASCII; percent-encode non-ASCII characters in a URL.
Add a Songs column
Right-click the Songs header and open Custom Text / URL Fields. Choose a saved field or a custom key discovered in your library.
Saved titles are used as column labels. A song needs a matching stored key to display a value; adding the column itself does not write anything. FLAC/Ogg keys are normalized to uppercase for storage lookup. Separate text and URL frames can exist in ID3, while other formats use text storage for both.