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Music indexing

To get your music into Cardinal Music, you need to index it with Cardinal Home Server.

Supported file types​

  • mp3
  • flac
  • opus
  • m4a*
  • wav*
  • aac*

* Playback only available in some browsers and systems.

Metadata priority​

Metadata that is embedded in the music file will take priority over the metadata that is derived from the folder structure, except for these items:

  • Album art - If an album art image is present in the same folder as the track then it will be prioritized over the album art that is embedded in the file. See the album art job docs for more info.

Folder structure​

Use this folder structure to help your Home Server figure out metadata.

/music                        🠘 Cardinal Home Server's music library root
  /[...]                      🠘 Other folders, any depth, optional
    /Artist name
      /Release name           🠘 Can contain year¹
        /CD 1                 🠘 Optional disc folder²
          track.mp3           🠘 Can contain track number³
          cover.jpg           🠘 Optional cover art⁴

¹ Release folder structure​

The release name can be prefixed with the year. The year can optionally be surrounded by square brackets or parentheses. There must be a space or a dash after the year.

Valid release names:

  • ✅ Stranger Heads Prevail
  • ✅ 2016 Stranger Heads Prevail
  • ✅ 2016 - Stranger Heads Prevail
  • ✅ 2016-Stranger Heads Prevail
  • ✅ (2016) Stranger Heads Prevail
  • ✅ [2016] Stranger Heads Prevail

Invalid release names:

  • ❌ [2016]Stranger Heads Prevail

² Disc folder structure​

Releases can optionally be divided into disc folders. Valid names are Disc and CD (case insensitive), with an optional space or dash, and any number afterwards.

Valid disc folder names:

  • ✅ Disc 1
  • ✅ Disc-1
  • ✅ Disc1
  • ✅ CD 1
  • ✅ CD-1
  • ✅ CD1

Invalid disc folder names:

  • ❌ 1

³ Track file structure​

The track name can be prefixed with the track number. The number can optionally be surrounded by square brackets or parentheses. There must be a space or a dash after the year.

Valid track names:

  • ✅ Psychopomp.mp3
  • ✅ 09 Psychopomp.mp3
  • ✅ 9 Psychopomp.mp3
  • ✅ 09 - Psychopomp.mp3
  • ✅ 09-Psychopomp.mp3
  • ✅ (09) Psychopomp.mp3
  • ✅ [9] Psychopomp.mp3

Invalid track names:

  • ❌ (09)Psychopomp.mp3

⁴ Cover art structure​

Add an image named cover.jpg or folder.jpg next to your music file to use it as the album art for that song.

See the album art job for more information.