Music Tracks
Authored by Claude · Last updated AI generated documentation written by reading the source codeA track is an individual audio file that has been indexed by Cardinal Media Server. Each track belongs to a release (album, EP, single, etc.) and is associated with one or more artists. Tracks are the atomic unit of your music library — everything else in Cardinal Music is built around them.
Track metadata
Every track carries a set of metadata fields that describe it:
| Field | Description |
|---|---|
| Title | The track's name |
| Track number | Position on the release |
| Disc number | Disc number for multi-disc releases |
| Duration | Length in seconds |
| Bitrate | Audio bitrate in kbps |
| Codec | Audio codec (e.g. MP3, FLAC, AAC) |
| Sample rate | Sample rate in Hz (e.g. 44100) |
| Channels | Mono (1) or stereo (2) |
| Artist(s) | One or more performing artists |
| Release | The album, EP, or single this track belongs to |
Metadata sources
Cardinal Media Server populates track metadata from three sources, in descending priority:
- Embedded tags — ID3, Vorbis comments, and equivalent tag formats read directly from the audio file. This is the highest-priority source for all fields except album art.
- Folder structure — Artist name, release name, release year, track number, and disc number are inferred from the directory and filename when embedded tags are absent or incomplete. See Music indexing for the exact folder conventions.
- Filesystem stats — File creation and modification timestamps are stored and used internally.
Album art is the one exception to the priority order: a cover.jpg or folder.jpg image file placed next to the audio file takes priority over artwork embedded in the file's tags. See the album art job for details.
Browsing tracks
The Tracks page in Cardinal Music lists every track in your library in a virtual scrolling list. Each row displays:
- Track number (when available)
- Title
- Release title (links to the release)
- Primary artist name (links to the artist)
- Release artwork thumbnail
- Duration
- Play count
- Your rating
Sorting and filtering
Use the toolbar at the top of the Tracks page to control how tracks are ordered.
Sort by:
| Option | Description |
|---|---|
| Title | Alphabetical by track title |
| Track number | Position on the release |
| Date added | When the track was indexed |
| Duration | Shortest to longest (or reverse) |
| Bitrate | Lowest to highest (or reverse) |
| Play count | Most to least played |
| Rating | Highest to lowest rated |
All sort options support ascending and descending order.
Library filter: If you have multiple libraries configured, the library switcher in the toolbar limits the track list to files belonging to the selected library. See Libraries for more information.
Required capabilities
Browsing tracks requires the MusicTracks.Read capability. Users without this capability will not see the Tracks page or any track data.
See Role-Based Access Control for information on assigning capabilities to roles and roles to users.
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