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till burkert · 30-10-2026, 07:52

Is there any way one can configure MinimServer, maybe using tag options or tag value customisation, to treat "and" and "&" the same when sorting?

For example, most Nick Cave albums are by "Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds" whereas others use "Nick Cave And The Bad Seeds". It would be great to have some listed under the same Artist. Of course, that would also require defining whether all album should appear under "... and ..." or "... & ...".

No big issue, just nice to not mess with the meta data unless necessary.

simbun · 31-10-2026, 17:06

If you're a foobar2000 user, you can use the foo_sqlite component to create a tagUpdate script that standardises the names in MinimServer without having to modify the files.

I've attached the code because it can't be included in a post.

Code:

@ARTISTS=Adam and the Ants

=ARTISTS=Adam & the Ants

@ARTISTS=Brian and Tony Gold

=ARTISTS=Brian & Tony Gold

@ARTISTS=Catfish and the Bottlemen

=ARTISTS=Catfish & the Bottlemen

@ARTISTS=Delaney and Bonnie

=ARTISTS=Delaney & Bonnie

@ARTISTS=Doctor and the Medics

=ARTISTS=Doctor & the Medics

@ARTISTS=Hue and Cry

=ARTISTS=Hue & Cry

@ARTISTS=Huey Lewis and the News

=ARTISTS=Huey Lewis & the News

@ARTISTS=Marina and the Diamonds

=ARTISTS=Marina & the Diamonds

@ARTISTS=Of Monsters and Men

=ARTISTS=Of Monsters & Men

@ARTISTS=Reverend and The Makers

=ARTISTS=Reverend & The Makers

@ARTISTS=Wendy and Lisa

=ARTISTS=Wendy & Lisa

@ARTISTS=Womack and Womack

=ARTISTS=Womack & Womack

till burkert · 31-10-2026, 20:39

(31-10-2026 17:06)simbun Wrote: If you're a foobar2000 user, you can use the foo_sqlite component to create a tagUpdate script that standardises the names in MinimServer without having to modify the files.

Thanks for the tip! Not sure I'm skilled enough to get that working though. I'm using a QNAP NAS (with QTS as OS) and a Cambridge Audio music streamer, and I haven't been able to locate a QTS version of foobar.

Klaus57

I’m not sure if I fully understand your request, but check whether the "tagUpdate" property might be useful.
You can find it under <Properties/advanced>;
see the screenshot.

Kind regards,
Klaus

till burkert

(Yesterday 09:44)Klaus57 Wrote: I’m not sure if I fully understand your request, but check whether the "tagUpdate" property might be useful.

What I want to achieve is that an album with Artist tag "Sam And Dave" is sorted under the same artist as an album with Artist tag "Same & Dave".
I have looked through all the sections on tag values but haven't been able to configure something which works. Basically a configuration saying: in Artist tag values, treat "and" as "&", or vice versa.

simbun

(Yesterday 12:13)till burkert Wrote: I have looked through all the sections on tag values but haven't been able to configure something which works. Basically a configuration saying: in Artist tag values, treat "and" as "&", or vice versa.

I don't believe that functionality exists.

Building the required tagUpdate script without foobar2000 can be done, but it'll be a more complicated process.

Here's a script containing your two examples if you wanted to try it:

Code:

@ARTIST=Sam And Dave

=ARTIST=Sam & Dave

@ARTIST=Nick Cave And The Bad Seeds

=ARTIST=Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds

@ALBUMARTIST=Sam And Dave

=ALBUMARTIST=Sam & Dave

@ALBUMARTIST=Nick Cave And The Bad Seeds

=ALBUMARTIST=Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds

This isn't directly related to your question, and does require re-tagging, but MinimServer's .displayFormat={} functionality allows you to present a single, canonical name for each artist in indexes and search, whilst displaying the credited name in album and track listings. I use this approach and MusicBrainz Picard makes it easy.

My tagging setup:

Code:

ALBUM              = From Her to Eternity

ALBUMARTIST        = Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds

ALBUMARTISTDISPLAY = Nick Cave featuring the Bad Seeds

ALBUM              = The Firstborn Is Dead

ALBUMARTIST        = Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds

ALBUMARTISTDISPLAY = Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds

ALBUM              = Kicking Against the Pricks

ALBUMARTIST        = Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds

ALBUMARTISTDISPLAY = Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds

The ALBUMARTIST tag contains the standardized name and ALBUMARTISTDISPLAY the credited.

MinimServer configuration:

Code:

tagFormat: Albumartist.displayformat={$albumartistdisplay}

Hanu

(31-10-2026 20:39)till burkert Wrote: Thanks for the tip! Not sure I'm skilled enough to get that working though. I'm using a QNAP NAS (with QTS as OS) and a Cambridge Audio music streamer, and I haven't been able to locate a QTS version of foobar.

Foobar2000 runs on windows

till burkert

Quote:This isn't directly related to your question, and does require re-tagging, but MinimServer's .displayFormat={} functionality allows you to present a single, canonical name for each artist in indexes and search, whilst displaying the credited name in album and track listings. I use this approach and MusicBrainz Picard makes it easy.

My tagging setup:

Code:

ALBUM = From Her to Eternity ALBUMARTIST = Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds ALBUMARTISTDISPLAY = Nick Cave featuring the Bad Seeds ALBUM = The Firstborn Is Dead ALBUMARTIST = Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds ALBUMARTISTDISPLAY = Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds ALBUM = Kicking Against the Pricks ALBUMARTIST = Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds ALBUMARTISTDISPLAY = Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds

The ALBUMARTIST tag contains the standardized name and ALBUMARTISTDISPLAY the credited.

MinimServer configuration:

Code:

tagFormat: Albumartist.displayformat={$albumartistdisplay}

Thanks, maybe that's the easiest way to accomplish what I want.

What I did before I saw your post was adding ARTISTSORT tags "Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds" to albums credited to "Nick Cave And The Bad Seeds", together with the following configuration:

indexTags: Artist, *RecentAdded, *RecentPlayed, #AudioData, #AudioFormat
itemTags: ArtistSort
tagValue: Artist.value.sort={ArtistSort}

I rescanned my library, but I still have two separate artists, "Nick Cave & ..." and "Nick Cave And ...".

Can you spot what I did wrong?

simbun

(Yesterday 20:05)till burkert Wrote: tagValue: Artist.value.sort={ArtistSort}

To change the index value as well as the index sort I think you need:

Code:

tagValue: Artist.value.sort.index={ArtistSort}

But I don't know if that'll merge index items.

till burkert

(Yesterday 21:33)simbun Wrote: To change the index value as well as the index sort I think you need:

Code:

tagValue: Artist.value.sort.index={ArtistSort}

But I don't know if that'll merge index items.

It does! Thank you, that did the trick. Now all albums appear under "Nick Cave & ...".

Not sure I misread the User Guide? Under the heading "Custom Artist index sorting" it says:

Set the tagValue property to:
Artist.value.sort={ArtistSort}, ...