Hello, I recently added sort tags to some songs and started to see a related issue. I think it is better to reply here first, before opening a github issue.

** Description**
In playlist view, when I sort songs by artist, I think it uses artist sort tag first, then if it is not set, it uses artist tag. It is the same for album artist and album artist sort. I think it is the same for all other normal/sort tag.
For example, on the screenshot, you can see that Pedro Capo, Pyotr Tchaikovsky and Kenji Yamamoto or sorted according to their artistsort tag (lastname) whereas the playlist view is sorted by artist tag (firstname).

Additional context

Version 1.2.16 (2025.12.16): * Added option to turn off the use of sort tags for the collection

This option added in 1.2.16 (related to issue #1858) works in the collection view. I do not use the checkbox "use sort tags for sorting when available", as you can see on the screenshot in the collection view and in settings panel, but it may be useful!

Expected behavior
I would expect that sorting by artist only uses artist tag (the same for other sort tags), like it was before the addition of sort tags. There are sort tag columns now if I want to use sort tags.
By the way, the current option "use sort tags for sorting when available" should clearly state 'in collection view". If you think the same behavior should apply in playlist view to normal tag (artist, album...) then another checkbox could also be used for turning it on/off. However, IMHO it should not apply in playlist view since there are sort tags columns now.

Screenshot
Copie d'écran_20260125_101030.png
I use French locale but the only relevant options are the sort-related ones and there are not translated yet. So, it should not be a problem for anyone if one wants to check my options.

System Information

I have noticed this behavior in 1.2.16 and in 1.2.17. But, it might have started some months ago when sort tags have been added to strawberry, that is great by the way! Manjaro.

Is it a bug? Is it a feature? Is it a known issue and planned to change? I have not seen any issue or PR talking about it recently, only this forum topic. I took a really quick look at the playlist code but I have seen nothing. I think it is related to playlist, compare and order, but I do not know the initialization chain.

playlist.cpp:1540 std::stable_sort(begin, new_items.end(), std::bind(&Playlist::CompareItems, column, order, std::placeholders::_1, std::placeholders::_2));

@jonas
I have justed tested recent V7.0 with Win 10. It still takes longeer than 6.0.9 to update DB but all tracks are now present and it now works fine. It seems a bit less responsive than V.609 when selecting pieces and tracks but this is not a real problem. I tried with OpenSuse Leap 15.2 but cannot get it to install with Discover (repo not available) or Yast. Zypper installs it but the previous (V.0.13) version which has the original problem of cutting tracks. Perhaps it is because I have mainly FLACs which average about eight tracks, so the total is very large.

@Ton I moved the messages here.

try https://www.theaudiodb.com/

If you have issues with the scan never finishing you can start strawberry from the terminal to get an idea where it's stuck. Similar problem reported on GitHub turned out to be a permission issue: https://github.com/strawberrymusicplayer/strawberry/issues/583

If you are on Linux or macOS can simply open a terminal window, then start strawberry by simply typing strawberry on Linux. On macOS you can type: /Applications/strawberry.app/Contents/MacOS/strawberry
On Windows you have to use the debug version to see the output.

@jonas

@jonas said in remove duplicates - overzealous:

You can attach them here or send them to me on e-mail. I think my e-mail is listed on the profile (and in the about of Strawberry).

Thanks Jonas.
I can't upload them here - not enough rights apparently.
As workaround I looked up your address via your Github site and sent a private message from my gmail account (subject "strawberry").

@kuroo try this one https://softorino.com/waltr/other/how-put-music-ipod-classic/

@jonas ah. okee doke. Thanks!!

It wasn't displayed correctly in my previous message: the two artists are separated, in the tag, by a double backlash (not a single backlash).

@orinovet Thanks for the suggestion. A bind mount does seem to be a good simple workaround for the problem!

@martino

Hello jonas.

Back to the problems!

Started Strawberry just now and my 'A' collection is now back down to 15 entries and my artists who are numbers (ie 10cc, 10000 Maniacs etc) have disappeared all together.

I've checked again the tags on some of the missing artists and searched Strawberry but they aren't being found at all.

Annoyingly they were all there last night!

Not sure where I go from here.

Regards,

Martin

@rnd
Version 1.0.2 is released which should hopefully fix the bug.

@golfprofred Glad, I could help.

@failafail
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Draft:Strawberry_(Software) suggests that Clementine collects data, that's wrong.

@Cooker_8872
The settings were removed in 1.0.12. So you would have to downgrade to 1.0.11.

But maybe the workaround using qt6ct works for you too.

@jonas I understand that moving a song within the same music collection directory means renaming it and/or moving it between several possible subfolders of the main folder. It's right ?

A debug package will be needed to produce a useful backtrace. (Regular Arch packages have the symbols stripped out).

https://geo.mirror.pkgbuild.com/extra-debug/os/x86_64/strawberry-debug-1.0.22-2-x86_64.pkg.tar.zst

I would also love to see this feature. I was using Strawberry (and Clementine before that) years ago, and just recently discovered that it has subsonic support. However, the ability to stream via UPnP to my stereo would complete the experience. Currently there's only one subsonic client on Linux that can do that, and it doesn't always work very well.

For an "every thing but the kitchen sink..... well alright, the kitchen sink too" type app like Strawberry, it seems odd for this to be missing. (likely because UPnP is an absolute mess of a protocol, so understandable.... but you can do it... I believe in you)

Thanks!

@scubaboyc said in MP3 Player suggestion?:

Good Evening,
I'm thinking of purchasing the below MP3 player.
It's Android based and I was wondering if anyone has had any experience with it.
What I wanted to know was if I'm running Linux Mint 21.2 Cinnamon, will my computer be able to see it and will I be able to generate playlists and add them to it via Strawberry?
If not, does anyone have any suggestion?
Thanks,

Hello! Compatibility with Linux Mint 21.2 Cinnamon for the Android MP3 player may vary. Check the device specifications and seek community advice. Ensure Strawberry supports file transfer to the player.

@jonas Not on the list. I disabled pulse so not sure if that's a problem.