Most audio files, from MP3s to tracks on a Compact Disc, contain textual metadata. This metadata contains information such as song title, album name and the compression rate. I say most because some songs that were ripped by an amateur may not contain this information. If you downloaded the song free over the Internet using Kazaa or the alike, it may not contain this important metadata. On the other hand, if you downloaded the song from a service such as the iTunes Music Store then youre guaranteed this metadata.

Metadata is not a necessity to play your MP3 collection but its a nice addition to have. Music players will read this metadata and display it (artist name, album, genre, etc.) when the song is played, rather than just displaying track number or file name. If you have MP3s that are missing metadata, you can easily add this information using a tag editor. A lot of PC music players come with such an editor but there are other alternatives out there.

If you rip your own MP3s from compact discs, or youre simply interested in cleaning up your MP3 music collection, then you have several choices in obtaining accurate metadata for your audio files. CDDB (which stands for Compact Disc Database) is a database for software applications to look up CD (compact disc) information over the Internet. There are also great sites, such as www.freedb.org and http://musicbrainz.org, that make this a snap. I personally use MusicBrainz and I love it.

If youre a MusicMatch Jukebox fan, you can not only add metadata to your MP3s but you also can add album covers and even song lyrics. There are now Web sites dedicated to album cover images, such as http://www.slothradio.com/covers/ and http://www.cdcovers.cc/. As for song lyrics, there are hundreds, if not thousands of sites offering song lyrics simply Google it.

If youre interested in an all-in-one package, including a player, tag editor and converter, check out MediaMonkey at http://www.mediamonkey.com. The free version comes fully loaded and ready to get your music collection in order.

In conclusion, be sure to include this metadata when converting your MP3s in preparation of burning the audio files to compact disc. In some audio converters this is not always set as a default but as an option, such as with the DBPower AMP music converter.

For more information on MP3s, visit http://www.theMP3plug.com.