Sometimes when you rip a CD onto your computer to make backup MP3 copies, the ripping app neglects to export the tags and album art, leaving you with a messy-looking file. If you have ripped a lot of CDs, all without their identifying tags and album covers, then retagging them can be a tiring and tedious process. Free program Mp3tag is here to make that process a lot faster and a lot easier.

Mp3tag 2.54 is an absolute delight to use, and my MP3 files are finally starting to look halfway organized. What Mp3tag does is give you an extremely easy-to-use user interface in which you can add the information you need to identify the file. You can also drag and drop album art with your mouse directly onto the MP3tag app and it will automatically attach.

The tags—which you can edit—include the title of the song, the artist, the album, the year it came out, what track number that particular song is, and the genre. When an album cover is attached, you can alter the aspect ratio in case it is not the right size or if it is distorted.

You can really save time with the batch editing. Use your mouse to select as many of the files in the folder as you want and add information and album art to all of them at the same time. Remember to click the save button afterwards though, otherwise any changes you made will be lost. This is one of the very few downsides of Mp3tag: no automatic real-time saving by the app. You have to press the button yourself and if you forget…whoops, back to square one.

But if you use it right, batch editing can make all the difference. Highlighting all the files at once, I was able to search for the tags and album art, add it and save it all in just under 30 seconds. That's for a standard 12-track album. If you did it by hand individually, you'd be lucky to do one file every 30 seconds, never mind all 12 at once.

The features go on: Generate playlists, generate HTML, RTF or CSV reports showing a list of all the files you currently have in MP3tag, as well as support for iTunes-specific tags like media type or TV Show settings.The jewel in the crown, as far as I'm concerned, is MP3tag's ability to search external sources such as Amazon USA, Amazon Germany, and two other sources called Discogs and Musicbrainz. By entering search terms in the box provided, Mp3tag will go to the source (such as Amazon) and bring back the relevant tags and album art for you.  If you like it, you can click "OK" and it will all be automatically inserted for you.

Mp3tag program that MP3 collectors should have on their PC by default.  It's free and it's easy to use. The days of messed-up MP3 files are long gone, thanks to babies like this.

Note: The Download button on the Product Information page will download the software to your system.