This function is used to determine the best MusicBrainz Release Id and associated MusicBrainz Recording Ids from AcoustID data which has already been downloaded. ie. Either obtained interactively or via a Get Data from AcoustID statement.
There are quite a few options available for this action. You can use the Option Presets button to choose from various preset combinations.
You can choose the Ignore tracks without AcoustID data option to allow the function to execute if one or more tracks are missing the AcoustID data.
Generally this function operates as if all available files should be in the same album. If you know that this is not the case you can select the Allow matching to multiple releases option. If the tracks end up being in the same album, the option will change nothing. However, when Allow matching to multiple releases is set, the Import release Id to ignored tracks option is disabled.
You can further constrain the search by selecting the Require Album metadata match option. This setting causes all releases which do not match a track's album metadata to be ignored. An 80% or better fuzzy match constitutes a match. When this option is set no attempt is made to directly match tracks which do not have the Album metadata.
If you know that all the tracks being processed are in the same album and you want a MusicBrainz Release Id at all costs, set Allow matching to multiple releases and Choose best. One example of when you would use this is that you are looking for a MusicBrainz Release Id to use with the fanart.tv search. Your tracks are all in the same album, but perhaps the best match algorithm is failing due to data inconsistencies. When this set of options is chosen, the best match will be chosen if available. However, if a best match is not available, the MusicBrainz Release Id which can be associated with the most tracks is chosen for all files, including those without AcoustID data. Any previous MusicBrainz Recording Ids are removed and no additional data will be imported.
The Settings-MusicBrainz Preferred country codes settings are used when attempting to determine which MusicBrainz release best matches the tracks being processed. If you wish you can enter a list of two character country codes, optionally separated by spaces, to set your preferred countries. Note that alphabetic case is ignored. Items at the start of the list are given a higher priority than items at the end of the list. Note that the list of countries is only used when multiple releases meet the requirements for matching.
You can elect to only run the function if one or more tracks is missing the Ids. Note that if any tracks are missing either of the Ids and a best match is found, all the Ids are replaced. Note also that inconsistent MusicBrainz Release Ids are treated as missing.
Note that if the Ids are not missing and you have selected the Only if any tracks are missing the metadata option, nothing else will be imported.
If the above criteria is met, (ie. you are importing the Ids), you can optionally import the Album, Artist, Title and Year fields. You can elect to do so only if the current fields are empty. Note that it is possible that the Year metadata is missing in the AcoustID data. If that is the case the existing Year value will not be overwritten. Note that if the MusicBrainz Release Id is imported, the MusicBrainz Release Country and the MusicBrainz Release Group URL are always imported if available.
There are two Feeling Lucky options. The Import Release Id to ignored tracks option only makes sense if you have enabled the Ignore tracks without AcoustID data. In this case if a best match is made, the associated Release Id will be imported to the ignored tracks. Note that a Recording Id will not be imported. If you have elected to import Album, Artist and Title metadata, Title metadata will not be imported. This option is not valid with Allow matching to multiple releases unless both the Require Album metadata match and Choose best options are selected.
The second Feeling Lucky option is Allow matching to a single track. By default, the best match algorithm requires at least two tracks to run. With this option enabled, if only a single track is available, a release will be picked from the list of releases associated with the track. (Country codes will still be processed).
The function is only valid when run stepwise.
Due to the numerous options, the only reliable method of determining success of the function is to check for the existance of the relevant ids.