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Organize Music Library

A set of prompts for organizing a messy music library into well-structured folders. Whether you have thousands of tracks dumped into a single directory or a partially organized collection, these prompts help you sort by artist and album hierarchy, group by genre, or separate loose singles from full albums.

Last updated: 3/22/2026
3 prompts included

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Prompts

Sort by Artist and Album

Organize these music files into folders by artist, with subfolders for each album. Use the format: Artist Name/Album Name/. If the artist or album cannot be determined from the filename, place the file in an Unknown Artist/Unsorted/ folder.
Expected result: Files are grouped into an Artist/Album hierarchy. Each album folder contains only tracks from that album. Tracks with unrecognizable naming end up in Unknown Artist/Unsorted/.
Folder structure after:
Music/
├── Radiohead/
│   ├── OK Computer/
│   │   ├── 01 - Airbag.mp3
│   │   ├── 02 - Paranoid Android.mp3
│   │   ├── 03 - Subterranean Homesick Alien.mp3
│   │   └── 04 - Exit Music (For a Film).mp3
│   └── In Rainbows/
│       ├── 01 - 15 Step.mp3
│       ├── 02 - Bodysnatchers.mp3
│       └── 03 - Nude.mp3
├── Kendrick Lamar/
│   └── good kid, m.A.A.d city/
│       ├── 01 - Sherane.mp3
│       ├── 02 - Bitch, Don't Kill My Vibe.mp3
│       └── 03 - Backseat Freestyle.mp3
├── Fleetwood Mac/
│   └── Rumours/
│       ├── 01 - Second Hand News.mp3
│       ├── 02 - Dreams.mp3
│       └── 03 - Never Going Back Again.mp3
└── Unknown Artist/
    └── Unsorted/
        ├── track_01_final_mix.mp3
        ├── recording_2024-03-15.wav
        └── demo_v2.mp3

Sort by Genre

Group these music files into folders by genre. Use broad genre categories like Rock, Hip-Hop, Electronic, Jazz, Classical, Pop, R&B, and Other. If you can infer the genre from the artist or album name, place it accordingly. Files with no recognizable genre go into Other/.
Expected result: Files are sorted into top-level genre folders. Artists that span multiple genres are placed in their most commonly associated genre. Ambiguous files land in Other/.
Folder structure after:
Music/
├── Rock/
│   ├── Radiohead - Paranoid Android.mp3
│   ├── Radiohead - Airbag.mp3
│   ├── Fleetwood Mac - Dreams.mp3
│   ├── Fleetwood Mac - The Chain.mp3
│   └── Arctic Monkeys - Do I Wanna Know.mp3
├── Hip-Hop/
│   ├── Kendrick Lamar - HUMBLE.mp3
│   ├── Kendrick Lamar - Backseat Freestyle.mp3
│   ├── MF DOOM - Accordion.mp3
│   └── OutKast - Hey Ya!.mp3
├── Electronic/
│   ├── Aphex Twin - Windowlicker.mp3
│   ├── Boards of Canada - Roygbiv.mp3
│   └── Daft Punk - Around the World.mp3
├── Jazz/
│   ├── Miles Davis - So What.mp3
│   └── John Coltrane - A Love Supreme Pt 1.mp3
├── Classical/
│   ├── Debussy - Clair de Lune.mp3
│   └── Bach - Cello Suite No. 1.mp3
└── Other/
    ├── track_01_final_mix.mp3
    └── recording_2024-03-15.wav

Separate Loose Singles from Albums

Separate these music files into two top-level folders: Albums/ and Singles/. A file belongs in Albums/ if there are multiple tracks from the same album — group them into Artist/Album/ subfolders. If a track is the only one from its album, or has no album info, place it in Singles/ organized by artist name.
Expected result: Albums/ contains only albums with two or more tracks, properly nested by artist and album. Singles/ contains one-off tracks grouped by artist. No empty folders remain.
Folder structure after:
Music/
├── Albums/
│   ├── Radiohead/
│   │   └── OK Computer/
│   │       ├── 01 - Airbag.mp3
│   │       ├── 02 - Paranoid Android.mp3
│   │       └── 03 - Subterranean Homesick Alien.mp3
│   ├── Kendrick Lamar/
│   │   └── good kid, m.A.A.d city/
│   │       ├── 01 - Sherane.mp3
│   │       └── 02 - Bitch, Don't Kill My Vibe.mp3
│   └── Fleetwood Mac/
│       └── Rumours/
│           ├── 01 - Second Hand News.mp3
│           ├── 02 - Dreams.mp3
│           └── 03 - Never Going Back Again.mp3
└── Singles/
    ├── Radiohead/
    │   └── Creep.mp3
    ├── Daft Punk/
    │   └── Around the World.mp3
    ├── Arctic Monkeys/
    │   └── Do I Wanna Know.mp3
    └── Unknown/
        ├── track_01_final_mix.mp3
        └── demo_v2.mp3

Customization Tips

  • Add "Include track numbers in filenames" to preserve album track order.
  • Specify "Use Album Artist instead of Track Artist" to keep compilations and soundtracks grouped under one folder instead of splitting by featured artist.
  • Add "Create a Compilations/ folder for Various Artists albums" to handle soundtracks and mixed collections separately.
  • Specify preferred genre granularity, e.g., "Use subgenres like Indie Rock, Trap, and Ambient instead of broad categories" for a more detailed breakdown.
  • Add "Separate lossless (FLAC, WAV, ALAC) from lossy (MP3, AAC, OGG) into Hi-Res/ and Standard/ subfolders" if audio quality tiers matter to you.

Troubleshooting

Problem:

Tracks are landing in Unknown Artist.

Solution:

The filenames may lack artist info. Rename files to "Artist - Title.mp3" format before sorting.

Steps:

  1. 1Review files in the Unknown Artist folder.
  2. 2Rename them to include the artist name in the filename.
  3. 3Re-run the sort.

Problem:

Albums are being split across multiple folders.

Solution:

Check for inconsistent spelling (e.g., "Fleetwood Mac" vs "FleetwoodMac"). Standardize names first.

Steps:

  1. 1Look for duplicate or near-duplicate artist folder names.
  2. 2Standardize the artist name spelling across all filenames.
  3. 3Re-run the sort.

Problem:

Genre sorting seems inaccurate.

Solution:

Sortio infers genre from filenames and common knowledge. Files with only track numbers and no artist info cannot be genre-classified.

Steps:

  1. 1Add artist names to files that only have track numbers.
  2. 2Re-run the genre sort with more descriptive filenames.

Problem:

Compilation albums get broken apart by artist.

Solution:

Add "Keep compilation albums together under a single folder" to your prompt.

Steps:

  1. 1Update your prompt with compilation handling instructions.
  2. 2Re-run the sort.

Problem:

Files with non-Latin characters are misplaced.

Solution:

Ensure filenames are encoded in UTF-8 before sorting.

Steps:

  1. 1Check file encoding in Terminal.
  2. 2Re-encode filenames to UTF-8 if necessary.
  3. 3Re-run the sort.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can Sortio read ID3 tags or metadata from music files?

Sortio organizes files based on their filenames and folder structure, not embedded metadata like ID3 tags. For best results, make sure your filenames include the artist and track name.

How does Sortio determine the genre of a song?

Sortio uses the artist and album names visible in the filename to infer genre from general knowledge. It does not read audio metadata. Files with generic names like "track_01.mp3" will be placed in an Other or Unknown folder.

What music file formats does Sortio support?

Sortio can sort any file type, including MP3, FLAC, WAV, AAC, OGG, ALAC, AIFF, WMA, and M4A. The sorting is based on filenames, not file content.

Will sorting my music files affect the audio quality or metadata?

No. Sortio only moves and renames folders. It never modifies the file contents, so your audio data and embedded metadata remain untouched.

Related Glossary Terms

music organizationmp3 sortingalbum sortingartist foldersgenre classificationmusic library managementaudio file organizationiTunes library cleanupFLAC organizationplaylist sorting

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