Sorry if it's a repost, have tried several things already: Cannot change the file properties to properly tag my songs in Windows 7. Every search I do is telling me that it's because wav files aren't flexible enough, but there HAS to be a way, right? A pretty dumb problem...why is this so difficult?

I remember reading here that you simply can not add metadata to wav-files, and that's it. Artist and title (and duration?) is the most you can get a CD-player to show.

A lame workaround could be saving every song in a different folder and tag the folder, but I know it's not even close to the same thing?

you have to use a 3rd party application that will tag the wav file.

I use Winamp Pro and Sony Sound Forge Audio Studio to tag and convert my wav files.

Hm. Disappointing, but thank you for the replies...

So I bought Winamp Pro and have edited the tags there, but the properties haven't changed in Windows Explorer at all. Am I missing something? How do you all properly tag your wavs before burning a proper disc? I've just released an EP, am about to start promoting (sending to radio stations, etc.) but need the files to be properly tagged first... Here's the EP: http://smaltmine.bandcamp.com/ Bandcamp tags everything automatically so it wasn't a concern before uploading, but now...

They're telling you the truth, jon: there is simply no place to put user-defined metadata into a PCM wave file. The track information that shows up on your CD player isn't in the wave files themselves, but rather in a separate file on the CD.

Music distributed to radio stations is normally AAC encoded, not wave files. AAC, like MP3, supports metadata. It's also the standard format for iTunes and YouTube. Winamp, I believe, includes an AAC encoder. SONAR itself does not. However, an external encoder can be configured to allow SONAR to export AAC directly.

FLAC is another option. SONAR can export FLAC files natively. FLAC supports metadata, and has the added benefit of being lossless, which makes it more suitable for transmitting to, say, a mastering or mixing engineer or a musical collaborator. Many music-hosting sites will accept FLAC uploads, including BandCamp.

Hm. Thanks for the information, very helpful. I'll re-export FLACs then, or maybe use the AAC encoder in Winamp. Very difficult wading through all the technicalities of distribution...

bitflipper
They're telling you the truth, jon: there is simply no place to put user-defined metadata into a PCM wave file.

That's incorrect. There are metadata tags you can add to WAV files, (including artist, album, comments, etc.) and there are applications that support them. Just like FLAC and MP3.
You can find summery of possible WAV tagging types at http:// wavmetadata.blogspot .com (remove spaces)

bitflipper
They're telling you the truth, jon: there is simply no place to put user-defined metadata into a PCM wave file.

That's incorrect. There are metadata tags you can add to WAV files, (including artist, album, comments, etc.) and there are applications that support them. Just like FLAC and MP3.
You can find summery of possible WAV tagging types at http:// wavmetadata.blogspot .com (remove spaces)