If I had an mp3 file call Bon Jovi - Bad Medicine.mp3 I should be able to link that one file to the Crossroad album and to the New Jersey album.

Similarly, I should be able to assign one file to both a the single of the song, and the album it features in, and even a soundtrack it is in.

Obviously, the id3 tags only allow on album to be associated to it, but I'm sure the clever developers at Audiosoft can easily fix this.

Wouldn't you have only ripped it from one of those albums? That would be the album you would list that song under. That is, unless, you were creating a music database. You might also utilize the comment field to say something like "Also found on New Jersey".

You can be almost 100% sure that the version on Crossroad is not identical to the one on New Jersey. Even if they used the same original master and made no remastering efforts, you can be sure that there are at least some kinds of volume and dynamic adjustments which are used so that the entire album(s) have a homogenous volume level experience.

If you compare any 2 so-called "identical" tracks taken from distinct albums back to back, you will, in 99% of all cases, be able to hear a difference.

So...I would definitely recommend against storing only one version of the song and having the other "pretend" to be the first one. If you play the album of one version, chances are high the other song may stick out like a sore thumb.

For me, the only purpose in even storing an album name is to help trace a recording back to its historical beginning. I don't quite see the need to know other instances of it.

Of course this will all be nonsense in twenty years when even the CONCEPT of an "album" is finally gone from all new music (digital distribution is killing the album--it started with CDs which were much longer than classic vinyl, but is ending with the fact that soon there will be no incentive to release songs in bunches). But the music past (and the present... barely) is album-centric, and its all about the context of its original release (with the rare exception of a re-release which becomes a hit at that time).

We're getting totally off-topic now, just wanted to say: I do agree that the future will to some degree see the concept of "albums" disappear. However, just like even today more and more artists are putting out albums on vinyl again, I think there will always be some artists (surely in the minority) and some fans (also in the minority) who value this concept ans will continue to cater to it.

On ther other hand, never underestimate the power of the record industry. If they can sell you two singles for $1.50 a piece, why not try to sell you a whole "collection" of songs for, say, $6? Curiosity is a human trait. So after you heard a song you like, it is only natural to want to find out if there are more songs you might like by the same artist. With enough marketing hype, don't you think the industry will always be able to push more music into the face of the consumer? What better ways then to make them deals like: Hey, if you buy these two tracks you like, we'll give you a whole 6 more songs from the same artist for only 3 bucks more...