AUDITION METADATA IMPORT/EXPORT

Thank you for sharing your method. I think that in general, being able to handle metadata easily and conveniently is good at a production level - when the files aren't exposed to the world as a whole - but not so good when the whole thing about them being alterable at all by anybody else isn't fixed. If you can alter them easily, then so can somebody else with slightly more malicious intent.

This thread really hits home. I've been incredibly frustrated by this for months. For my podcast production, I have to manually copy-paste all the metadata (Copyright, ISRC, Show Notes, etc.) for every single episode. It's tedious and I've made mistakes more than once. I honestly thought I was the only one going crazy over the lack of an import/export feature.

After a lot of searching for a solution, I stumbled upon a free web tool that has been a total game-changer for my workflow. It's called MetaDataKit.

The best part is that it runs entirely in your browser, so you don't have to upload your precious audio files anywhere, which was a big deal for me regarding privacy.

Here's how I use it as a workaround:

1. I'll finish editing an audio file in Audition and export it.
2. I keep a "master" or "template" audio file that has all my standard metadata filled out perfectly.
3. I open both the new file and my template file in this web tool (in separate browser tabs or one after another). The interface makes it incredibly simple to view all the fields and copy the consistent information over to the new file.
4. I can also add episode-specific info before saving the final version.

It's not the "one-click" import/export we all wish Audition had, but it has legitimately saved me hours and made my process so much less error-prone. It cleanly displays all the metadata fields, which is way easier than clicking through Audition's 6 different tabs.

Since this thread is all about finding a solution, I thought I'd share it. Hope it helps someone else out!

also need the meta for broadcasts that download and air files using automated processes. some of this meta is unique to each recording and has to be added manually anyway, but still hoping for an export/import solution since there is so much other litte detail that is repetative.

Yes, we also have the identical information in the meta of the service it will be available on. I just want the file itself to include information someone might want/need because the process is for the file to be downloaded, then aired. So at some point it will live on people's desktops or servers and I want credits and copyright to be readily available and convenient. And it sure would be nice if I could export/import from one file to another.

Nowhere directly. But you might want to give some thought as to where this file is going to be made accessible from, and what it says there. And let's face it - anybody wishing to ignore any copyright notices is going to anyway, however much you try to coerce them. And the more accessible you leave any data, the easier it is for others to corrupt it. This has been a recognised issue across the industry for decades, and some of the more innovative schemes to address it involve digital 'watermarking', which is much harder to detect and corrupt, and can lead directly to a place where copyright information can be clearly accessible. This is far more robust than playing about with metadata.

On an audio file, where would a visible credit go other than the file property metadata?

You have to be careful what you wish for. The more exposed you leave metadata, the easier it is for anybody to tamper with it. Fundamentally, the only way to absolutely ensure that your contribution to a project is recognised is to have a visible credit; they are much harder to ignore or alter. If you look up what any of the definitions of metadata are, you won't find references to collaborative copyright. It's primarily about structure and process. Yes, a copyright holder can be credited, but it's really not suitable for multiple entries, and certainly no way to track multiple collaborators.

Thank you for your response. What I'm saying is that the structure of metadata is or could be xml - whether it's embedded in a binary file or not. Or it seems like it would be amenable to storing/exporting in an xml or text file format easily. But that isn't my point really, my point is just that it should be exportable or somehow available to other files similar to other custom settings or exportable items since it's something that has to be reproduced in multiple files. If you have a file with a ton of metadata it's a real chore to have to copy/paste. 

On the issue of creator credits - with a digital standalone file that's out in the universe how would anyone know you participated in the project if your credit wasn't in the metadata? Or who holds copyright? I give everyone credit in metadata, like liner notes. And having it available in the original file means anyone who's handling the input of metadata on individual channels/media/platforms has consistent information right in the file. I appreciate hearing your response to this - maybe I'm missing something. I know you're a major contributer here and I read your posts all the time and learn a lot about editing audio. Thank you!

It might be an idea, but I don't think it's an issue, and it's certainly not a bug. You have to bear in mind that the format of metadata isn't actually determined by Adobe at all, but by the people that created the file storage formats in the first place. And no, it's not necessarily xml either - it's embedded into the actual file structure, as a rule. So basic file metadata wasn't, in any form, developed by Adobe - Audition and other software just reveal it, and have a means of updating it. The only Adobe-created metadata for wav files, for instance, is the marker files - and they are stored not in the file itself, with the rest of the metadata, but tacked onto the end. It's because of this that an external editor for it exists in the form of CueListTool.

There's at least one free online tool available that can extract metadata from files (apparently), and that is metadatatogo which I've never tried - simply because I don't need to. As a creator I've never had any difficulty with either getting paid, or gathering any royalties due - or, come to that, paying royalties when needed. There are trade organisations who deal with this, and anybody who's serious about what they do becomes a member of one. They exist in every country, so there's no excuse. And this is basically why I don't think it's an issue.