id3v23 config option (fix #388)

Author: sampsyo

beets/config_default.yaml

@@ -42,6 +42,7 @@ per_disc_numbering: no
 verbose: no
 terminal_encoding: utf8
 original_date: no
+id3v23: no
 
 ui:
     terminal_width: 80

beets/library.py

@@ -531,7 +531,7 @@ def write(self):
             setattr(f, key, getattr(self, key))
 
         try:
-            f.save()
+            f.save(id3v23=beets.config['id3v23'].get(bool))
         except (OSError, IOError) as exc:
             raise util.FilesystemError(exc, 'write', (self.path,),
                                        traceback.format_exc())

docs/changelog.rst

@@ -19,6 +19,9 @@ New stuff:
   to Henrique Ferreiro.
 * :doc:`/plugins/lastgenre`: You can now get multiple genres per album or
   track using the ``multiple`` config option. Thanks to rashley60 on GitHub.
+* A new :ref:`id3v23` config option makes beets write MP3 files' tags using
+  the older ID3v2.3 metadata standard. Use this if you want your tags to be
+  visible to Windows and some older players.
 
 And some fixes:
 

docs/faq.rst

@@ -265,14 +265,14 @@ a flag. There is no simple way to remedy this.)
 …not change my ID3 tags?
 ------------------------
 
-Beets writes `ID3v2.4 <http://www.id3.org/id3v2.4.0-structure>`__ tags.
+Beets writes `ID3v2.4 <http://www.id3.org/id3v2.4.0-structure>`__ tags by
+default.
 Some software, including Windows (i.e., Windows Explorer and Windows
 Media Player) and `id3lib/id3v2 <http://id3v2.sourceforge.net/>`__,
 don't support v2.4 tags. When using 2.4-unaware software, it might look
 like the tags are unmodified or missing completely.
 
-This is due to `a limitation in the Mutagen
-library <http://code.google.com/p/mutagen/wiki/FAQ>`__.
+To enable ID3v2.3 tags, enable the :ref:`id3v23` config option.
 
 
 .. _invalid:

docs/reference/config.rst

@@ -210,6 +210,16 @@ Set the maximum number of characters in a filename, after which names will be
 truncated. By default, beets tries to ask the filesystem for the correct
 maximum.
 
+.. _id3v23:
+
+id3v23
+~~~~~~
+
+By default, beets writes MP3 tags using the ID3v2.4 standard, the latest
+version of ID3. Enable this option to instead use the older ID3v2.3 standard,
+which is preferred by certain older software such as Windows Media Player.
+
+
 Importer Options
 ----------------