How to Prepare for a Bulk Upload

How Traditional Folder Structures Translate to DISCO

Throughout this article we mention support and organizational assistance with certain processes. This assistance is available depending on your plan subscription and file quota. Reach out to our Support Team to enquire about options.

Example 1: Traditional Hard Drive With Nested Folder Structure

To understand how to prepare for an upload, let’s take a look at how the Uploader recreates the contents of your hard drive inside DISCO.

This is an example of a common nested folder path:  

• > Catalog
• >> Band = "Racing"
• >>> Album = "Real Dancing"
• >>>> Folders for “Instrumentals”, “Mains” etc
• >>>>> Folders for file formats - “wavs” and “mp3s”.

File structure on a Hard Drive:

Translated into DISCO as playlists:

Folders containing files become playlists in DISCO. In this example, “wavs” and “mp3s” playlists appear in Browse. Their parent folders are ignored and do not appear in DISCO.

Uploading the Catalog folder highlighted above would result in hundreds of playlists called “wavs” and “mp3s” in DISCO, which is not particularly useful for organization!

Every uploaded WAV file creates an MP3 automatically in DISCO, but in the example above, a folder of MP3s and a folder of WAVs with the same audio are uploaded. In effect, two copies of each track now exist in DISCO.

These two formats of the same audio should be merged inside DISCO to retain any metadata from the MP3s along with the high resolution WAV file.

Example 2: Flattened Folder Structure

Let’s take a look at what an ideal folder structure would look like prior to uploading to DISCO:

1. The album folder containing the audio files is named “Artist - Album,” which becomes the playlist name in DISCO.
2. All files are stored together - WAVs and MP3s, mains and instrumentals.

• You can arrange Instrumentals and other versions in separate folders, according to preference.

How will these folders and files initially appear in DISCO?

• One playlist called “Artist - Album” contains all the WAV & MP3 files.
• The MP3s have artwork and metadata.
• The WAVs only have a title, which reflects the original file name.
• Use the Merge tool to pair your WAVs and MP3s manually.

WAVs and MP3s can be paired in bulk (by our Onboarding team) IF they were uploaded in the same folder and have identical file names, and you are on an qualifying plan.

The result after merging:

• One playlist contains all files off an album.
• WAVs and MP3s are paired and available for each track.
• Metadata remains intact.

(I created the Instrumentals section after upload.)

Preparing your Files and Folders

First, you may want to duplicate your entire catalog before rearranging it - just in case you want to revert back to your original organization structure.

• Rename album folders to include the artist name: “Artist - Album”
• Drag all files from the WAV and MP3 folders into the renamed album folder
• It is fine to keep  separate folders for Instrumentals/other versions if you’d like them in separate playlists in DISCO.

• Open each folder and check to make sure that all file names are clean and identical (a 1:1 match) with the names of the WAVs and MP3s; the only thing that should be different is the extension, e.g. “.mp3,” “.wav,” etc.
• It is best practice to include an artist’s name in the track title, e.g. “The Beatles - Let it be.wav.” This helps prevent two different songs with the same name from getting merged accidentally.
• Every unique audio version should have a unique file name.
• Delete any unnecessary nested folders (WAV, MP3, etc.)

Quickly Rename Files with the NameChanger app

Download and open the NameChanger app, and find the files you are working with on your hard drive.

• Drag the files into NameChanger:

• Hide file extensions from the Options menu before continuing:

The NameChanger app includes the following editing functionalities:

• Character insertion/removal
• Find and replace
• Change case
• Sequencing

Run the Uploader

Double check that all your folder and file names are correct, and add them to the Uploader. You’ll receive an email once the upload has completed.

Learn more about troubleshooting bulk uploads to ensure faster transfers.