tracknumber

TRACKNUMBER is a metadata field used to indicate the position of a track within a release, such as an album, EP, or soundtrack. It helps media players, libraries, and listing services place tracks in their proper order and provides context for listeners and organizers.

In practice, TRACKNUMBER appears in various tag formats. In MP3 or ID3 tagging, the corresponding field is commonly known as TRCK and is often stored as a value like "4/12," meaning track 4 of a 12-track release. Some tagging schemes label the field as TRACKNUMBER and may store only the current track number, while others separate the current track from the total number of tracks (for example, TRACKTOTAL or TOTALTRACKS).

On releases with multiple discs, a separate disc-related field, DISCNUMBER, indicates the disc index, while TRACKNUMBER usually denotes the track’s position on that particular disc. Different software may interpret or display these values differently, which can lead to inconsistencies across devices or libraries if metadata is not normalized.

Common formatting practices include using numeric values with or without a total, and occasionally zero-padded numbers (for example, 04/10). Correct and consistent TRACKNUMBER data improves playback ordering, search results, and user interfaces across media players, streaming services, and digital catalogs.

See also: track listing, metadata, track number, ID3 tags, disc number.