Remove the Various Artists category from iPhone music

I'm not convinced that your suggestion is a sound idea.

If you remove the text Various Artists from the Album Artist field (note that's the Album Artist field, not the Artist field), and turn off the tick in the box for compilation, then every song on the album will be a separate album. That is not what most people want when looking for and playing an album that has songs by different artists on it (i.e. a true compilation album).

We see countless discussions here about albums that have been split up or not showing as one album, simply because that information is not there. Users are never happy.

The information should follow the pattern shown below:

For a single artist album, the Album Artist field can be blank or show the artist's name and the compilation box should be off, even if the album is Dire Straits Greatest Hits (i.e. a collection album):

For a single artist album with guest musicians on some songs, enter the main artist name in to the Album Artist field and again, the compilation box should be off:

For a proper Compilation album, that is, a collection of songs each by a different artist, the fields should look like the one below. This time, it is important to have compilation turned on:

I've just this minute responded to someone with a various artists album that was split into separate albums for each song, which is not what they wanted.

I have advised them to ensure the album does have Various Artists in the Album Artist field.