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How to · Rekordbox

Tag tracks by genre in Rekordbox.

Rekordbox reads the genre tag already sitting in your files: right-click the track list header to show the Genre column, correct the values in the track information window, then browse them from the [Genre] category in the Collection filter. A track can only hold one genre word, so anything finer, sub-genre, era, or which room it works in, goes on top as My Tag.

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A DJ library in Vibes where each track carries several color-coded vibe tags instead of one genre word

One genre field per track, or as many tags as the track actually needs.

Tag tracks by genre in Rekordbox, step by step.

Genre in Rekordbox is one text field per track, plus two filters that read it. The clean way to organize Rekordbox by genre is to fix the field first, browse it from the Collection filter, then let My Tag carry everything the single field cannot.

01

Show the Genre column in the track list

Right-click any column on the track list header. The column list appears, and clicking Genre adds it to the header. Drag the header left or right to move it where you want it. While the list is open, make sure [Attribute] is ticked as well: the category filter in the next steps only works when it is selected.

02

Turn on library editing in Preferences

Open the Preferences window, choose the [Advanced] category, then the [Browse] tab. Switch on [Edit Library], which lets you edit names and track information by double-clicking the playlist name, folder name, or any item in the track list. On the same tab, [Library Protection] does the opposite: it exists to stop accidental edits, so leave it off while you are tagging.

03

Correct the genre on each track

Click [Collection] in [Media Browser], select a track, and click the info icon. The track information window opens on the right side of the track list. Open the [Info] tab and type the genre from your keyboard, then close the window. Pick one spelling per genre and reuse it, because the filters group on exact text.

04

Browse by genre with the Collection filter

Click [Collection] in [Media Browser]. The Collection filter search category menu appears in the tree view with [Date Added], [Genre], [Artist], and [Album]. Select [Genre] and the track list narrows to the tracks under the value you picked. This is the fastest read on how consistent your tagging actually is, because every stray spelling shows up as its own entry.

05

Add the category filter above the track list

Click the category filter icon on the upper side of the track list. Category columns for [Genre], [Artist], and [Album] appear above your tracks. Select a category and the list below is filtered to it. It stacks with artist and album, so you can go from a genre down to one artist inside it without building a playlist for either.

06

Use My Tag for everything below genre

Click the My Tag icon on the right side of the screen to open the My Tag configuration window. Rename a category, rename the tags inside it, and use [Adding My Tag] to create new ones for sub-genre, era, or room. Select a track and tick the checkboxes: multiple My Tags attach at once, which is the part the single genre field cannot do.

07

Let an Intelligent Playlist fill itself

Right-click [Playlists] in the tree view and select [Create New Intelligent Playlist]. Pick a filter and an operator such as [=], [contains], or [starts with], then click [+] to add more and choose [Match all of the following conditions] or [Match any of the following conditions]. My Tag works as a condition here. Name the list, click [OK], and it keeps itself current as you tag.

The catch

Genre holds one value per track, and your edits live in the Rekordbox library rather than in the file you edited. The manual is blunt about the consequence: after reloading tag information, edited track information is replaced with the reloaded information, so a [Reload Tag] can undo a genre you retyped. The documented editing flow is also one track at a time in the track information window, which is what makes a few thousand tracks an evening rather than a task.

AfterhoursMysteriousIntrospectiveEvolving

The faster way

Keep the genre you already typed, then tag past it.

Vibes imports your Rekordbox collection with Smart Import and reads your existing Genre, Mood, and Grouping fields straight in as tags, so nothing you typed is wasted. From there Auto-Tagging suggests vibes from each track's own audio, and a track carries as many as it needs instead of one genre word. When you are done, export the playlists and vibes back to Rekordbox as a folder tree.

See how it works
Smart Import detects your Rekordbox library and brings the tracks across as they are
Tag import pulls your existing Genre, Mood, and Grouping fields in as vibes
Auto-Tagging suggests vibes from the audio, so new tracks arrive already sorted
Combinations turn tag overlaps into crates, then export back into Rekordbox

Organize in Vibes, export to Rekordbox.

Your playlists, tags, ratings, and cue points travel back to the gear you play on, so nothing you do in Vibes is locked away.

Track 001 by Artist A

Track 001

Artist A

128
3A
Track 002 by Artist B

Track 002

Artist B

124
5B
Track 003 by Artist C

Track 003

Artist C

132
8A
Vibes App
Playlists
Vibes
Mood
Aggressive
Euphoric
Melancholic
Mysterious
Peaceful
Playful
Tense
Function
Arrangement
Sets
Club Night 12/28
NYE Closing Set
Rooftop 01/04

Frequently asked questions

The honest answers, including the trade-offs.

Start broad and split only where you would actually reach for the split. Three or four top-level names that match how you play beat a forty-genre taxonomy nobody maintains. Put the broad name in the genre field, because it holds one value per track, and push everything finer, sub-genre, era, or room, into a second layer such as My Tag. Genre describes where a track came from. Tags describe where it works.
Use genre as the coarse filter and something else as the fine one. Genre tells you the lane, but it does not tell you whether a track opens a room or closes it, so pair it with a second axis: energy, mood, or the moment in the night. In Rekordbox that means the genre field plus My Tag, then Intelligent Playlists that fill themselves from both. Keep the tree shallow enough to read on a CDJ screen.
Analyze the tracks so the Key column is filled, right-click the track list header to show Key, then click that header to sort. Each click switches between ascending and descending order. For mixing, set Preferences to the View category, open the Display Type tab, and change [Key display format] from [Classic] to [Alphanumeric], which shows keys as 1A and 2A. Full walkthrough: sort tracks by key in Rekordbox.
Two settings on the same tab decide it. Open Preferences, choose the [Advanced] category and the [Browse] tab. [Edit Library] is what lets you edit names and track information by double-clicking an item in the track list, so with it off a double-click does nothing. [Library Protection] is the opposite switch: it exists to prevent accidental edits to track information and the lists in the track list and tree view, so it has to be off too.
Treat them as living inside Rekordbox. The manual states that after reloading tag information, edited track information is replaced with the reloaded information, so a [Reload Tag] on a track will overwrite a genre you typed in Rekordbox if the file's own tag still says something else. If you want the genre to survive everywhere, correct it in the file's tags as well: see fix track metadata in Rekordbox.
The genre field, plus playlists. Rekordbox keeps your structure in its own library, and that is what travels to a USB stick and a CDJ; folders in Finder or Explorer do not. Moving or deleting files on disk also breaks the links Rekordbox uses to find them, which is exactly why the app ships an auto relocate setting. Browse with the Collection filter's [Genre] category and keep playlist folders for what you curate by hand.
No, it works in front of it. Vibes imports your Rekordbox collection, reads your existing Genre, Mood, and Grouping fields in as tags, and adds Auto-Tagging that suggests vibes from each track's own audio. A track carries as many vibes as it needs instead of one genre word. You then export the playlists and vibes back to Rekordbox and play on the same gear. See Auto-Tagging.

From a Vibes customer

The import worked perfectly. Have created several sets now and my life is so much easier
Danny

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Every step is checked against the current version of Rekordbox.

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Last reviewed June 2026.

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