Erase and rewrite MP3 ID3 tags

Picard is an amazing program, highly recommend it. +1 to ssweeny's rec.

However, if you just want to rewrite all existing tags, I think Ex Falso (apt link) and id3convert (apt) will better suit your needs. You might be able to do this all in Ex Falso, but I like knowing the original tags were removed.

Incidentally, Ex Falso has a plugin to tag via MusicBrainz just like Picard.

Process

1. Use Ex Falso to rename all your files using the fields you want to keep (tip: hit "Preview", then "Save").
2. Delete all your tags: find . -type f -iname '*.mp3' -exec id3convert -s {} \;
3. Check to see tags are really gone: id3info example.mp3
4. Use Ex Falso to retag based on the file names or MusicBrainz.

You can also use id3v2 if you are familiar with the shell.

idv3 is a command to add/modify/remove/view ID3V2 tags, convert/list ID3V2 tags and also supports ID3V1.

To install, type:

sudo apt-get install id3v2

To list the tag already present in a file:

id3v2 -l some_file.mp3

To set the artist on a file:

id3v2 -a "The name of the artist" some_file.mp3

For more information:

man id3v2