diff --git a/mutaext.py b/mutaext.py
index bea3556..149828d 100644
--- a/mutaext.py
+++ b/mutaext.py
@@ -1,3 +1,4 @@
+from collections import MutableMapping
 import mutagen
 import mutagen.id3
 from mutagen.easyid3 import EasyID3
@@ -74,3 +75,37 @@ for tag in extra_tags:
 
 EasyID3.RegisterTextKey('albumartist', 'TPE2')
 EasyID3.RegisterKey('rating', rating_get, rating_set, rating_delete)
+
+class SyncFile(MutableMapping):
+
+    def __init__(self, path):
+        self.md = mutagen.File(path, easy=True)
+        self.path = path
+        self.seen = False
+
+    def __getitem__(self, key):
+        d = self.md[key]
+        try:
+            return d[0]
+        except IndexError:
+            raise KeyError(key)
+
+    def __setitem__(self, key, value):
+        if type(value) != unicode:
+            raise ValueError
+        self.md[key] = [value]
+
+    def __delitem__(self, key):
+        del(self.md[key])
+
+    def __iter__(self):
+        for k in self.md:
+            try:
+                self.__getitem__(k)
+            except KeyError:
+                pass
+            else:
+                yield k
+
+    def __len__(self):
+        return len([k for k in self.__iter__()])
diff --git a/unsync.py b/unsync.py
index 808d2bc..a5bfafb 100755
--- a/unsync.py
+++ b/unsync.py
@@ -8,10 +8,10 @@ import os.path
 import sys
 import shutil
 import tempfile
-import mutagen
 
 import mutaext
 import convert
+from mutaext import SyncFile
 
 # BUG: doesn't work with my .m4a files?
 goodexts = ('.mp3', '.m4a', '.flac', '.ogg')
@@ -33,14 +33,14 @@ extof = lambda p: os.path.splitext(p)[1].lower()
 filterext = lambda ps, es: (p for p in ps if extof(p) in es)
 
 def shouldsync(md):
-    rating = md.get('rating')
+    rating = md.get('rating', u'')
     sync = md.get('sync', u'')
     try:
-        rating = int(rating[0])
-    except (IndexError, ValueError):
+        rating = int(rating)
+    except ValueError:
         pass
     if sync:
-        sync = sync[0].lower()
+        sync = sync.lower()
 
     return sync == 'yes' or type(rating) == int and rating >= 3 and sync != 'no' and sync != 'space'
 
@@ -50,7 +50,6 @@ def fixmetadata(md):
     if 'title' not in md:
         fn = os.path.basename(md.path)
         fn = os.path.splitext(fn)[0]
-        # TODO: attempt to infer trackNum/discNum from fn
         md['title'] = unicode(fn)
 
 def findmatching(haystack, needle):
@@ -58,7 +57,7 @@ def findmatching(haystack, needle):
     ismatch = lambda hay: [hay[t] for t in matchtags] == matchme
     for match in (hay for hay in haystack if ismatch(hay)):
         if match.seen:
-            # TODO: check other tags and filename and such?
+            # TODO: check other tags too?
             lament("Warning: duplicate match found:")
             lament(u"%(title)s by %(artist)s from %(album)s" % locals())
         match.seen = True
@@ -67,9 +66,8 @@ def findmatching(haystack, needle):
 def updatemetadata(mdold, mdnew):
     modified = False
     for tag in updatabletags:
-        # checking for length b/c sometimes (ID3 genre) exists but empty
-        if tag in mdnew and len(mdnew[tag]):
-            if not tag in mdold or mdnew[tag][0] != mdold[tag][0]:
+        if tag in mdnew:
+            if mdnew[tag] != mdold[tag]:
                 mdold[tag] = mdnew[tag]
                 modified = True
         elif tag in mdold:
@@ -78,9 +76,10 @@ def updatemetadata(mdold, mdnew):
     return modified
 
 def makefilename(md):
-    title = md['title'][0]
-    artist = md['artist'][0]
-    album = md['album'][0]
+    title = md['title']
+    artist = md['artist']
+    album = md['album']
+
     return u"%(artist)s - %(album)s - %(title)s.ogg" % locals()
 
 def run(args):
@@ -94,14 +93,11 @@ def run(args):
     paths = lambda dir: filterext(walkfiles(os.walk(dir)), goodexts)
 
     for p in paths(indir):
-        md = mutagen.File(p, easy=True)
+        md = SyncFile(p)
         if shouldsync(md):
             if inonly:
                 print(p)
             else:
-                # TODO: don't use custom members on external metadata class
-                md.path = p
-                md.seen = False
                 fixmetadata(md)
                 tosync.append(md)
 
@@ -112,14 +108,14 @@ def run(args):
 
     outdir = args[2]
     for p in paths(outdir):
-        md = mutagen.File(p, easy=True)
+        md = SyncFile(p)
         match = findmatching(tosync, md)
-        if not match:
+        if match == None:
             print("DEL", p)
             os.remove(p)
         elif updatemetadata(md, match):
             print("UPD", p)
-            md.save()
+            md.md.save()
 
     for md in tosync:
         if md.seen:
@@ -130,11 +126,11 @@ def run(args):
         _, ftemp = tempfile.mkstemp()
         try:
             convert.ogg(md.path, ftemp)
-            mdnew = mutagen.File(ftemp, easy=True)
+            mdnew = SyncFile(ftemp)
             for tag in alltags:
                 if tag in md:
                     mdnew[tag] = md[tag]
-            mdnew.save()
+            mdnew.md.save()
             shutil.copy2(ftemp, fout)
         finally:
             os.remove(ftemp)