diff --git a/source/net/sourceforge/filebot/ui/rename/BindingDialog.java b/source/net/sourceforge/filebot/ui/rename/BindingDialog.java
index d7d24150..2370569a 100644
--- a/source/net/sourceforge/filebot/ui/rename/BindingDialog.java
+++ b/source/net/sourceforge/filebot/ui/rename/BindingDialog.java
@@ -128,6 +128,7 @@ class BindingDialog extends JDialog {
 		mediaFileTextField.getDocument().addDocumentListener(changeListener);
 		
 		// disabled by default
+		infoTextField.setEnabled(false);
 		mediaInfoAction.setEnabled(false);
 		
 		// disable media info action if media file is invalid
@@ -236,6 +237,7 @@ class BindingDialog extends JDialog {
 	
 	
 	public void setInfoObject(Object info) {
+		infoTextField.putClientProperty("model", info);
 		infoTextField.setText(info == null ? "" : infoObjectFormat.format(info));
 	}
 	
@@ -246,18 +248,7 @@ class BindingDialog extends JDialog {
 	
 	
 	public Object getInfoObject() {
-		try {
-			// try known object
-			Object model = infoTextField.getClientProperty("model");
-			if (model != null) {
-				return model;
-			}
-			
-			// or parse user input
-			return infoObjectFormat.parseObject(infoTextField.getText());
-		} catch (Exception e) {
-			return null;
-		}
+		return infoTextField.getClientProperty("model");
 	}
 	
 	
@@ -398,19 +389,15 @@ class BindingDialog extends JDialog {
 				// set file
 				mediaFileTextField.setText(file.getAbsolutePath());
 				
-				// reset known model
-				infoTextField.putClientProperty("model", null);
-				infoTextField.setEnabled(true);
-				
 				// set info object from xattr if possible
 				if (useExtendedFileAttributes()) {
 					try {
 						MetaAttributes xattr = new MetaAttributes(file);
 						try {
 							Object object = xattr.getMetaData();
-							infoTextField.setText(infoObjectFormat.format(object));
-							infoTextField.putClientProperty("model", object);
-							infoTextField.setEnabled(false);
+							if (infoObjectFormat.format(object) != null) {
+								setInfoObject(object);
+							}
 						} catch (Exception e) {
 							// ignore invalid data
 						}
diff --git a/source/net/sourceforge/filebot/ui/rename/FormatDialog.java b/source/net/sourceforge/filebot/ui/rename/FormatDialog.java
index 8e6e4b2c..707bbdbe 100644
--- a/source/net/sourceforge/filebot/ui/rename/FormatDialog.java
+++ b/source/net/sourceforge/filebot/ui/rename/FormatDialog.java
@@ -22,7 +22,6 @@ import java.beans.PropertyChangeListener;
 import java.io.File;
 import java.net.URI;
 import java.text.Format;
-import java.text.ParseException;
 import java.util.LinkedHashSet;
 import java.util.List;
 import java.util.ResourceBundle;
@@ -79,6 +78,9 @@ import net.sourceforge.tuned.ui.TunedUtilities;
 import net.sourceforge.tuned.ui.notification.SeparatorBorder;
 import net.sourceforge.tuned.ui.notification.SeparatorBorder.Position;
 
+import com.cedarsoftware.util.io.JsonReader;
+import com.cedarsoftware.util.io.JsonWriter;
+
 
 class FormatDialog extends JDialog {
 	
@@ -386,14 +388,17 @@ class FormatDialog extends JDialog {
 		try {
 			// restore sample from user preferences
 			String sample = mode.persistentSample().getValue();
-			info = mode.getFormat().parseObject(sample);
+			info = JsonReader.toJava(sample);
+			if (info == null) {
+				throw new NullPointerException();
+			}
 		} catch (Exception e) {
 			try {
 				// restore sample from application properties
 				ResourceBundle bundle = ResourceBundle.getBundle(getClass().getName());
 				String sample = bundle.getString(mode.key() + ".sample");
-				info = mode.getFormat().parseObject(sample);
-			} catch (ParseException illegalSample) {
+				info = JsonReader.toJava(sample);
+			} catch (Exception illegalSample) {
 				throw new RuntimeException(illegalSample); // won't happen
 			}
 		}
@@ -613,7 +618,7 @@ class FormatDialog extends JDialog {
 				sample = new MediaBindingBean(info, file, null);
 				
 				// remember
-				mode.persistentSample().setValue(info == null ? "" : mode.getFormat().format(info));
+				mode.persistentSample().setValue(info == null ? "" : JsonWriter.toJson(info));
 				persistentSampleFile.setValue(file == null ? "" : sample.getMediaFile().getAbsolutePath());
 				
 				// reevaluate everything
diff --git a/source/net/sourceforge/filebot/ui/rename/FormatDialog.properties b/source/net/sourceforge/filebot/ui/rename/FormatDialog.properties
index 1aaa6022..30104f27 100644
--- a/source/net/sourceforge/filebot/ui/rename/FormatDialog.properties
+++ b/source/net/sourceforge/filebot/ui/rename/FormatDialog.properties
@@ -2,11 +2,11 @@ help.url = http://filebot.sourceforge.net/naming.html
 
 episode.syntax: <html><b>{</b> <b>}</b> \u2026 expression, <b>n</b> \u2026 name, <b>s</b> \u2026 season, <b>e</b> \u2026 episode, <b>t</b> \u2026 title</html>
 movie.syntax: <html><b>{</b> <b>}</b> \u2026 expression, <b>n</b> \u2026 name, <b>y</b> \u2026 year</html>
-music.syntax: <html><b>{</b> <b>}</b> \u2026 expression, <b>n</b> \u2026 artist, <b>t</b> \u2026 title, <b>album</b> \u2026 album</html>
+music.syntax: <html><b>{</b> <b>}</b> \u2026 expression, <b>n</b> \u2026 album artist, <b>t</b> \u2026 title, <b>album</b> \u2026 album, <b>pi</b> \u2026 track</html>
 
-episode.sample: Dark Angel - 3x01 - Labyrinth [2009-06-01]
-movie.sample: Avatar (2009) Part 1
-music.sample: Leona Lewis - I See You
+episode.sample: {"@type":"net.sourceforge.filebot.web.Episode","seriesName":"Firefly","seriesStartDate":{"year":2002,"month":9,"day":20},"season":1,"episode":1,"title":"Serenity","absolute":1,"special":null,"airdate":{"year":2002,"month":12,"day":20}}
+movie.sample: {"@type":"net.sourceforge.filebot.web.MoviePart","partIndex":1,"partCount":2,"year":2009,"imdbId":-1,"tmdbId":19995,"name":"Avatar"}
+music.sample: {"@type":"net.sourceforge.filebot.web.AudioTrack","artist":"Leona Lewis","title":"I See You","album":"Avatar","albumArtist":"James Horner","trackTitle":null,"albumReleaseDate":{"year":2009,"month":12,"day":11},"mediumIndex":1,"mediumCount":1,"trackIndex":14,"trackCount":14}
 
 # basic 1.01
 episode.example[0]: {n} - {s}.{e} - {t}
@@ -27,7 +27,7 @@ movie.example[2]: {n} {[y, certification, rating]}
 movie.example[3]: {n.space('.')}.{y}{'.'+source}.{vc}
 
 # simple artist - title
-music.example[0]: {n} - {t}
+music.example[0]: {artist} - {t}
 # simple artist - album - title
 music.example[1]: {n} - {album} - {t}
 # artist - title [crc32]