Downloading album artwork freeze

When I use "Get Album Artwork" from the "Advanced" menu in iTunes, the process will invariably halt at some point - sometimes at song #400 of 4135, sometimes at song #3500, sometimes song #4020 or thereabouts. It doesn't freeze the system - it doesn't even freeze iTunes! - but while everything else functions normally, clicking the "x" cancel button in the iTunes viewer window does nothing. The download will not advance, and the only thing that will kill it (even after letting it run for a day) is shutting down iTunes. At this point, it tells me it's in the process of downloading artwork, do I really want to cancel. "Yes," says I, "Okay," says iTunes, and that's that. A few hundred songs shy of completion. Talk about a lousy date! What gives?

I have the same problem that 2ubesock Shakur does. I'm also using 10.4.10 and iTunes 7.3.2; the problem began after I recently updated (updated the OS and iTunes at the same time). The problem can occur, as Shakur says, at any stage in the process, and does not appear to be related to specific files/abums--it hangs on different files each time, and even albums on which the process hangs show proper artwork if they are removed from the library and re-added.
Using Little Snitch, I have been able to confirm that, once this process freezes, iTunes ceases to make any requests for art to the server (though it can make other connections and, as Shakur indicates, otherwise continues to function normally).
Any ideas?

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ITunes keeps resetting and asking me if I want to download album artwork!

Hi, it seems as though every time I open iTunes these days the stupid window pops up asking if I want it to automatically download album artwork. I click "No, blah blah blah." And then iTunes opens. At the left is the "Download" option thing (in green under the "Store" section), when I click it, a window pops up saying "Would you like iTunes to check if you have any unfinished downloads?" or something like that. I say, again (and of course) "No."
The "Download" button subsequently goes away and that is all that happens. But it happens repeatedly, every time I open the program! Obviously these settings are not saving--and it seems to be even more of a fundamental problem than that, perhaps some file is corrupted somewhere.
Any thoughts?

Same here. And it doesn't seem to matter which way
you answer the question, it just keeps asking.
HOWEVER -- I had not seen this post before I restored 6:
http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=531850&tstart=0
If anyone could report if this solves the "won't remember the download art" setting, please let us know.

Getting iTunes Setup Asssistant "Download Album Artwork" Message On Startup

I have upgraded to version 7. Now everytime I start iTunes I get a 'iTunes Setup Assistant' box pop-up talking about downloading album artwork. I then have to click cancel or OK before iTunes loads. This is very, very irritating. How do I stop this???

I think that the iTunes database in your Windows user profile might be corrupted. I managed to solve the problem by creating a new database and reimporting my songs into the library. The album art downloaded automatically after that.
1) Check the Automatically download missing album artwork is selected on the General tab in iTunes preferences
2) Close iTunes
3) Rename the iTunes folder (usually found in +My Music+)
4) Reopen iTunes (this creates a new iTunes folder in +My Music+)
5) Copy and paste the contents of your music folders (+iTunes Music+ folder) into the newly created +iTunes Music+ folder
6) Reopen iTunes and select File > Add Folder to Library > Browse to your iTunes folder in +My Music+ > OK
Your music will then be imported into the new iTunes database and the album art should be downloaded automatically.

Can't download album artwork in iTunes

Hi All,
I used to be able to download album artwork but it doesn't work anymore. When I try, I get an error message that says "Artwork for “XXXXX” could not be found. An unknown error occurred (-609)." where XXXXX is the name of the album. I tried installing iTunes on a new computer (on the same network) and it works just fine on that computer. I'd just switch computers but I have many albums, podcasts, etc. on the computer that isn't working so switching systems isn't a viable option. Do any of you wizards have any ideas what might be causing the problem and how to fix it. My experiment suggests to me that it isn't a problem with my network router or internet connection.
Oh, I'm running the latest version of iTunes on Windows XP Home but it wasn't working before I upgraded to the latest version of iTunes.
Thanks in advance to all,
Medic101

Do the songs have the album art in your iTunes library?
If you answer is yes, I had the same problem, fixed it manually by copying the album art from the song in iTunes library and then choosing the Get Info for that song, and then pasting the album art into the Artwork tab.
This was the only way I found to get album artwork onto my iPod. If anyone else has a suggestion, I am listening.

I cannot download album artwork

I get an error message when I attempt to download album artwork in iTunes:
...artwork could not be found (An unknown error occurred (-609))

You'll need to ask in the iTunes Mac forum. They are better equipped to assist you.

Freezing when downloading Album Artwork

When i try to "Get album artwork" for CDs iTunes freezes. I have never had this problem before.

Thanks for the reply, I will try that, although the artwork for this album has loaded on a previous session and has synced to my ipod with no problems. All the songs on the album play fine on both itunes and my ipod! Also, if I have itunes on grid view, with all the album artwork displayed, as soon as you scroll down and this album is displayed, the same system crash occurs, even though if you are in list view the album plays, no problems. Also, if it helps, the album was ripped from an official CD, not a copy or download. The artwork is even still on my ipod, even though I have deleted the image from itunes! Weird!

"itunes has stopped working" after downloading album artwork??

For years I've avoided ipod and itunes like the plague...but about 2 weeks ago I gave in. I got an ipod touch and installed itunes. Everything was fine - until this afternoon when I clicked on find album artwork in itunes. After itunes finished going through the process of finding the artwork ( 1400 of 1600 files found, 1450 of 1600 found, etc...or something like that ), i got the error message that *itunes has stopped working*. I've been searching forums all night and tried uninstalling eveything "apple" and reinstalling. Apparently this error comes up for A LOT of people ( problems like this are why I never wanted an ipod... ). None of the recommended fixes are working. I'm assuming something went wrong during artwork downloading????? Or not? I don't really care why actually, but, if itunes crashes every time i hook up my ipod, what good is it ( or the ipod )...and i don't know what to do with the ipod ( how to download apps, or add music, photos and videos ) w/o the itunes. My previous media players were all drag and drop ease.
I'm a newbie - and i'm rally frustrated - so please be kind. Can anyone tell me - in plain terms - how to get my itunes to not "stop working" every time i hook up my ipod?? Please?
THANKS.

OK, so after looking everywhere for an answer - with no luck - I figured it out on my own ( don't ask me how... ). I'll tell you what I did. I bet you have the same problem. Honestly, I thought I'd be returning the **** thing, but it's fine now.
I'd plug in my ipod ( 32gtouch, like yours ), and itunes would open. Everything was fine until it started to sync my music. Then it would freeze, give me the error message, and then shut down. I did this probably 10 times throughout the day, and always the same. Then I noticed it always froze at the same place during the sync. Soooo, I finally realized I must have a corrupt file.
Step 1: Do as I did, but when it starts to freeze, take note of the name of the song it freezes on. That's probably the culprit .Remember it. Let the error message come up and close as always...
Step 2: Open itunes again! Click on your ipod, and then on the music tab. Immediately un-check "Sync music" ( top of the page ) and then click "apply" ( bottom right ). DO THAT FAST...before it has a chance to sync, or it will just freeze again!
Step 3: Go into your music library on itunes, and DLETE/REMOVE that song.
Step 4: Close itunes.
Step 5: Open itunes, and go again to your ipod, and click on music tab. This time, check the "sync music" box ( and apply ).
That should fix it. If it doesn't you have more than one corrupt file. In that case, close itunes and then open it again. Follow step 1 and 2 again. Remove any songs from your library that aren't that important to you ( especially those that were from questionable sources... ). Basically, you need to figure out which song ( or songs ) are causing the problem. If you just delete them all, you'd have to add them again one at a time to avoid the problem again, and that would be a pain. So, just remove as many as you feel like ( out of 1500 songs or so, I removed a couple hundred ). I left mainly the ones that were from my actual CDs or that I had bought through Amazon ( or other legit source ). I removed most of my Limewire downloads. Most of them are probably fine, but I'll add them later one at a time to be sure...
I still have plenty of Limewire songs on there, and they are fine, but, as you know, you do get bad files sometimes.
Anyways, once I did this, everything is fine and works great. I even started adding album art manually, and at one point it froze again. So, I did steps 1 and 2 again, and removed the album art I last added, and then synced again, and it was fine. Usually, the album art I add is OK, but I had that one pesky photo I guess ). So, I guess the thing is after you get the majority of your music on, just add and adjust things a little at a time, and you'll always know which file is causing you problems ( hopefully no files will!! ).
I hope this works for you. Let me know if you have any questions, and let me know if it solves your issue too!
Peace.
-***

ITunes 8: When downloading album artwork for making thumbnails, it quits?

I just installed iTunes 8, and I tried opening it. It then starts to download the album artwork thumbnails, then all of a sudden a message shows saying,
"iTunes has stopped working, Windows is trying to blablabla.."
Then it forces you to closes the program. I tried pressing cancel before the message pops-up, but when I try to scroll down, it forces me to quit. Any fixes?

If iTunes 8.0 is crashing or freezing while creating artwork thumbnails, you may have a file containing corrupt artwork in your library. The steps to identify that file are somewhat complex and will involve moving and deleting some files, so only attempt them if you are pretty comfortable with performing those tasks.
When you first open iTunes 8, iTunes scans through your album artwork to build a thumbnail cache. You can disable this scan by opening iTunes in Safe Mode.
To open iTunes in Safe Mode:
Mac: Hold down the Command and Option keys while opening iTunes
Windows: Hold down the Ctrl and Shift keys while opening iTunes
If you open iTunes in Safe Mode, iTunes will only cache artwork from the album covers that are visible in the iTunes window. So you can view your library in grid view, and scroll down one row at a time. You will see iTunes generating the thumbnails for each of your albums as you scroll down. This may allow you to see which album is being processed by iTunes when the application crashes or hangs. Once you have an idea which files are causing the issue, locate the folder containing the files themselves in Finder or Windows Explorer, create a zip archive of the album, and delete the files themselves:
To create a Zip archive of the album
Mac: Right-click the folder in Finder that contains the album tracks and choose Compress <folder name>
Windows: Right-click the folder in Windows Explorer that contains the album tracks and choose Send to Compressed Zipped folder
After you have created a zip archive backup of the affected files, and deleted the originals, open iTunes normally (not in safe mode). Scroll back down to where you were when the crash occurred. If you got the right files, iTunes should just skip over that album and keep rendering thumbnails without crashing or hanging. If iTunes hangs or crashes right after the album that you thought was causing the issue, it may have actually been that next album, so repeat the zip and delete steps until you have found the problematic album.
If you identify the album that contains the file that causes the problem, we would be interested in getting a copy of the files to try to analyze the issue further. Please email me <[email protected]> and I will tell you how to send in the affected files for analysis.

Downloading Album Artwork constantly stalls

I've been trying to download artwork for my collection (6900+ albums), and it will stall out during the process. iTunes is still responsive, just the download stops. I'll quit and relaunch, download again, maybe get further along, maybe not. Sometimes it will stall after a few hundred, the most it went through was 3001 before it stalled. I went from wireless to ethernet with no luck. Is there a limit to how much can be downloaded? Any other options other than going through and manually loading each image? I finally consolidated multiple libraries over several drives, weeded out the duplicates, and have it all in one place now. Would love to finish up by getting all the artwork. Any suggestions? FYI, using Comcast... are they screwing with me? Thanks in advance for your help.

What do you mean it's stalling? Download what again? Why don't you break it up into smaller batches. Select a couple hundred albums then from the advanced menu select get album artwork. If that works ok, then the next time increase the number of albums selected. Shouldn't take you too long. Realize that itunes will not find album artwork for all of your albums, only albums available in the itunes store, that are tagged the same as they are in the itunes store. Even then it doesn't always work well.

Album artwork does not download, album artwork does not download

i have windows 7 album artwork does not download even new stuff what could be happening?

It's possible your album artwork isn't there and cannot be obtained as this album no longer appears to be offered for purchase by itunes. Unless I'm overlooking it, when I go to the itunes store and enter "Santana", "Carlos Santana", or "Food For Thought", nothing comes up. I'm thinking if this is an album no longer for sale through itunes, then you won't be able to get that album artwork the way previously have. Unfortunately, I'm not saavy enough to know if it's possible to get the album artwork via another means. But maybe someone else reading this post is.

TS1815 unable to download album artwork

I am re-organising my cd collection and copying to my new desktop using itunes, however, I could not download any album artwork for all the albums (over 450) which I brought (mostly from Hong Kong). I have authorised three computers using the same apple id. When I tried to get album artwork it shown processing album artwork but when end nothing had happened. Can anyone help? I am using window 7 and latest itune version.
Thanks.
Peter

If you can't use iTunes to get artwork you can get it from various other sources and add it manually. I find this site is a good source of artwork:
CD/Album Cover Art Search from SlothRadio.
iTunes 7 for Windows - Adding artwork to songs and other items
Another place for finding suitable artwork is to go to Amazon. You can also locate artwork using Google image search and put the artist or album name. Locate the album from any of those sources, right click on the image and save it to the desktop, once it's there drag it to the iTunes artwork pane. Once you've added the artwork you can either delete the original file or keep it in a folder somewhere in case you need to use it again. Alternatively there are programs like these that help locate artwork: iTunes Art Importer or MP3 Tag
If you have a scanner you can create your own artwork files by scanning the CD cover itself, this is particularly useful when you are dealing with rare recordings.

Cannot Download Album Artwork for Albums I Know Exist on iTunes.

Hi.
Recently I decided to clear all of my album artwork. I selected all of my albums and right clicked on an album, selected "get info," checked the box next to "artwork," and clicked "ok."
With all of the albums already selected I successfully downloaded all of the art except for 20 albums.
For some reason I cannot download the album artwork for twenty albums I know are available on iTunes.
Any help would be much appreciated.
-Thanks

when you right mouse click on a song do you not see this?

Help!! iTunes wont download album artwork

itunes will not upload artwork from the cd's (albums) that were already loaded in my pc (before I added itunes and my ipod). It certainly uploaded EVERYthing else. It says that I don't have directX downloded so, I downloaded it. When I try to get it to download missing artwork, it wont. Now I'm just ill about the whole thing. Please help. Thanks

just go to amazon, find the cds you want, drag the photo to the desktop of your pc and then hook it up to your itunes, tell which songs you want it with and you're done.

Downloading album artwork-- free?

I see that there is an option to get album artwork on the itunes page. Would I be charged to download the artwork or do charges only apply to songs and videos?

Generally it only downloads the artwork for songs you purchased thru the Apple Store. Most times when you use iTunes to rip a CD, it will include the artwork. If not, or if you have files that were ripped by another program or for some reason don't include the art, go to Amazon.com and find the CD and click on it. The display will include the album art. RIGHT click on the album cover and click COPY, which will copy the jpg to your clipboard.
Then go back to iTunes and paste the artwork.

Why wont my itunes download album artwork

when i click 'get album artwork' it says 'artwork could not be found'. ive checked that all the info is correct but it still wont work! help?

iTunes supports two ways to associate cover art with albums:
Right-click on the album and select Get Album Artwork - if the same album is available in the iTunes Store (matched by artist + album title) the artwork will be downloaded automatically. The 'artwork could not be found' indicates either that the album you're looking at is not available in the iTunes Store, or is there with artist/title info sufficiently different from what you have to make a match possible.
Otherwise, you can use artwork from other sources (images found on the 'net, your own scans of CD covers, etc.). Right click on the album, select Get Info, then the Artwork tab. It'll look like this (iTunes 12.1):
You can then add an image in any one of three ways:
Click the Add Artwork button, navigate to and select an image file you want to add, click Open.
Drag and drop an image file from Windows Explorer to the Artwork tab
Copy the image file to the Windows clipboard, either by right-click copy on the image file, right-click copy on the image in a web browser, or copy within any graphics program, Then switch to iTunes and with the Artwork tab selected press Ctrl-V. Prior to iTunes 12 you could also right-click > Paste in this scenario, but - either by intent or as the result of an unfixed bug - this has been missing from iTunes 12.0 and 12.1.

Downloading album artwork freeze

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