Artist Name Sorting

Is there a way to sort my iTunes library (both on the Mac and iPhone) by the artist's last name? For example, Dylan instead of Bob, Lennon instead of John, etc.?

Yes, change the *Sort Artist* and *Sort Album Album* to, for example, *Dylan, Bob*. You can do this for a single track, choose one he also composed and change *Sort Composer* too, then right/option/cmd-click on that track and click *Apply Sort Field > All Matching Fields* which should update every other Bob Dylan track in your library.
Note there is a little organisational bug in current builds which might mean that the artist's name doesn't move in the column browser until you close and reopen iTunes.
See http://samsoft.org.uk/iTunes/grouping.asp for general tips.
tt2

Similar Messages

  • Non-English artist name sorting

    Hello! I just bought my iPod Touch today, and it's my first ever iPod so i'm still getting used to it. I have a question, though, regarding how artists are sorted.
    I bought my Touch in Japan (finally found a store with stock!), and I would say 90% of my music is in Japanese. However, the artists whose names are written in kana/kanji just get lumped at the bottom past "Z" and under the "." part of the alphabet, rather than either being appropriately sorted in under the appropriate English letter, or having their own kana section in the list.
    Is this just how iPods are, or is there something that I can do to have them sort in properly?
    Thanks,
    Matt

    the artists whose names are written in kana/kanji just get lumped at the bottom past "Z" and under the "." part of the alphabet, rather than either being appropriately sorted in under the appropriate English letter, or having their own kana section in the list.
    I'm curious -- does Windows Vista sort them the way you want them in iTunes or elsewhere? As far as I know, the international standards for sorting multilingual lists would always keep different scripts separate, and follow Unicode order for example for Kana and then separately for Kanji.
    http://www.unicode.org/charts/collation/

  • Sorting artist names different with English and German iTunes

    I just got a iPod and theres only one thing that bothers me. I used to use OS X with English language and then artists are sortet after the name, ignoring the "the" in many names ("the Beatles" sorted under "B"). I recently switched the laguage to German and then all the artist with "the" in the name (like "the Beatles" ) are sorted under "T" in iTunes and on my iPod. Is is possible to change this? I want to use german language on my Mac, but I still want the artists names sorted like they used to be.
    I´m using iTunes 7.0.2 and OS X 1.4.3.

    You will want to refer to this article in the Apple Knowledge Base which explains the new sorting rules that have been introduced in recent versions of iTunes.
    To workaround it, you will have to make use of the also recently introduced Sorting tab that is described at the bottom of the above-referenced article.
    You can get "The Who" sorted as "Who" by entering Who in the Artist Sort field.
    Information you enter in the Sort fields will not change what is displayed for those items, only how it is sorted.

  • Capitalise Artist Names

    A bit of an esoteric request but...
    As is pretty standard I have my Artist names sorted by Surname, but listed as First Name/Surname
    So for eg Johnny Cash appears in the list before Bob Dylan.
    All fine, but to make the alpahbetic listing clearer when scanning the list I'd like to have the surname capitalised.
    So for eg Johnny CASH, Bob DYLAN
    This is straight forward enough when I add new artists - I simply write their Surname in capitals but...
    For existing entries iTunes is not at all co-operative - it already has the artist name written in lower case in its memory and insists on listing it as such.
    Looks like I need to do something like
    (a) give the artist a new temporary name,
    (b) erase the original name from itunes memory,
    (c) rename the artist in the format I want.
    (a) and (c) are straight forward enough - any suggestions on how I can achieve: (b) erase the original name from memory ?
    or... is there a better way of achieving what I'm trying to do ?

    The problem may be you are adding something at the end.  I can edit the middle part of a tag with autocomplete behavior without it changing back to the original as long as I don't try to change anything at the end of the tag.
    So I can change:
    Cash, Johnny
    to:
    CASH, Johnny
    without problem as long as I don't put an X at the end because it is only changing things at the end of the line
    that triggers the autocomplete behavior.
    If instead of going back and editing "cash" I start typing 'CASH Joh...' then it triggers autocomplete.  I have to edit only "Cash".

  • Alphabetical sorting of Music Artists [Name of Artist] All Songs?

    When I go to Music>Artists>[Name of Artist]>All Songs, it sorts the songs by album, is there a way to have this sorted alphabetically instead, without regard to album? Basically I want a way to view an alphabetical list of songs by a certain artist without making a million playlists. This would only apply to Music>Artists>[Artist]>All Songs, I want everything else to stay as is. This is for a current gen Ipod Classic. Also, would doing this (if it's even possible) mess up the sorting of artists who I only have one album for (I would want these to stay sorted by track number)?

    Regarding the playlists, just click on the NAME column within each playlist to sort the list by name. Make sure the shuffle icon is not selected before you do this. Your playlists will be in Track Name order now. (You must do this for EACH playlist)
    I believe when choosing an individual artist, then choosing all albums by that artist, the tracks will be sorted by album name then track number per album, so the ALBUMS will be played in alphabetical order, but the songs will play in the track order of each album. There is no way to chage this, as far as I know.
    There may be a workaround for this by removing all the track numbers from all of your files. However, this will mess up your album order if you ever wish to listen to individual albums.
    To each his own, I know, but hearing all songs in alphabetical order drives me insane.

  • Can't override artist name when sorting by artist

    iTunes has selected about half my library of Nine Inch Nails (hasn't been updated or shifted by me for years) and is displaying the artist name as "seasonsinthesky", which I've never heard of - but only when I'm browsing by artist (i.e. all data appears correct when browsing by Song).
    All the "Get Info" data is correct, but it won't pick up "Nine Inch Nails" in search and doesn't display that half of the artist files under that artist name. I would love to fix this, but there appears to be nothing to actually manually correct, as the data and the filing system all seem correct!
    This seems to have just happened with iTunes 11 and I've only just noticed it. It also doesn't appear to have happened with any other artists.
    Any thoughts would be most appreciated!

    Hi AurelianoNile,
    Thanks for your response. I have checked the sort tab and all the data appears correct. (And identical to the other half of the NIN tracks that are still behaving correctly).
    I'm still stuck

  • Artist Name not sorting

    I'm having trouble when I import new artists into Itunes. Suddenly, if it's a new artist
    Itunes will sort it to the right genre list but won't list the artist. I tried "get info" for the
    cd and sorting by artist name but still nothing comes up.
    Any help?

    Hi, welcome to Apple Discussions.
    iTunes doesn't do multi-layered sorts, or rather it does sometimes, but as users we have no control over them. Take, for example, the *Album by Year* view and you'll see that is has sub-ordering on quite a few values. In pseudo-SQL it's something like this:
    SELECT * FROM Tracks ORDER BY Sort Album Artist, Year (Of 1st Track of Album), Sort Album, Disc #(Empties Last), Track #(Empties Last)
    Where there is no Sort Album Artist value it is infered from Album Artist, Sort Artist or Artist. Where there is no Sort Album it is infered from Album.
    When you click to sort on the Year column any previous ordering is discarded. If the tracks are in the wrong order then all you can do is click again to change between an ascending or descening sort.
    A quick look at my tracks sorted by Genre suggests as if the result is something like this:
    SELECT * FROM Tracks ORDER BY Genre, Sort Artist, Sort Album, Disc #(Empties Last), Track #(Empties Last)
    Again, it doesn't matter which columns you click before selecting Genre tere's nothing you can do to get the sort you're after. Personally I'd stick with Album by Artist (which is actually Album by Album Artist) and turn on the Genre in the Column Browser so that you can show all albums in a particular genre in a sensible order.
    For general tips on grouping & ordering tracks in iTunes see http://samsoft.org.uk/iTunes/grouping.asp
    tt2

  • How do I sort by artist name on I tunes

    how do I sort by artist name on I tunes

    Sorry Chris - that doesn't work unless you want the albums all listed. What I found was so simple.  In the view catagoryclick on "Show View Options"  That brings up a whole table of things. At the top it says sort by and if you click on the arrow it brings up however you want it sorted  - in my case by artist instead of by song.
    Thanks anyway

  • How do I get my artists to sort by last name on my new ipod touch?

    How do I get my artists to sort on my ipod touch 5th gen? I have tried all the sort fields in my iTunes, and that appears to have worked there, but even after I sync the ipod touch to it, the artists still appear on the ipod by first name. I am new to the ipod touch, my classic just died recently, very unhappy that I couldn't replace it.

    http://support.apple.com/kb/HT4221

  • How do I sort music in the iTunes library by Genre followed by Year instead of Artist Name?

    I am currently using the iTunes Library to organize my music. I find that the library by default arranges music into folders by Artist Name. Is there any way to first make it arrange the music by Genre and then by Year instead of Artist Name within the folders? Since I have music in different languages and use this music in other music software as well, sorting by Genre will be extremely helpful. I hope someone can help me out.
    Thanks in Advance!

    Sorry, I missed part 2. Unless CS4.2 has added a true "Group" function, like in InDesign, Illustrator, etc., there is not a direct way to keep Selected Clips together. However, you can put them on their own Sequence and then Nest that Sequence with others. This is often done, so that one can apply Effects "globally" to that Nested Sequence. [Note: there is no real Group function in Titler either, but for many operations, one can Select multiple Text Blocks, Shapes, Lines, etc., but there is no way to permanently "hold" that group.]
    The Alt-click in the Project Panel, for instance, will allow one to drag all to the Timeline, and the Shift-click (or lasso w/ Cursor) in the Timeline will allow one to apply certain things to that group, but the moment that any other Clip is Selected, that "group," does not exist.
    I can see a use for a real Group function, but for things like the application of Effects, one would still need to do the Nesting. Test this out by Selecting just two Clips, and go to apply an Effect - you cannot do that. OTOH, one can apply an Effect to one Clip, Rt-click it and choose Copy, then Select multiple Clips and Rt-click on those, where you would Paste Attributes. Not exactly what I think you are asking about, but the results, with just a few clicks, should be the same.
    If I missed your intent and need, let me know where I went wrong.
    Good luck,
    Hunt

  • About 'Sort Artist' name

    Hi
    i am trying to find out,
    as some of my songs' "sort artist" is grey in color (instead of black),
    and if the "sort artist" content word is grey in color, it will automatically sort songs with same ARTIST name to have the same "sort artist" name.
    EG: if the ARTIST name is The Pussycat Dolls, and the "sort artist" name is Pussycat Dolls (grey in color instead of black), all songs ARTIST name with 'The Pussycat Dolls' will automatically change the "sort artist" name to Pussycat Dolls.
    EG: if the ARTIST name is The Pussycat Dolls, and the "sort artist" name is Pussycat Dolls (black in color), all songs ARTIST name with 'The Pussycat Dolls' will not automatically change the "sort artist" name to Pussycat Dolls.
    May I know how to set the "sort artist" name to become grey color so that it will automatically change the "sort artist" name for all ARTIST with the same name?
    Anyone's soonest help will be appreciated.
    Thank you
    Grace Tang

    Further to my question, when I plug in and select my iPad 2 I don't have the same problem.  I have restored the settings on my iPod Touch and updated both iTunes and iPod Touch software and restarted my iPod touch.  Nothing has made any difference.

  • When sorting, Itunes ignores "The" of my artists names

    When sorting, Itunes ignores "The" of my artist name.
    Is it normal?
    Like "The Offsprings" is sort with my "O" artist.
    Is there a way that I tune would recognize it?

    Ok but its weird, itunes recognize The on my bros laptop and not on mine.

  • Upgrade to 7.0.2 deletes artist name, Album sorting, importing files

    Well, I use iTunes at work on a PC and it *****. I lost 90% of the artist name appearing in the Artist column. They show in Info for each song. How can I get them to show upm again. Also, on the PC version everytime I click Album it changes to Album by Artist, Album by Year, then to back to Album all of them in alphabetic descending order. I no longer can reverse the order. Finally, I have tried to import a few folders of music using the file method and itunes just links to the folder. None of this absurd behaviors happen on my macs nor do I ever want them to ever do it. Apple either send post a work around or upgrade and fix these annoying problems. These discussion threads are too bureacratic and time consuming to read.

    These discussion threads are too bureacratic and time consuming to read.
    Can't argue with you there, Stephen. I'm going to get the heck out of here ... ; - )
    But before I do, I can address one of your issues.
    Also, on the PC version everytime I click Album it changes to Album by Artist, Album by Year, then to back to Album all of them in alphabetic descending order. I no longer can reverse the order.
    If you click on the words Album, Album by Artist, Album by Year, the column cycles through those headings but if you click on the actual arrow at the top, the heading remains the same and the arrow changes direction.

  • How do I fix my problem with Artist and Sort Artist?

    I have all my songs sorted by Artist and because I have songs that feature other artists I use the sort artist field.
    In itunes it all looks fine but when I sync it with my iPod Nano 5th Gen one of the artists names comes up as the artist for all songs.
    Eg. I have 5 B.o.B songs.The Artist field has B.o.B and the featured artist so it looks like -B.o.B feat. Hayley Williams-. The sort artist field along with album artist and sort album artist field are all only B.o.B.
    My problem is that when I sync them onto my iPod all the songs by B.o.B appear under B.o.B feat. Rivers Cumo when I sort by Artist despite this only being the artist for one and all listed with the same format as above. They all also come up with the Artist as B.o.B feat. River Cumo when I play one of the songs.
    Is there anyway to fix this so on my iPod they all appear under B.o.B when sorting by Artist but when I play the song it gives me the artist name? I'd prefer not to have to put the featured artist in the song title.

    This sometimes happens if your MacBook battery is swollen, and pushes on the underside of the trackpad.
    Some users forgot that an alternate input device, like a tablet, does not shut off when set aside -- it continues to provide input at the same time as the mouse you put your hand on.

  • Artist name fail in iTunes 8

    hello
    since I downloaded iTunes 8, I have the following problem
    in the main library, artist names are dissapeared, there is only one:
    Collections.
    When I change some albums in no collection instead of yes,
    then iTunes separates every song from eachother, also within one album.
    This means that it uses an unbelievable big list of songs because every song uses a lot of space because of the albumillustrations.
    So there are two options:
    with collections, there are no artist to sort fast
    without collections, itunes uses very long lists (I have over 95GB music listed in itunes)
    I didn't had this problem in uTunes 7, there everything was collection, so every album uses one album illustration, and the lists are short. Besides that I also had a long list of artists in main library.
    Is this is bug in iTunes 8??

    Hey there,
    One thing you should check is to make sure the album is not listed as a compilation. To do this, highlight the all the songs from the album and right->click +Get Info+ from the Menu. When the window pops up, head over to the Info tab and in the bottom right hand corner you will see "Part of a compilation" with a check box next to it. Make sure there is no check mark. If there isn't one, check it, and then uncheck it again and then hit Ok. See if that helps.
    B-rock

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