Classical Music and iTunes (Story of Failure)

The iTunes store does a nice job of allowing you to separate a Piano Sonata into it's component parts without having to name each song of the Sonata "Piano Sonata #1 in F Major, Op.2 No. 1" "Piano Sonata #1 in F Major, Op. 2. No.2" etc. But this feature is completely missing inside the application itself. It seems peculiar that iTunes dislikes classical music so much (the difficulties of deciding who the "artist" of any classical album has already been discussed (is it the composer or the performer or the director?).
I'm curious if there is any way to solve this or if Apple is ever going to add the fixes that seem to exist in theory in the iTunes store to the application itself. These changes would help in all genres of music where different pieces are divided into movements.
Just thoughts...

There really needs to be the ability to add 'contributor' fields/tags, each with their own label (just like telephone and address fields in Address Book) so you can add a tag for as many contributors as you need. The Artist tag then becomes the one to which you want to associate the recording (the Primary Contributor) and the Album Artist only if that is different from the track data. That way, everyone could set things up however they want, but as has been pointed out the tagging structure of audio files was badly thought out at the start - well, not thought about at all really and it's had to be botched up ever since.
Ideally It should be possible to use an alias for a track to save duplication of music data files, so if a recording is used on multiple Albums, it only needs to be stored once. Which then suggests that there should be an Album container which apart from storing the actual track files (or aliases) could hold all the Album specific data and save repeating it in all the tracks, unless it is different for a track which therefore only holds data pertaining to that recording and hence could be used as an alias elsewhere, i.e. in a different album.
It IS possible to devise a structure that works for ANY music, but sadly, that's not what we've got.

Similar Messages

Classical music on iTunes: lack of proper gaps between movements

I have the latest generation iPod and am using the latest version of iTunes. I purchase primarily classical music on iTunes and am quite annoyed that the gaps between movements (or "tunes" of an "album") are not reproduced properly the way they are on any CD, including of course the original recordings that the digital tunes derive from. Specifically, one movement runs into the next with little or no silence in between. (I am not talking about crossfade, which I disabled.) I submitted a complaint to iTunes but got no human response, just a free "tune."
Does anyone know of this problem being addressed by the iTunes Store? Alternatively, does anyone know an easy way to add a few seconds of silence to the end of selected tunes?
Many thanks in advance for any help!

I don't know of any scripts that will do that or a program that will do that for you. But if you click on the composer and then hit Cmd i. You can mass change all of the information by that composer. You can do the same thing with Album and Genre.

Organizing classical music with itunes

I am having trouble handling my classical music on itunes. I would like to be able to look up music by style and/or period (for example romantic, or renaissance) and then by composer, and then by instrument (for example oboe) and then by piece.
I listen to all kinds of music and am happy with the method itunes gives me with all but classical. I like to shuffle my music but shuffling classical is disasterous. How can I make sure that the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd movement are always played in correct order and kept together as a separate "song" en toto when I want my ipod to shuffle all music but classical?
I would also like at least two separate artist search lists. Although I don't mind coming across Beatles next to Beach Boys I don't particularly want to come across Beach Boys next to Brahms.
I have been struggling with this on my own for some time and coming up short so I figured to see if there was a better way by coming here. Any help is appreciated.

I am having trouble handling my classical music on itunes. I would like to be able to look up music by style and/or period (for example romantic, or renaissance) and then by composer, and then by instrument (for example oboe) and then by piece.
You could add thet information into the comments area and do a smart playlist, but this is a limitation of the tagging format.
I listen to all kinds of music and am happy with the method itunes gives me with all but classical. I like to shuffle my music but shuffling classical is disasterous. How can I make sure that the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd movement are always played in correct order
Shuffle by nature randomizes tracks. You can exclude tracks from being shuffled but short of importing the pieces as one big track, you cannot bring control to something random.
I would also like at least two separate artist search lists. Although I don't mind coming across Beatles next to Beach Boys I don't particularly want to come across Beach Boys next to Brahms.
Thats the nature of alphabetization. The problem of a second artist search is that it destroys the continuity of searches. That just won't happen.

HT1386 Just downloaded 7.2 into my Iphone 5 what a mess. Dropped called no audible notifications for email or text messages. Went to the apple store and reset phone to original specs. Now trying to restore apps and music and itunes will not recognize th

Just downloaded 7.2 into my Iphone 5 what a mess. Dropped called no audible notifications for email or text messages. Went to the apple store and reset phone to original specs. Now trying to restore apps and music and itunes will not recognize the phone. I have gone thur the steps for windows 7 and still nothing??? I have downloaded the newest version I itunes too.

Hi Midwestboy,
If your iPhone isn't being recognized by iTunes on your Windows machine, you may find the following article helpful:
iOS: Device not recognized in iTunes for Windows
http://support.apple.com/kb/TS1538
Regards,
- Brenden

How can I transfer music and iTunes from my mac to my iPhone?

I have a macbook air and need to transfer some of my music and itunes from my mac to my newly updates iphone4. Previously I used to drag what I wanted from my itunes to my phone but now it doesn't work. Any ideas?

First step, of course, is to plug your iPhone into your Macbooks Air. Then, you need to set up syncing how you want it in iTunes (on the MBA). If you want to be able to drag and drop music, select "manually manage music" on the Summary pane in iTunes.

I'm trying to buy some music and iTunes says there is not enough memory available?

I'm trying to buy some music and iTunes says there is not enough memory available?

I found the answer for real. I called apple and talked to some dude. All you have to do is clear your payment information, save it and then re-enter it. thats the bug, thats it.
go to the store drop down menu on the itunes toolbar... click view my account... click edit payment information... select 'none' for your credit card...click done... then try and buy your music... if you have a gift card or whatever. if you are just using your credit card or debit card, re-enter your payment information.
it worked for me i hope it works for you.

ITunes library is split between iTunes/iTunes Music and iTunes/iTunes Media/Music

My itunes library is split between iTunes/iTunes Music and iTunes/iTunes Media/Music, what should I do to combine them? I would like all my iTunes stuff to be in one, organized, location.

Here are typical layouts for the iTunes folders:
If you have upgraded from version 8 (or earlier) to iTunes 9 (or later) at some point, then your media folder (everything inside the red outline) may still be called iTunes Music instead of iTunes Media. The extra Music folder inside the media folder is used if you have allowed iTunes to Upgrade to iTunes Media Organization (iTunes 9) or used File > Library > Organize Library > Reorganize files in the folder "<Media Folder>" (iTunes 10). Depending on your choices for Keep iTunes Media folder organized and Copy files to iTunes Media folder when adding to library plus a little bug in which one build changed the name of the file storing the choice of layout it is quite easy for some of your files to be organized according to one layout and some the other.
Somehow it seems you've also managed to get both an iTunes Music and an iTunes Media folder. I'd recommend you make sure the media folder preference is set to iTunes Media before you continue...
Assuming you're happy letting iTunes organize your files the following steps should tidy things up (should it be necessary):
1. Select File > Library > Organize Library... > Tick Reorganize files in the folder "<Media Folder>" and click OK. Skip if this option is greyed out (already upgraded) or you prefer the older layout.
2. Select File > Library > Organize Library... > Tick Consolidate files and click OK. This will bring any files currently organised outside the designated media folder into it. NB This will create duplicate copies of any file that needs to be consolidated, and you will need to manually clean up afterwards. If space is at a premium try my scripts Unconsolidated to find out what would need moving and ConsolidatebyMoving to move rather than copy it.
3. Select Edit > Preferences > Advanced tab, uncheck Keep iTunes Media folder organized and click OK.
4. Select Edit > Preferences > Advanced tab, check Keep iTunes Media folder organized and click OK. This triggers iTunes into reorganizing everything according to your preferences.
5. (Optional) Close iTunes, rename the folder iTunes Music as iTunes Media then restart iTunes. Check under Edit > Preferences > Advanced tab that the location has automatically updated. If you can't access the media for any reason just undo the folder rename. (Not relevant in this instance).
6. (Optional - Windows only) If Windows Media Player has ever had access to your files it may have liberally scattered folder artwork files about which iTunes won't tidy up when it reorganizes things, thus leaving behind a heap of folders with artwork and no media. I've written a script for cleaning this mess up called CleanDeadArt.
PS If you really prefer the older layout, but it is already in the new one then edit the file called .iTunes Preferences.plist in your media folder and change the integer from 1 to 0 before doing step 3.
tt2

Music and iTunes directories are greyed out on my ipod

My ipod worked fine until I tried to add more songs and I got a error message. Now iTunes does not recognize my ipod. My ipod will show up in My computer but the music and iTunes directories are greyed out. I have tried the 5 Rs and these have not helped. I can not do anything though iTunes because it does not show my ipod. Any suggestions or where I can download new directories for my ipod? Thanks for your help.
Windows Windows XP

My ipod does not show in iTunes. The only song on the playlist is on-the-go. Also, the ipods control directory on the ipod is greyed out. It is not automatically downloading songs.

IPod classic - iPod and iTunes is not recognizing music files

Here's the problem I am having:
iPod is saying there is "no music" on the iPod. Yet, when you view the settings and files it shows there to be 70GB worth of data - that is how much music I have. iTunes is also not recognizing iPod either. I also get an error stating:
"iTunes cannot read the contents of __ iPod. Go to the summary tab in iPod preferences and click RESTORE to restore this iPod to it's factory settings". It's also not reading anything from the Music database.
This is the 2nd time I've had this error in the past two months. It happened in August - I noticed it had happened as I disconnected my iPod from my computer. The first time was when I tried to eject from iTunes. It said the files were currently in use by another program (I had nothing running, what program?), so I "safely removed" as I would a USB device. The 2nd time happened similarly, though not before iTunes locked up totally and would not let me eject from there. The last time I had this problem, I also removed each file/folder manually from iPod control, to hard drive, and restored iPod, and put them back on iPod. However, this time I am not so fortunate as it gives me an error when I attempt to copy stating either the "parameter is incorrect", or "cyclic redundancy error". Some of these files that are giving me this error at some point during the process have been accessible and working fine, and other times they are not, as I successfully copied five folders worth of data without error, then after I started getting errors with the next folders, attempted to copy one of the same folders into a different directory, which THEN gave me an error. I'm not sure what's going on here, but this is proving to be quite the pain and never experienced these problems with my 60GB iPod, which I did not take nearly as good of care as I have this one - and is still working with all of my original music on it.
My question is how do I solve any of these errors, and what would be the best course of action to take? I have a 160 GB Classic iPod. Warranty expired (probably) September, and purchased from Circuit City.
*I DO NOT wish to "Restore" unless absolutely necessary as I have 18,000 songs on my iPod. Restoring this would be cumbersome, and I keep my music on my iPod as I do NOT have the hard drive space to store it with*
Please help!
-dgo

Place the iOS device in Recovery Mode and then connect to your computer and restore via iTunes. The iPod will be erased.
iOS: Wrong passcode results in red disabled screen
If recovery mode does not work try DFU mode.
How to put iPod touch / iPhone into DFU mode « Karthik's scribblings
For how to restore:
iTunes: Restoring iOS software
To restore from backup see:
iOS: How to back up
If you restore from iCloud backup the apps will be automatically downloaded. If you restore from iTunes backup the apps and music have to be in the iTunes library since synced media like apps and music are not included in the backup of the iOS device that iTunes makes.
You can redownload iTunes purchases by:
Downloading past purchases from the App Store, iBookstore, and iTunes Store

2 users, but same Music and iTunes Library?

Is this possible?
Currently my wife plugs her iPhone into her user setting and syncs her music and photos as per her iTunes and iPhoto library. I do the same with my iPod Classic in my user account.
Trouble is that historically we have kept all our camera taken photos in my iPhoto Library (so we have everything together), but now she wants to be able to upload snaps taken with her iPhone to our Mac, and be able to download older/camera taken snaps to her iPhone.
On the music side of things my wife has a library made up of ripped CDs that are stored on the Shared User account and have been manually 'added to library'. Adding music in this way is a real bind as I have to rip in my user setting (with the library housed in the Shared User folder) and she then has to route out new additions.
And then there's my recently purchased Apple TV. I can see a way to access 'her' music, but what about photos?
I just want all of our music and photos, regardless of who ripped or uploaded them to be available to both of us - on the Mac, our portable devices and the Apple TV, with our own playlists/albums created in our own accounts.
Am I asking too much? Does 10.5 address this (I'm going to be upgrading in the next couple of weeks)
Thanks

I can share my wife's library in iTunes, and vice versa, but this does not solve the problem
Sharing the library only gives access to the other person's library and playlists for playback purposes (I think). As far as I'm aware it doesn't allow my wife to create her own playlists when sharing my library from within her User Account.
My wife would only plug her iPhone into the Mac when logged in to her User Account as she needs to sync her Contacts and iCal across USB (she doesn't pay silly money for a duff MobileMe account - and they are duff - I've given up in mine). As such she can only sync with what is in 'her' library. And that's the issue - we have to have 2 libraries!
As for iPhoto, again, I'm fairly sure that sharing my library won't mean that she can either upload to it from within her User Account or download from it to put 'shared' photos onto her iPhone.
However, I'll check tonightand post back.
Message was edited by: TWH3

I have double IDs for Itunes. How can I delete one without losing my music. Also, I want to synce my new desktop computer with my older i4s. All devices are registered to do so. However, last time I tried I almost lost all music and Itunes BARELY supp

I have double ID's for Itunes. How can I keep all my music and get rid of the ID that I do not want. It was an issue when I tried to transfer music .. I contacted Itunes and they BARELY helped me get the music back. They also would only allow me to chose one ID to replenish the music (wich was lost) to my new device. So, I chose the ID that showed more music. I am irritated that I still have 2 ID's and can't really figure out why they both have the same music. Oldest to newest purchases are shown on both id's. Also, I am afraid to sync now because they told me it was a one time deal. When docked my phone to my new computer all of the music is shown on my computer now. However not on my I phone.

I had the same problem. I solved by (I use Windows7, should be same for OSX):
1. copying the library from the older computer to the new computer, at the usual itunes media location.
2. on new computer's itunes preference (advance), uncheck the box "Copy files to iTunes media folder when adding to library"
3. open up this folder of media copied over from old computer, just drag over to itunes library, cursor will turn into plus sign.
4. since you unchecked the box for "Copy files to iTunes media folder when adding to library", you are in effect only growring the new computer's itunes library's database. Your media files are already under the folder on the new computer.
Now when you connect iphone to this new computer and tells you it wants to erase your iphone's library in order to sync with this one, go ahead, click yes. Why is this ok now? Because you've copied all your files over to the new computer. So when you sync again, your existing files are there on the new computer.
You should export play lists on the older computer to be imported on the new computer though.

Music in 2 locations, iTunes media music and iTunes music folder???????

I have music in 2 locations, iTunes media music and a iTunes music folder. The media/music folder appears to have more content. What is the difference between these two locations and can one be deleted without losing content?

With iTunes 8 and earlier the "correct" location for music was:
<User's Music>\iTunes\iTunes Music\<Artist>\<Album>\## <Name>.<Ext>
Since iTunes 9 this has become:
<User's Music>\iTunes\iTunes Media\Music\<Artist>\<Album>\## <Name>.<Ext>
If your library started in the old layout it may have been inadvertently switched to the new one at some point, with a mix of content in both locations.
Check under Edit > Preferences > Advanced that the media folder location is set to <User's Music>\iTunes\iTunes Media (assuming your library is stored in the usual place).
Under File > Library > Organize Library... tick "Rearrange files...", if possible, and "Consolidate files", then click OK. This will drag in copies of any file currently stored outside of the media folder.
Assuming you're happy letting iTunes organize your media then under Edit > Preferences > Advanced turn "Keep..." off, Click OK, then go back and turn it on again. This will ensure that everything is set out in the current layout.
Anything now stored outside iTunes Media, e.g. in ..\iTunes\iTunes Music, is now a disconnected copy and can be safely deleted.
You should also backup your library, ideally before you start tidying up just in case something goes wrong and you need to revert.
tt2

I can't sync music and iTunes no longer recognizes my early nano.

I have an early nano, 2G storage. Original install was on my desktop, which had a harddrive crash. Reinstalled on laptop while desktop was being fixed, no problems for a while. Put back on desktop once repaired. I can no longer sync music to my nano from either computer, iTunes on the desktop does not recognize the nano when it is attached, and iTunes and iStore don't recognize my name or password. I'd really like to update my playlist. What are my possible solutions?

Hello Christinaaa_,
The following article provides some useful troubleshooting that can help resolve this issue.
iOS: Troubleshooting USB-related alerts when syncing
http://support.apple.com/kb/TS5254
Cheers,
Allen

Help! All music and itunes data is not on my iPhone. Where is it lost to?

Hi
Yesterday I was listening to music from my iPhone, and today, after downloading some new podcasts on iTunes, suddenly all my former/usual music collection, podcasts, iTunes U casts, everything are gonE!!
I didn't connect iPhone to computer, and all these are still on iTunes on my computer.
When downloading new podcasts I received no messages about storage at limit.
So what happened?
How to please get it all back.
Am nervous to connect back to computer and iTunes on pc in case the blank iPhone iTunes wipes the real PC iTunes!
iPhone capacity currently at 29.3GB, 411MB available.
Thank you.

Syncing your phone will restore the iTunes content to your phone. I suspect the content has not actually been deleted from your phone, just not visible due to a glitch(it's happened before). Re-syncing will fix things.

Managing music and iTunes from an external hard drive

I have a large quantity of music that I have downloaded to an external hard drive. I used Windows Media to download the music to the hard drive. What I want to do is keep my music and photos on the hard drive but be able to access the files from my laptop (Mac Book Pro). I don't want to take up the hard disc space on the laptop, so how do I make sure that all future cd's imported go the the hard drive (and not necessarily to the "iTunes" folder), are stored as the individual cd/artist name, and are then easily retrieved by iTunes for burning?
Scott

Niel,
You've got me most of the way there! I redirected the iTunes Music Folder location to the external hard drive, and specified the folder on the hard drive that includes all the previously ripped/downloaded music. Then I did the "consolidate library" command, which was successful in putting the minimal music already in my iTunes library onto the external hard drive. Finally, to get all the music from my external hard drive into the Library, I deselected the "copy files to the iTunes music folder when adding to the library" and then "add to library" the folder that is on the hard drive containing all the music I want to be able to browse and select to put on my iPod. Unfortunately, only some of the music came across. It copied about 20 gigs of the music, of which there is 135 gigs of music to copy...???
All I'm trying to do here is maintain a large volume of music (and eventually photos) on an external hard drive, and be able to use iTunes to access the music for placement on my iPod. What have I missed in my implementation here?
Many thanks for you kind advice and help! Scott

Classical Music and iTunes (Story of Failure)

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