Convert Music while Keeping Play Count, etc.

I've just come to the conclusion that AAC sounds significantly better than MP3 at the same bitrate. I've also noticed from using my own music that a song that's 128-kbps AAC sounds just as good as 160-kbps MP3.
When I first started using iTunes (back in my Windoze days), I imported the majority of my music as 160-kbps MP3 and continued doing so after I got my MBP.
Now since I realized that I could have the same quality of music take up much less space if I use 128-kbps AAC, I would like to convert my MP3s to AAC. However, when doing this in iTunes, it does not copy the play count, last played, etc. While it wouldn't be a big deal if I only had a few hundred songs, I have over 2500 that I would want to convert.
Does anyone know of a way (or another application) that can convert my MP3s to AAC and keep play counts and other tags?
Tanks in advance for any help.

bcr88 wrote:
Well, that's the problem. I've got everything figured out about how I'd convert my music and remove the originals. But my problem is I don't want to lose my play counts. If were just a couple songs, I could just run up the play count on my own, but I have way too many songs to do that to.
That's why I'm trying to find out if there's some way (a script or another application) to convert my files and keep all that information.
Sorry, but you cannot. Converting music formats creates a new separate file. It is supposed to work that way due to the differences in file qualities and other details. Playcount can only be manipulated by either playing the tracks through or editing the iTunes database (something I do not recommend)

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Transferring music to an external hard drive while keeping play counts

Hello all.
I received a 250 GB external hard drive for my birthday yesterday as my internal one was getting very full. I decided that I would transfer my 3000+ songs on to it in hopes of clearing some room. Now, I know that once you move a file from its original destination (I did not have the "Copy to iTunes Music Folder" setting enabled) but I have consolidated my library and now everything is in that folder.
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Hi,
here is the correct procedure for moving your music to an external drive - http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1364
Regards

Moving iTunes From PC to Mac keeping play counts etc.

I am trying to move my iTunes from a PC ( XP ) to a Mac ( OS X ). I have moved the entire iTunes folder which contains the XML file and music folder to the mac using an external hard drive. The PC was consolidated before the copy. On the Mac I found and replaced the PC file location to Mac file location (text editor). I then corrupted the iTunes Library.itl ( I believe that was the file). I Then dragged the edited XML file into iTunes without opening it (dragged it over the icon on the dock). It then started to rebuild the library. I thought i worked great. Which it did.
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I am trying to move my iTunes from a PC ( XP ) to a Mac ( OS X ). I have moved the entire iTunes folder which contains the XML file and music folder to the mac using an external hard drive. The PC was consolidated before the copy. On the Mac I found and replaced the PC file location to Mac file location (text editor). I then corrupted the iTunes Library.itl ( I believe that was the file). I Then dragged the edited XML file into iTunes without opening it (dragged it over the icon on the dock). It then started to rebuild the library. I thought i worked great. Which it did.
Problem: I am missing about 400 out of 3000 songs. There is no reference in the Mac iTunes XML. The Library is 32GB. I have all the movies, which is a large chunk of that. It is very very important that i keep the data related to those song ( play counts, ratings... ).
The songs are in the iTunes Music folder
I've looked at guides by Lifehacker, Macrumors,
Please help. Thank you!!

Move itunes library from one computer to another while keeping data (e.g date added, play counts etc.)

Hi guys,
I'm really sorry if this question has been asked before but I just upgraded my computer and I want to move all of my itunes library from my old one while keeping all of my info.
I tried copying the xml files but my new computer has a different location for the songs so they wont show up in the library.
Thanks

The following article(s) may help you.
Moving your iTunes library to a new computer

Rebuild library, but keep play counts?

My large library has been working great. It is kept on the internal drive. The problem is none of my music is showing up in the media browser of an open dialogue box on any Apple apps (mail, iphoto, etc) and most 3rd party apps. It has been suggested I rebuild the library, which is done by trashing 2 files, iTunes library and the XML file. I hesitate to do this because my gut feeling tells me this will delete metadata, such as play counts. I would really like to keep my play counts, as I do use them in smart playlists? Any thoughts? Thanks.

I don't know if the media browser uses it, but the XML file is provided for third party programs as a way of querying the iTunes database. The name of the XML file is iTunes Music Library.xml if your library is in the standard location of the user's Music folder. If you relocate the library somewhere else the XML file is iTunes Library.xml. Perhaps there is an empty non-updating file in one location and media browser isn't watching the correct one. Or it could be something else entirely. The XML file is safe to delete however, so it's worth a shot if you haven't already tried it. Trashing the library file and rebuilding from the XML is another issue as certain metadata (date added for example) will be lost with that method.
tt2

HT204053 3 iphones, 3 ipods and a pad...can we share music while keeping contacts and photos seperate but backed up with 1 apple id and 1 icloud?

I have an apple id account set up with an icloud; I would like to continue to share the music from my devices while keeping the contacts and photos seperate, is this possible? My wife and daughter received iphones for Christmas, I set up my daughters phone to my cloud and all of my contacts and photos ended up on her phone. Is there a way to keep them seperate in 1 cloud (with folders or something) or does each phone need its own icloud? And if so, can we still keep 1 apple id for music purchases or will we not be able to share music anymore? Thank you for any help you can provide, I am confused with all of this as we are fairly new to the apple world.

Welcome to the Apple Community.
iTunes and iCloud are separate things. You can keep using a single ID for iTunes and use separate ID's for iCloud, thereby keeping mail, contact etc separate.

How do i transfer library (including play counts etc.) to my new computer?

I want to keep all the info like play counts, what is "checked" and unchecked, and star ratings. This wouldn't happen if i just loaded the songs would it?
My new computer doesn't have iTunes installed yet. I have all the related files from my old computer on an outboard hard drive. All the songs, all the podcsts, and the library file. Pretty much all the data from my section of a shared computer. I also have my iPod which contains most of my library.
How do i go about this? All the music-inclined people said i need other software, but i just want to move my library to my new computer, surely this is a pretty standard thing that iTunes should be able to do by itself?
The new computer is on Vista, i think the old one was windows XP. I got all the data from the old computer about 3 months ago so it's probably from whatever version of iTunes was out then.
Also are there any hurdles to registering my computer to my iTunes account and anything i should do before syncing my iPod to it? (I don't intend to use the old computer again).

See if this helps: Copying personal photos and videos from iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch to your computer.
There are several different apps that enable you to easily transfer data such as PhoneDisk, Pod To Mac - VersionTracker or MacUpdate.

When I use Home share is it capable to transfer my playlists and play counts, etc?

Hi, i got a new laptop and Im trying to transfer about 60 Gb of music and videos to it from an old itunes account. I really want my playlists, the original dates i added the songs, and the play counts to be transferred as well. Can i do that with home sharing?
I also got an external harddrive and Itunes support said that I could transfer all the info I wanted but when I tried, it didnt work. Any advise?

Sofa_bed37 wrote:
Can i do that with home sharing?
home sharing will not transfer playcounts, ratings, and original "date added". you can transfer playlists but the actual music files will not be copied to the homeshared library, i.e. they must be already present in the other library.
to do what you want you need a 3rd party tool such as TuneRanger.
I also got an external harddrive and Itunes support said that I could transfer all the info I wanted but when I tried, it didnt work. Any advise?
you can use the external. assuming all your media files are in the default location, copy the entire iTunes folder (not just the iTunes music or media folder) to the external, and from there to the exact same location on the other machine.
this will also provide an opportunity to create a backup of your library (generally a good idea in case something happens). you could use SyncToy to keep main library and backup in sync.

L can not find my playlist,play count, etc. on my new macbook itunes

I have recently purchased a macbook. i have about 22G of music oon my external hard drive. I have moved about 6G of music from my external HD to my macbook. I can not figure out how to get my playlist, play counts and ratings on the macbook. I do not want to add all of my original itune music 22G because i will be away with my laptop and i need the space for other things. I am not able to bring the External HD. I hope someone can help me with this. thanks

To transfer your iTunes metadata (tags, playcounts, playlists, etc) you need to locate and transfer the iTunes Music Library file from the original computer to the MacBook.
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4th gen ipod, software version 3.1.1, itunes 8
My ipod is no longer keeping track of play count or last played. It seemed to stop when I update the software on the ipod. I manually manage my music, and I do not care if it syncs back to the songs on my hard drive. But when I plug my ipod in and look at the songs on there, it does not show that I have listened to anything.

I would use the Restore button in iTunes to erase the iPod's hard drive and initialize the iPod's software. Then sync all of your songs in your iTunes library back to the iPod.

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So i think you have clips with their own audio that you want the added music track silenced during those clips alone. Click on the clip in question, go to inspector, audio, "Ducking" and X that box "reduce volume of other tracks" and pull it to 0%. i think that will do it
roger

Syncing iPod to a new installation of iTunes while retaining Play Count

I have an iPod nano that I use in my baby's nursery for her lullaby music. I thought it would be cool to use the Audioscrobbler program from www.last.fm to track her "listening habits" from this very early age and be able to see years down the road what she has listened to over time.
The thing is, I originally synced the iPod with mp3 files from my installation of iTunes. I also have my own Last.fm profile that already syncs with iTunes files played on this profile. I realized that if I sync her Nano with this same instance of iTunes, it will combine all of her Play Counts with my own history. I don't want to confuse the Last.fm "scrobbler" system tray program with which play counts should be scrobbled.
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- Holly

Katrina, Thanks for the link.
Ahhh... yes, current playcounts ARE kind of important. I've been holding out on syncing it since March because I was trying to figure this out and get information on the best way to do it. That's 7+/- hours of music per night X 4 months! Is there a way to read what the playcounts currently are on the iPod itself right now? If all else fails, I could manually adjust them in the empty XML file, right?
I think if I can get the iTunes on my laptop to read and record the playcounts from the iPod, then I can sync the Last.fm process to read it later. I can use their new "import history" feature to import the playcounts. I just need to make sure that I can get iTunes to record them instead of wiping the iPod.
I've read up on manually managing the iPod... would that help any?
Since my music files are on a shared network drive, can I copy either of those two metadata files (iTunes Music Library.xml and/or iTunes Library.itl) from my desktop to my laptop and then hand modify the XML code to change all playcounts to zero and then sync the iPod? Will that fake the laptop out to believe it was the original computer that the iPod was first synced with?
And no on the operating systems My desktop is Vista Home Premium and the laptop is XP Home.
THANKS FOR YOUR HELP!!!! :-D

Sync manually managed iPod played count etc with multiple iTunes libraries

I have my music and podcasts spread out in different iTunes libraries. So if I sync items, tracks from another library are deleted from my iPod therefore I manually manage my tracks. The downside is when you connect a manual iPod to iTunes your ratings, played date, count don't get synced with the iTunes Library. So I created a simple applescript that syncs tracks on specified playlists on your iPod with matching ones in iTunes. I realise applescripts exist to do this already but I wanted something which required no user input and simply did what would happen if the iPod was in sync mode.
The applescript:
tell application "iTunes"
    set iPodName to ""
    set syncPlaylists to {"Music", "Podcasts"}
    repeat with syncPlaylist in syncPlaylists
        repeat with i from 1 to count of sources
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                end try
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                    set rating of eachFoundTrackInPlaylist to item 6 of ipodTrackData
                end try
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    end repeat
end tell
Mac Mini G4 Mac OS X (10.4.8) 1 GB RAM, ATI 9200 32MB, Samsung 940BW 19" Widescreen TFT LCD monitor

btw if you don't know how to use applescripts. Open script editor, you'll find it in Applications/Applescript/. Open a new window and copy the code in it and press compile. Save as a script and place in your home folder at ~/Library/iTunes/Scripts, create a Scripts folder if it doesn't exist. Alternatively, save as an application, on opening it will do its magic! Make sure an iPod is mounted in iTunes otherwise an error message will pop up.

Why does my IPad Mini randomly play music while i play games

Random music plays while I play games. Does this happen to anyone else?

Sorry there are some typos above, but you should be able to figure out what I'm asking. Let me know if you have tha same problem, know how to fix it, or know if apple is aware of the problem and is adressing it in a future update.

Importing music library removes "play count" and "last played" information

I recently updated my music drive and had to edit the iTunes Music Library XML file to reflect this. However, I've tried several times to import the edited file and each time iTunes throws out the "play count" and "last played" fields for each track. Not only that, it rewrites the entire XML file without them.
How can I retain this data?

Updating all the songs is impossible,
But you want to update the same songs over and over?
i have more than 30gb on my pc, and also i dont like carrying some unnessesary song with me all the time.
So don't put all the songs on your iPod.
Just put the ones you want. You can select to auto update only selected playlists.
Taggs on my computer and ipod are different because it's more useful this way..
That way if you have to reload the songs, you have to "update" everything again.
I don't understand how it's "more useful". It's certainly not more convenient.
Since you are already in iTunes, why not make it simple and update everything only one time?
I mean, you can do it any way you want but is is so much easier to do it only one time.
The iPod/iTunes were designed for simple and ease of use. You shouldn't have constantly put a bunch of work into just maintaining everything.

Convert Music while Keeping Play Count, etc.

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