Converting ID3 tags on iTunes/Folder problems

I just go my nano and am setting up the music files I've been collecting over the years, some of which don't have ID3 tags.
It seems when I load my libray it automatically converts the files, but it drops them into their own folder (artist, album name etc).
I would rather keep all my music files in the one root directory for easier access. Can anyone tell how I can do that through iTunes?
I've gone to the Preferences --> Advanced page and set up my iTunes folder and checked the "Copy files to iTunes Music folder when adding to library" box.
But when I add the files on the library, it sets up these folders I don't want.
Thanks

] I would rather keep all my music files in the one root directory
Disable "Keep iTunes Music folder Organized" & "Copy files to iTunes Music folder when adding to Library" in iTunes Preferences, Advanced tab. Future files added to the library will stay right where they came from. The setting for "Music folder location" will only apply to new imports from CD and music purchases through the store. Setting this value to an existing folder of music will not tell iTunes to "discover" the music that already lives there.
iTunes relies exclusively on ID3 tags. If your files don't include tags, then you need to get a 3rd party tag utility like "Tag & Renamer" or "ID3-TagIt" and get those V2.3 tags loaded into all your files. Those utilities can even generate the tags based on the folder names containing the files.

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Convert ID3 Tags

I've got a problem with ID3 tags. As far as i've been using iPod there was no such problem, but now my iPod is broken and i'm using nokia e50 smartpohone instead. The phone doesn't support ID3v2.4 so I had to downgrade all my tags to v2.3
But in some cases (later i've found those "cases" were encoded with iTunes) no conversion is possible.
my question is: how to enable the "Convert ID3 Tags" for iTunes encoded files? or if it's impossible what should I do to convert tags without using iTunes
Windows XP Pro

If you're up to it, the following should work.
Download and install foobar2000 if you don't already use it. Add the unprotected AAC files to the main playlist window. Select them all, right-click, and choose Tagging > Rewrite File Tags.
Note: At this point, you may need to remove the same files from your iTunes library and add them back again if you will be transferring the files directly from iTunes to your phone. Otherwise, moving the files from their default location to your phone should work just fine.

"Converting ID3 Tags" Option disappeared? iTunes 8.0.2

Hey everyone!
I'm right now struggling to get my iPod to work again, and I have so many problems, but I think converting ID3 tags would help.
But then the option of "Converting ID3 tags" seemed to have disappeared.
It's not in the Advanced tab, nor is it in the right-click menu.
I need help asap, since my iPod is already acting crazy by not being able to download all of my files in once sync.
Thanks a bunch guys!

It's still there. (iTunes 8.0.2)
In the right-click option menue.
Just select the song(s) in iTunes library view.

Problem with ID3 tags in iTunes

I was hoping that I could get some clarification on how iTunes uses ID3 tags with mp3s. The problem I am having is that I have fixed all the ID3 tags on my mp3s using another program (Tag & Rename is the name of the program, it does both v1 and v2 ID3 tags) but iTunes still doesn't recognize the changes I have made. I have tried deleting my entire library, and readding all the songs, but for some reason it still has the wrong information. I tried opening the files with other music players, and they read the ID3 tags fine.
Thanks in advance!
I don't know if this helps, but the most noticable program is with my compilations. I changed all the artists to the actual artist name instead of "Various" that it used to say, but iTunes still reports the artist as "Various".

I routinely change file names, change ID3 tags, and edit existing tracks using external programs. Once done, all I do is to double click the track in iTunes to ensure it reads updated ID3 tag info correctly from the track.
1. iTunes reads track info from the file everytime you play a track and saves any changes that you have made through external software to its internal database at "C:\Documents and Settings\<user name>\My Documents\My Music\iTunes\iTunes Library.itl" and "iTunes Music Library.xml". As an alternative to playing, you could also press Ctrl-I to display track info, at which time it reads updated info from the track and displays it.
2. If the filename has been changed for a track, iTunes prompts you to point to the right filename. When done, it populates ID3 tag info, while retaining the playcount and rating.
Hope this helps.

Where's The Convert ID3 Tag option in iTunes 11?

What happened to the convert ID3 tag option in iTunes 11? It no longer appears when I right-click on a song.
Because iTunes still saves the ID3 tags in imported MP3's as v2.2, I have to convert the tags to v2.3 so that the MP3 information is recognized by my car radio.

Just to clarify for anyone else still having troubles.
Convert ID3 Tags... is still in iTunes 11, but it only shows up when you right-click on audio tracks while in Song or List View.
To recap:
You MUST be in List or Song View.
You can NOT be in Grid, Artist List, or Album View.
Also, please remember that ID3 Tags are only for MP3/MPEG audio files, and NOT MP4/AAC/Apple Lossless audio files.
Hope this helps.
Original Thread: Where's The Convert ID3 Tag option in iTunes 11?

Changing id3 tags from iTunes to original file

Hi! I have been changing a lot of id3 tags to the files through iTunes but it doesn't change it for the original file. Is there anyway to make that work? Thanks!

If by original you mean another copy of the file left outside the iTunes media folder while iTunes is working with a copy made during import then iTunes has no further interest in the originals.
If you mean that changes made to metadata in iTunes don't appear to be reflected when the same file is viewed in Windows Explorer or if the file is imported into a new library then the most likely cause of this is multiple embedded tags. iTunes works best when there is a single id3v2.3 tag. Select a couple of test files, right-click and use Convert ID3 Tags > None, repeat two or three times, then Convert ID3 Tags > ID3v2.3. Now see if updates are properly carried through. You'll have to reapply any embedded artwork. If it works repeat with other problem files.
For the future backup your library regularly with this User Tip.
tt2

How To Permanently Change ID3 Tags With iTunes

Okay, so here's the deal. I've seen this question in several places, but I can't find a working answer, so I decided to give it a shot.
My goal: change ID3 tag info with my song collection in iTunes so that my changes stick permanently.
Now let me explain. I am picky about what info I want for a song. Anytime I add a song to my collection, I am specific about what info I want to keep and what I want to get rid of. What I keep: Song title, Artist info, album info and genre. I get rid of everything else, like track/disc number, year, comments, and etc.
To further my point, I'll explain how I go about what brings me to the problem. After I have an album with all songs I want from it, I add the folder to the iTunes library but I don't make any changes yet (I don't have the option checked for iTunes to add copies of the songs to the iTunes folder). Then I select all songs and convert them to 128kbs mp3s with v2.3 ID3 tags. Then I edit all the song info to what I mentioned before in the Get Info box. After a few plays, the track/disc numbers, years, and comments come back, but song title/artist info/album info don't change and the album artwork I added remains. I tried the opposite, editing all the info after adding the songs to the library THEN converting...same problem. I tried a third-party program, MP3tag, before and after converting, both with the same result. I even tried adding something to all comment boxes in iTunes to sync the libraries...that didn't work either. I also tried with that option of adding copies to the library checked and it still didn't work.
I want a solution to where my changes in iTunes of removing the track/disc numbers, years, and comments from songs will be permanent and not come back.
Also, this problem has remained through every new version of iTunes released up to the current version as of the time I am typing this.

There may be a number of things going on. iTunes has a problem updating files with multiple tags, e.g. both id3v1 and id3v2.x. Sometimes it seems it can update one copy of the tag, but then read back data from the other. It may also have problems if file security settings are incorrect, in which case it will appear to make a change, but then reveal the original data next time it accesses the track in some way. WMP may also be involved in magially restoring data that you've deleted. Getting iTunes & Windows Media Player to play nicely.
As to the issue with comments, are these general things or strings of digits like this? 00000000 00000210 00000770 0000000000103000 00000000 00000000 00000000 00000000 00000000 00000000 00000000 00000000. I've a feeling that patterns of digits such as these are in some way connected to gapless playback and are supposed to be hidden from view, but that may be wild speculation. Again it is even possible that WMP rather than iTunes creates them.
One way that might work is, having edited tracks to the values you want, use the option Convert id3 tags > None a few times, then Convert id3 tags > v2.3.
While I'm all for people having things the way they want them I really can't see how your library could be improved by not having track, disc, or year values. Without disc and track numbers albums will play out of sequence. Why not just turn off the columns that hold no interest for you?
tt2

Question about "Convert ID3 Tags" command

I just used "Convert ID3 Tag" to convert all the songs in a library to ID3v2.4. When it was done, abotu half the album art had been killed. I have a backup, so nothing is lost, but I did not expect this to happen. My questions: (1) Is this expected behavior or a bug?, and (2) Any ideas why some album art survived and some did not?

Thank you! I actually managed to figure it out myself before you replied.
For anyone else out there who might be interested:
Change the import settings in iTunes > Preferences > General, to Apple Lossless Encoder. Then you can select the files/albums you want to convert, and click on the Advanced menu while holding down the Options/Alt-key, and click "Create Apple Lossless Version". I found that it doesn't actually convert the existing WAV-files, but creates an Apple Lossless copy of every single file, so I had to spend some time weeding out the WAV-files afterwards. This is a one-time effort, though, as every CD will be imported as Apple Lossless from now on.
Better still, solved my problem with the album artwork!

Can't change ID3 tags in iTunes 10?

Ever since the update to 9.2, iTunes seems to have lost the ability to convert ID3 tags.
Prior to 9.2 (and obviously, 10.x) I would be able to add mp3s to my library, select all of the newly added tracks, then Control click and change all of my ID3 tags to NONE to strip it of any extraneous info, wait for iTunes to rescan everything, and then I'd re-convert my ID3 tags to 2.3.
Since the update(s), it'll allow you to go through the motions, but the tracks don't actually rescan. I'll try to convert to NONE and nothing happens.
This is an important function for me because I use iTunes in conjunction with Serato for DJing and sometimes Serato has trouble reading a track if the ID3 tag is an older version.
Does anyone have any suggestions? Is this merely an oversight by Apple's iTunes team or is there a known reason why this function was removed?
p.s. -- I have always been under the impression that you cannot change an ID3 tag from say, 2.1 to 2.3, without first converting the ID3 tag to NONE first. If this is no longer the case, can someone please enlighten me?

A rare but maddening problem, probably limited to older MP3 files,
Mac/Windows MP3 files that do not play in iTunes but play in QuickTime
There is a problem with some mp3 files not playing in iTunes
because of the ID3 tag headers in the files. For Mac OS you
can fix these files by processing them with XLD (X Lossless Decoder),
a free download.
1. Select the Input MP3 files
2. Set the output format to MP3 Lame in the XLD preferences.
3. Unless you select a directory for output different from input,
the output file names will have a number added to the name.
The selected files are processed on my machine at about 30x or
about 2 minutes per hour of play time. I was unable to fix these
files using right click->Get Info in iTunes.
On my MacBook Pro , trying to run on of these problem MP3
files, locked up iTunes. Force Quit on iTunes was not enough
to get iTunes 10.1 to run again. I had to restart the machine.
I think this is the first time I have ever had to restart my
machine for a problem with an App. From my reading on the web,
I can see this problem has existed at least since iTunes 7.x
On Windows, you may be able to fix this problem using
MP3TagValidator.
No need to throw away those bad MP3 files!

Convert ID3 Tags Grayed Out

Seems to be confined to CDs that I import using Gracenote and convert to Apple Lossless. Very frustrating as other software I use needs ID3 tags and this porcess just does not seem to preserve tham properly. I think "Convert ID3 tags" would fix this but it does not seem to be an option.
Can any other software do this conversion?
G4 Quicksilver Mac OS X (10.4.6) Latest iTunes etc...

Yes, you can right-click on a file or files in your iTunes library or playlist or press Apple+i, and then go to the Info tab to edit the metadata.

Which version of ID3 tags does iTunes 9 use?

Hi, which version of ID3 tags does iTunes 9 use?

I'm with you on the multiple tags issue. I'd just assumed if iTunes rips with v2.2 and then you get it to convert to v2.3 the file would have just the one tag. Otherwise why not call the feature *Add v2.3 tag?* Anyway there I go again expecting logic when I should know better.
tt2

Itunes does not read id3 tags and its a problem

Ok I have 60 gig of music and all of it is labeled correctly in id3 tags. But when i add them all to itunes some of the songs are blank with no information at all but if i go into "show in explorer" the information in the id3 tags instantly pops up. I'v searched google and found nothing so i hope someone can tell me a fix or another program to use that will organise my music like itunes does and also can put music on my ipod. So please help me with the problem.
Thanks

It doesn't work. I'v already tried that. I'v even tried converting the id3 tags and then removing them from the libray and adding them again. Still nothing. It might help if someone could tell me where itunes gets it information for its tags when you add music to its libray seeing as it doesn't use id3 tags for the information like any smart program does.

Problems with ID3 Tags in iTunes - Desperate need of assistance!

Hello all...
Desperately need some help. I just spent a very (very) long time going through my entire music collection making sure all album art is present and all tags are corrected to my preferences. Now I want to back up the entire drive (F: drive, I keep my music on a separate drive) to a new hard drive (H: drive). However, in the process I've noticed that not all the changes that I made to the tags have actually saved to the tags themselves, even though they continue to display correctly in iTunes. If I load them into another application or reload them into iTunes from the new drive, not all the tag changes I made in iTunes are showing up. It seems iTunes is perhaps storing this tag info in some kind of internal database? To be specific I am not talking about meta-data like ratings and number of times played. I'm talking about artist, genre, etc.
So my question is this: is there some way to force iTunes to save the data that is currently displayed in iTunes to the ID3 tags?
I've also been disappointed to find out that when adding album artwork, iTunes does not actually save the artwork to the ID3 tags as I assumed. Any way I can force iTunes to do that?
Lastly, if neither of the above are possible, is there an easy way to backup the iTunes database so that all my tags and artwork are present once I remove the current drive and re-load my collection into iTunes from the new drive? Will the change of path prevent me from being able to backup the database?

Hi Ed, thanks for responding so quickly. Yes, they are mp3 files, and yes, I had assumed what you told me, that changes made in iTunes would be made to the mp3 files. I also thought it could have something to do with read only, so I made sure that the files were not read only. But yes, strangely enough, even though the tags show up properly in iTunes, they do not show up properly in other players, and don't show up properly in iTunes if I remove the album, copy the album to the second drive, and load it back into iTunes (only for a portion of the files, but with the size of my collection this would still be time consuming to fix). I don't understand it either, but from research I have done online, it may have something to do with an iTunes glitch relating to the ID3 tag version.
Regardless of how it is supposed to work or what the explanation is, the situation now stands that my tags display perfectly in iTunes but are not all saved to the files perfectly. So I am hoping there is some way I can force iTunes to save the current state of tag info to the files!
About the 2 drives, it's simple. Right now my collection is on F:, and loaded into iTunes, but I want to get rid of that drive as it is IDE and too small, and store my collection on H: instead. I'm just really worried that after moving my collection and reloading into iTunes I will need to re-tag and re-load album artwork all over again. Any tips?

Export Ratings to ID3 Tag? iTunes Macro?

I've got a reasonably large music collection, and decided to get it a bit more organised by using ratings to create dynamic playlists, rather than manually creating playlists only occasionally.
All of my music is in my own folder structure, with its own file names, etc - and I want to keep it like that. I'm a little concerned therefore with the idea of spending a long time rating songs in iTunes since if I later have to rename tracks or move folders, as I understand it iTunes will lost those songs and when they're re-imported will lose my ratings!
So, what i'd like to do is to be able to export ratings from iTunes to the ID3 tag (all of my music is MP3), and i'll also need to be able to do the same in reverse, ie import the tracks and automatically set the rating based on what is in the tags.
One thought was that I could just use the "Year" field (which is empty on all of my tracks), however i'd rather keep using the proper ratings field in iTunes so that I can change ratings on my iPod directly.
Is there such a thing as an iTunes Macro? Is there another way to do what I want? I'd happily settle for a function that could copy the ratings (1-5) into the Year or Comments field, and back again.

Whilst I take your point about the information not really belonging in the files metadata, I would still like the option somewhere in iTunes to store this information within the file thus removing the dependency on the library.
The information is representative of the file, and my listening habits. I don't share my files with anybody so the information isn't describing anybody elses musical tastes.
My main problem, other than losing information if I forget to backup my iTunes libary is that if I were to import the files into a different player, WMP or Windows MCE for example, I loose the information.
I will keep on searching for a suitable utility - before I have to write one myself!!

Converting ID3 tags: v2 to v1 then back to v2?

I converted a lot of my ID3 tags to ver. 1 so they would display properly on my CD player in the car. Can these be set back to ver. 2 again with losing anything. Please don't tell me I have to reimport the CD's again.....

If the version 1.x tags shortened any of the data fields stored in the original files, then that information will still be gone when you convert your tags back to version 2.x (2.3 recommended).
Unfortunately, iTunes isn't a player that encodes MP3s with both version 1.x and 2.x tags (at the same time), so it's best in a situation like this to make copies of the MP3 files you want to edit, and revert back to your original files after burning MP3 CDs, etc.
In the worst case, you shouldn't need to reimport your CDs; you may just have to add some missing information back into your tags once they're converted back to version 2.x.

Converting ID3 tags on iTunes/Folder problems

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