I add a podcast in music, change the type to Podcast, and it disappears

Question

Eventually these seem to show up again, but it's very annoying. I add a podcast because I want to listen to it now... I am on Windows 7 with iTunes 10.
I can try to add it again, but it never shows up. It's like iTunes thinks it's already added it, but it's invisible in both Music and Podcasts.

Answer 1

marilyndw wrote:
I download a podcast into my music folder on my hard drive.
iTunes downloads Podcasts. What you have downloaded is not a Podcast.
marilyndw wrote:
I go into iTunes and use File->Add File to Library.
If it was delivered to you as a Podcast, you would not need to do this.
marilyndw wrote:
Using the "Get Info" option, I change the "Media Kind" to be Podcast (it is set as Music).
It then vanishes from iTunes
As I said previously, simply changing the Media Kind to Podcast does not make it a Podcast. However, since you have done that, the file, whatever it is, will move to the Podcasts section of your iTunes Library. In the Podcasts section, it should be listed by its album title. So the "Album title" in the Music section, will become the "Programme name" in Podcasts, listed under the heading Podcasts and with an arrow next to it. Click on the arrow and the list will expand to reveal the "episodes". The "episode's" name will be the song title.
I'll say it again. A Podcast is something that has been delivered to your iTunes by the delivery method known as Podcasting. The file itself is not "a Podcast". So when someone says "you're listening to our Podcast", it's actually a shorthand way of saying "you're listening to the programme we made, and which has been delivered to you as a Podcast."
So, to find these missing files in your iTunes, use the search facility and look in the Podcasts section of your iTunes Library for the song name. In the results that appear you will not see the song name, because what you see is the "Programme name". You need to expand each result to find your song or whatever it is.
The reason you have trouble adding it a second time is just that, you've already added it. But you've then changed some of the information about the file and when you try to "add it again" it is no longer "music", but a "Podcast", and that's because you set it that way.
I still don't understand why you feel the need to change the file to Podcast.
If this material is described by its producer as a Podcast, the why don't you find the Podcast through the iTunes Store and subscribe and download it through iTunes "as a Podcast"? If the programme truely is not to be found in the iTunes Store (by using search the store), then presumably the producer has the Podcast URL (or Podcast Feed, or the RSS link) shown on their website. You can copy-and-paste that Podcast URL into your iTunes Podcasts section and subscribe (for free, usually) to the Podcast, in iTunes. Then every new epsisode of the Programme will automatically download to your iTunes, put itself into your iTunes Podcasts Library and if you have set your iPod to Sync Podcasts, iTunes will also add that Podcast episode to your iPod.
At the moment, you appear to be making extra and uneccessary work for yourself.
And if this material is not actually a Podcast, then why try to make it so? What are you trying to achieve? You can listen to it, even when it's Media Kind is Music. If you're trying to stop it from playing when playing your music on shuffle, then leave it as Media Kind/Music but set it to Skip on shuffle.