Ipad loses album artwork for purchases when syncing with iTunes?

Question

I have the latest software upto date for iTunes and my ipad.
I usually purchase music directly from the iTunes app on my ipad as I find this a lot more convenient, however every so often I need to connect my ipad to my dell laptop to transfer non-iTunes songs.
When I do so my ipad will always sync with my iTunes and when it does it comes up with a stage saying "copying album artwork", when this happens all my artwork from my most recent purchases on my ipad is deleted.
The only way I have of rectifying the issue is to delete all the songs with missing album artwork and re-download them which is a lot of hassle.  I'd say the problem happens almost every time I connect my ipad to the laptop.
Does anyone know why this is or if there's anyway I can turn of this part of the syncing process.  Or if I can just turn of the sync and back up all together, I much preferred it when all this was manual on old iPod classics and that.
Thanks

Answer 1

Hey, I was having this problem, too. The solution I've found is to go ahead and plug your iPad (this works with iPhones and iPod touches, too, I think) into your computer and check "Manually Manage Music and Videos." Then you want to click the "On this iPad" tab and scroll to the albums that are missing album artwork. Delete these manually and sync. Then you can uncheck "Manually Manage Music and Videos," check to sync music in the "Music" tab, and apply. After the sync your newest albums that you've downloaded directly on your iPad should be back in your library in the Music app with their album artwork displaying correctly.
Not sure what causes this, but it seems to almost always happen to me when I use iTunes on my iPad or iPhone to buy things. Sometimes it also happens to items I've purchased from iTunes on my computer as well and that have automatically downloaded to my iOS devices.
Hope this helps.