ITunes 11 Changing ID3 Tags

Ok, I've been using iTunes for years and like many I've found the new version, 11, to be frustrating.
The main thing is ID3 Tags.
These have always been customiseable. For someone OCD like me, being able to edit and customise ID3 tags is very important in keeping my iTunes "tidy". I don't want one album saying "Florence + The Machine" and another saying "Florence & The Machine". I want them both the same.
But what I really want, more than anything else, is 100% control over what the ID3 tags say. On all the old versions of iTunes, I had this. Now, I don't.
I've just listened to two albums by Dead Prez. They're stylised thus: 'dead prez'. So, it is that version which I've always had on my iTunes. However, after listening to one of the albums, iTunes decided to change the name back to 'Dead Prez'. This was nothing to do with me. Why has it changed?
Worse, I've just listened to a song by David Gray, and I've now found it stored under U - for Unknown. It's not 'Unknown', because I've known for all the years that I've owned that file that the song was by David Gray. I haven't had to edit the information for years.
Is this a bug?
Is this a new feature of iTunes? Can I turn it off? If not, can Apple/ someone provide me with an explanation as to WHY this has changed?
Cheers,
Guy

In iTunes go to Edit > Preferences > Store and turn off
Show iTunes in the Cloud purchases
Share details about your library with Apple
On any iOS device go to Settings > Music and turn off
Show All Music
Close and reopen iTunes and/or reset the device and you should see your version of the metadata for each track rather than the original store data.
tt2

Similar Messages

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

Change Id3 Tags in itunes match

How can I change ID3 Tags on my songs in the cloud?
I changed them on my ITunes (Windows) but they are not synced in the Cloud.

I just did some tests on my setup: iPhone/iMac (Master iTunes library)/MacBook
the tags will only sync well from MacBook to iMac!
if I change a tag on the iMac (which I did change before on my MacBook) then the change goes back to the MacBook, but not if it's a first time edit!
That process usually takes between 5 and 30 seconds.
on the iPhone I can't really change much (besides the rating) which seems to get synced properly in both ways...
Lyrics I couldn't yet get to work to be synced...
I do have Lyrics on my MacBook (so they seem to be in the cloud) but I cannot get them to be updated/changed on the other device (the other Mac). on my iPhone I don't have lyrics at all

ITunes changing ID tags

Since installing the new version of iTunes today (v.10.6.1.7) I have had an issue where sometimes when I double click on a song to play, iTunes changes the tag information for the song. Specifically, it re-adds in the original Album Artist, Composer, and Track no. (which I delete when I add a new song to my library). It also adds a long string of numbers and letters (e.g., 0000084 A000900....) into the Comment field. It does not change any other fields as far as I can tell. It is not doing it to all songs, just some. It has only started doing this since running the update. Does anyone know why iTunes is suddenly doing this? Thanks.

Thanks both for your help.
The odd thing is, this has only happening since the iTunes update I ran yesterday.
I don't use WMP, but have unticked the settings in the Options that may be causing a problem, and removed all libraries from WMP. I did find that WMP was importing all my music into its music library without me knowing. I have changed the all library locations so they are empty. However, the problem is still occurring.
I'm not sure it's a problem with tags not saving, as I have played these specific songs before now (for many years) with no problems, but now it is suddenly making these changes post iTunes update.
It seems to be a common problem from what I have seen on online, but one Apple don't seem to answer.

ITunes sometimes changes ID3 Tags/Deletes Art

Hi
I currently keep all my MP3's ID3 tags as 2.2, as that version is what seems to allow the artist/album information to show up in the actual file info in my My Music folder.
Sometimes, when scrolling through on iTunes, an album's art will suddenly turn blank, and all of the songs in that album have turned to 2.3, and occasionally added things like composer and album artist, which I prefer to keep blank. I have to then select them all, change the ID3 tags back to 2.2, then paste the album back.
Why is iTunes doing this? Is 2.2 not the ideal ID3 tag for files?
Oh, and extra details if it helps. I'm running the most current version of iTunes, and all of my music is from CD's (so nothing from the iTunes store)
Message was edited by: Book1245

I agree with polydorus. It's WMP making hte changes. Esp since itunes by default uses ID3 v2.2, not v2.3 tags.
Also, it doesn't matter if you never use WMP - its default settings allow webpages to open WMP in the background without you even knowing.
You need to turn this auto-update "feature" off in WMP in 4 places.
Player tab: everything unchecked so WMP won't touch your files
Library tab: everything unchecked, esp the box to retrieve info from the internet
Privacy tab: everything unchecked, esp the box to update files
Security tab: everything unchecked so web pages can't launch WMP in the background
You also need to check these 4 settings after every windows update that includes a WMP update, because it has reset them back to some of the defaults, I have noticed.

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

Preventing iTunes from changing ID3 tags

When you highlight a song's name in iTunes and then click it again you can rename it. That's something that bothers me because I often misclick and accidentally rename songs I don't want to from the first place – I suppose I'm kind of careless – and I'm looking for a way to prevent me from further editing a song's ID3 tag even when click again its tag. Now I guess, what could help me is pretty much something like the lock that you can find on System Preferences so I can lock the iTunes interface and then unlock it when I actually want to rename a song's ID3 tag – something generally preventing changes also works with me as long as I can still use "Get Info" (cmd-I).
I don't know if there's a simple setting which gets toggled on and off that simply, but if there isn't I guess someone could recommend a reliable plug-in which can help me in what I'm looking for. I googled it but couldn't find anything related to this subject.
I'm using 10.5.8 and 10.7 iTunes.
Thank you.

I know it's not there in my older iTunes version and I've not heard mention of it in any other version.
If you find you have accidentally edited a field and you haven't left it yet, press the escape key to undo it.
Make sure your file names contain the basics. I format mine to: Artist - Album - TrackNumber TrackName.[extension] If I lose a tag I can at least get the basic information from the file name and the rest off a web site (and some tags cannot be so easily edited).
It sounds like a lot of trouble but I imagine if you did as you mention and actually lock the file in Finder that would stop it from being edited.

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!

Upgraded to iTunes 10 and recently changed ID3 Tags reverted...

Last week I began a process to completely organize my iTunes collection. I was fixing genres, correcting capitalization on song/artist/album titles and deleting unwanted songs and completely wiping them from my hard drive. I had been working on it 3-4 hours a day for at least 6 days. When I did the update, I just now noticed that all that hard work has now just reverted back to the older ID3 tags. Also some of the songs that I know for a fact were completely removed from my iTunes library and hard drive somehow found their way back onto my Mac and into my iTunes library. I'm having to start the process all over again and am extremely annoyed by this. Am I the only one who has experienced this?
*Note: I know the difference between "Keep File" and "Move to Trash" when removing a song from my library.

It looks like iTunes 10 has lost the ability to manage/convert ID3 tags. It's no longer on the Advanced menu, despite what the Help menu suggests.
Message was edited by: pdb206

AppleScript for changing ID3 tags

I have around 200 songs in my iTunes library that are marked as Podcasts that I've been trying to get to show up in the Music section with my other songs. From what I've heard, Podcasts are marked with a special extended ID3 tag that can't be easily removed, and the only way to get rid of it is to just strip all of the ID3 tags from the song completely. The thing is, I don't want to write down the song title, artist, and album name of all 200-something songs and then enter them in again manually. Is there a way I can write an AppleScript that will keep the ID3 tags of a song in memory or save them to a text file, strip them from the song, then re-enter just the Title, Artist and Album tags (preferably one that will do that for every song in a specific folder)?

I looked at the apple script dictionary and there is no ID3 tag listed for itunes tracks. There is a podcast property of tracks which is "true" for podcasts and "false" for everything else. However, this property is read only and thus can not be changed by an apple script.

Changing ID3 Tags - not updating?

Hi
I am updating Artist, Title information within iTunes - but for some reason the changes are not being reflected in the file ID3 tags?
some of my files are updating and others are not?
Any ideas?
Thanks in advance?

How are you examining the ID3 tags? Maybe whatever program you're using to look at them is caching the information, and not checking the tags when you look at the file a second time?

Itunes deleted id3 tags on my mp3s automatically

the "let itunes organize your music" box is unchecked, and i imported my cds as mp3s, as i removed the songs from the itunes library (not the files), it took off all the tags!!!! i spent hours importing cds, once i removed the songs from the library, then dragged the folder back into the itunes window, the tags to the album, track #, artist, etc weren't there anymore!!!!! just the file name. WHAT A LOAD OF CRAP!!!! the program shouldn't have authority to mess with the id3 tags that are embedded into the mp3s once i remove the song from itunes!!! RIGHT?! what am i supposed to do with all the unlabeled mp3s!?!1 i'm not going to use iEatBrainz for everything, thats rediculous! could someone else try removing their songs from the itunes 6 version like the one i have here and see if they have the same problem?? its gotta be from the same folder where all your imported music goes....
this is making me soooo mad. i need an alternative program cuz this ain't working for me.

If you remove a song from the iTunes library the file will remain in the location that it was previously BUT the tune is removed from the library. The id3 tag was never changed. If you go back to the file in its' original location you can put it back into the iTunes library and all the id3 info is still there.
Usually it is best to let iTunes organize you library - unless you have a special reason not to let iTunes organize.
I removed tunes from my libary - keeping the files - then added them back and all was as it should be. If you are looking at the file via the finder the only info that you will see is the song title (the same info as in the "Name" column in iTunes). iTunes names the file on the HD the same as what is in the "Name" field.
MJ

Tracks originally ripped in iTunes loose ID3 Tag then become corrupt?

Gurus....
I'm tearing my hair out... After investing in a Soundblaster Wireless Media device I started to copy the 6000 odd mp3's ripped from CD's and Vinyl listed in iTunes 4.7 (I have an iPod so need to maintain both libraries) to the Media Organiser. Many of the ripped CD's (possibly from later editions of iTunes) appeared to have no Tag information (Artist, Album and genre were 'unknown') I started to manually readd some of this but then found that the tracks were not playable in either location!!! iTunes and Media Centre behave like the tracks doesn't exist and skip straight passed them.
I'm guessing it's an iD3 incompatibility and was wondering if anybody out there knew what the problem was and if there is any way around this.
Thanks in advance
Wayne

WayneMar,
I had a very similar problem. Ripped tunes in ITUNES, added them to a library in Musicmatch. Everything came up as 'Unknown Artist'. Tried to fix the tags in Musicmatch and got a dialog box saying the headers were corrupt.
After a little trial and error went into ITUNES and used the 'Convert ID3 Tags' feature to change the tags to V2.3. Musicmatch detected the change and picked up the tags.
The 'Convert ID3 Tags' feature is under 'Advanced' on the top bar or available by right-clicking a tune.
Hope this helps,
Leebob

Cant change ID3 tags [on certain files]

Some files I have, after making changes to their tags in iTunes, revert to their original tag info upon playing. Very annoying [especially when/if file contains faulty info].
I have gone as far as changing the file info in the Finder, with no success. In fact, I can picture scenarios where this would result in a 'missing' file in iTunes. Even if this method were to work, I would only classify it as a workaround - not a soultion, by any means.
All apologies if this issue has been addressed already. I am running iTunes 4.9, but the problem was first noticed under 4.7 [i believe].
Thanks in advance,
-af-

I had the same problem with some mp3 files that I downloaded. Couldn't change the tag names, and couldn't add album artwork.
From another post on a seperate topic in relation to the ID3 tags, I think I found an answer that worked for me.
Select the songs in iTunes, go to Advanced and then "Convert ID3 Tags..."
Then put a check in the ID3 tag version and make sure that the version is "none". Click OK to change the ID3 tags.
This clears the ID3 version number, but keeps the data. Then go back through the same process but change the ID3 tag version to the original ID3 tag version (2.2, 2,3, etc).
As I said, this worked for me, so I hope this works for you.

Changing ID3 tags and replacing tra

I'm playing with my new Xtra and enjoying it. I will want to jigger many of the tags to organize the genres and artists better.
) The software stored the albums (as I requested) under Artist/Album. If I shift an album under a different artist name, I assume it will not automatically change the tags for the artist. (For instance, I have a few "Elvis Costello" and a few "Elvis Costello and the Imposters"... I want them all under the same artist name).
2) Can I change the basic tags (Artist, Album, Genre and even Track #) using Create MediaSource Organizer, or should I download a decent/free ID3 tag program recommended on various guru FAQs?
3) Here's my real question: Once I alter the tag on a track I've already loaded onto the player, I will want to replace it with the updated tags. If I re-transfer, will it overlay the tracks with the updated ones -- or will it create duplicates? Do I need to delete the album or tracks from my player before sending them back over?
Thanks
Michael

zmulls wrote:I figured the PC was easier to change tags. Just for the typing (!)
Well you can only edit tags using the PC. I meant with respect to which data source you use, the player itself (when connected to the PC) or the files on the PC's hard dri've.
The "move" would be just taking a subfolder ("album") and moving under a different "artist" folder -- in Explorer. I figured also that I'd still have to change the tags (the ripping program reads the tags and creates the directories, but I assumed the intelligence doesn't go another way).
Ah right. Yes, you have to change the tags themselves. It doesn't automatically realise the folder has changed, although you can get many programs which will use folder and filename data to generate the tag.
So I should grab a tagging program, and plan to "Delete From Player" and "Re-Transfer From PC." Not as bad as it sounds, as I can delete whole albums at once from the Player.
It's certainly the method I use. It really depends on what approach suits you.
I saw the list of tag programs on your FAQ -- are the "free" ones good enough? Is there a real advantage in the shareware or paid programs (other than the one you cite on Nomadsync).
I've never bought a tag editing program, and have used 2 or 3. I prefer overall though, but some don't like the UI. Best to check some out.
Nomadsync is listed in the programs to copy files. Remember that Nomadsync is not a tag editor, it's a program for copying files.

ITunes 11 Changing ID3 Tags

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