Organising your iTunes library and iPod Classic

Morning all,
I recently bought an iPod Classic that I sync with the iTunes library on my PowerBook. My iTunes library is meticulously - some might say obsessively - maintained, but the synced version on my iPod has some irritating deviations.
For example, I have a DJ mix album; all the songs are credited (under 'Artist') to the performer, while the 'Album Artist' (and the sort field for both the Artist and Album Artist) are set as the DJ who mixed it. Yet on my iPod in Cover Flow view, I have a dozen versions of the album credited to the individual artists. The Compilation box is checked. Any suggestions as to how I set the track info to display this as a single album?
Also, I have another album that appears twice in Cover Flow on the iPod. This album information in iTunes is consistent - no rogue spaces, differences in capitalisation or punctuation. In fact, in iTunes Cover Flow, the album only appears once. Any guesses?
All the relevant software is up to date.
Any suggestions appreciated.

Hi,
Thanks for your suggestion. I do have Compilations checked in both the menus you suggest, however, as far as I am aware, that merely toggles the Compilation heading on and off in the Main or Music menu; it doesn't have a bearing on where it's listed in Cover Flow. Or am I wrong?
I can't find a logic to the sort order. As an example, I have Version by Mark Ronson (I know, I know - we all make impulsive buys we regret), with metadata as follows:
Artist - <various, usually Mark Ronson feat. such-and-such>
*Album Artist* - Mark Ronson
Album - Version
*Sort Album Artist* - Mark Ronson
*Sort Album* - <blank>
*Sort Artist* - <blank>
This album lists 'correctly' under Cover Flow, i.e. all tracks grouped under a single 'Mark Ronson' heading. Conversely, Overdrive by Aphrodite is all over the place with the following metatags
Artist - <various>
*Album Artist* - Aphrodite
Album - Overdrive
*Sort Album Artist* - Aphrodite
*Sort Album* - <blank>
*Sort Artist* - Aphrodite
I can't work out why one should list as I want and the other one as several versions of the album by different artists.
If it is just a software oversight, okay. But it'd be nice if they sorted it in an upcoming release.
Thanks for your responses!

Similar Messages

My computer The File "itunes library.til" does not appear to be a valid iTunes library file. iTunes has attempted to recover your itunes library and renamed it to "iTunes Library (Damaged itl)"

My computer crashed when I was using Itunes. I got everything up and running and got this message "The File “itunes library.til” does not appear to be a valid iTunes library file. iTunes has attempted to recover your itunes library and renamed it to “iTunes Library (Damaged itl)” Everything loads up put in takes 10 min. then my music playlists are deleted everytime I turn Itunes on. What can I do to solve this problem? Thanks.

Hi shyanne23,
Thanks for using Apple Support Communities. If your iTunes library file has become damaged in some way, you may want to try recreating your iTunes library and playlists by following this article:
iTunes: How to re-create your iTunes library and playlists
http://support.apple.com/kb/ht1451
Cheers,
- Ari

My itunes library and ipod playlist disappeared?

i'm not sure what happened, but i intentionally deleted a bunch of mp3 files from my library (about 75% of my music folder) after uploading them to my 30 gig new generation Ipod. I believe that after this action, my Itunes library disappeared - including my Ipod playlist (the playlist i defaulted my Ipod to sync with). Now, whenever i open up Itunes, there's no music in my library or anything. I still have my 10 gigs of music on my Ipod that i had uploaded prior to this, however, i want to add more songs onto my Ipod. The problem and question here is, i'm afraid that when i sync my Ipod with a new playlist, will all of the songs on my Ipod be erased?
i had the idea of downloading IpodRip to retrieve the songs from my Ipod to my computer, then just starting from scratch and adding all the songs at one time, however, IpodRip would only open with errors and not retrieve my songs.
i hope someone understands this situation - i have a difficult time explaining it in type without sounding confusing. i'm not very feature-savvy with Itunes or my Ipod.

You can use a keyboard command to prevent your iPod auto-syncing with iTunes. While connecting the iPod to the computer on Windows with iTunes 7 installed hold down the Control and Alt keys (or Shift + Ctrl keys in older versions). This will stop the iPod from auto-syncing with iTunes and the iPod will appear in the source list. Wait until you are sure the iPod has mounted, and that it will not auto sync and then you can let the keys go. This may take between 20 to 30 seconds depending on your computer: iTunes 7 Keyboard Shortcuts for Windows
Your iPod should appear in the iTunes source list from where you can change the update setting to manual and use your iPod without the risk of accidentally erasing it. Also when using most of the utilities listed below your iPod needs to be enabled for disc use, changing to manual update will do this by default. Check the "manually manage music and videos" box in Summary then press the Apply button: Managing content manually on iPod
Once you are safely connected there are a few things you can do to restore your iTunes from the iPod. If you have any iTMS purchases the transfer of purchased content from the iPod to authorised computers was introduced with iTunes 7. A paragraph on it has been added to this article: Transfer iTunes Store purchases using iPod
The transfer of non iTMS content such as songs imported from CD is designed by default to be one way from iTunes to iPod. However there is a manual method of accessing the iPod's hard drive and copying songs back to iTunes on Windows. The procedure is a bit involved also it was written long before iTunes 7 so it requires a little adaptation as the iPod preferences are no longer in the location described. Also it won't transfer playlists or videos as far as I know. However if you're interested it's posted in this thread: MacMuse - iPod to iTunes
If you prefer something more automated then there are a number of third party utilities that you can use to retrieve the music files and playlists from your iPod. You'll find that they have varying degrees of functionality and some will transfer movies, videos, photos, podcasts and games as well. Have a look at the web pages and documentation, this is just a small selection of what's available, they are generally quite straightforward. You can also read reviews of some of them here: Wired News - Rescue Your Stranded Tunes
TuneJack Windows Only
iPod2PC Windows Only
iGadget Windows Only
iDump Windows Only
YamiPod Mac and Windows Versions
Music Rescue Mac & Windows
iPodCopy Mac and Windows Versions
Whichever of these retrieval methods you choose, keep your iPod in manual mode until you have reloaded your iTunes and you are happy with your playlists etc then it will be safe to return it auto-sync. I would also advise that you get yourself an external hard drive and back your stuff up in case you have problems again. Relying on an iPod as your sole backup is not a good idea and external drives are comparatively inexpensive these days you can get loads of storage for a reasonable outlay.

TS1702 To transfer a rental from your iTunes library to iPod, iPhone, iPad, or Apple TV:

iTunes library to iPod, iPhone, iPad, or Apple TV

It sounds as though you are doing something wrong or at least that something is going wrong. Are you saying that content synced to your Apple tv disappears every time you unplug it and requires resyncing again. Do you have to set it up again or does the content just disappear.

Songs quit playing unexpectedly and jump to another random song–and it occurs in my iTunes library and iPod

     My newly downloaded songs that I purchased a day ago are not playing correctly. The song will start playing, then it will stop at an odd point (usually the middle of the song) and then skip to another song. And then that newly purchased song will also skip.
     The odd thing is, two out of the thirteen songs that I purchased are fine. They play well, and do not skip at all. Also, the defunct songs do the same thing when I play them in my iTunes library (as well as my iPod nano 5th generation).
     Then, after I had tried the things on the list Troubleshooting Songs That Skip, still the same thing happened. When I tried to sync the songs that were not playing correctly into my iPod, and error popped up that said "Some of the items in the iTunes library were not copied to the iPod "___ iPod" because one or more errors occured" and ot the bottom it said "11 total warnings."
     What should I do???

If they play incorrectly in iTunes, you should probably re-download them. The songs files may have become corrupted during the download.
(You may also want to check the integrity of your hard drive volume, because data corruption on the hard drive volume can cause corruption of new files being written to the volume. If you use a Mac, I can provide additional info on how to check.)
To re-download purchased items from the iTunes Store, go to the iTunes Store main screen in iTunes. Along the right side, under QUICK LINKS, find and click Purchased. On the Purchased screen, click on Music. Find the songs with the problem on the listing below. To the far right of the song name, it will either say "Downloaded" or have a button with cloud symbol. Note the ones that say "Downloaded." Since iTunes thinks you already downloaded those songs on that computer, you'll need to delete them from your iTunes library before being able to re-download.
In the iTunes sidebar, click on Music under LIBRARY. Find the songs that have this problem in your main Music library listing. Select each of those songs, and hit the Delete key, confirm you really want to delete the file, and chose the option to move the song file to the Trash.
Go back to the Purchased screen. This time, those songs should show a button with cloud symbol. Click that button to re-download the song "from the cloud." Hopefully, they won't have the same problem this time.
NOTE: You can do this with ANY song previously purchased from the iTunes Store using your Apple ID.

How to move iTune library and iPod from old XP PC to new Vista PC

I am upgrading from an XP PC to a new Vista PC and would like to know where I can find instructions on what I should do to transfer my iTunes library and my iPod to the new computer. Thanks for any help.

I purchased Copy/Tran and, as you described, it was awesome in transferring all 2538 songs to the new computer.
The only problem remaining is that even though it transferred all songs including the 83 that I had purchased from iTunes, when I synced my iPod with the new computer's iTune library, I got a message saying it could not put the purchased songs on the iPod because they were "not authorized".
Any suggestions on what to do about that?

Song Count Different in iTunes Library and iPod

I am perplexed now. iTunes says I have 6643 songs in the library, and it says it is fully synched with my iPod. Yet the iPod thinks it has only 6603 songs on it. I have gone carefully through the library, and every song thinks it is downloaded. When I mount the iPod, and highlight it in the Source column, the library also reports that the iPod has only 6603 songs on it, so it agrees with the iPod. So what are the 40 songs that the library has that won't download onto the iPod?

Solution found. I find this amazing, but the iTunes library and the iPod treat duplicates in different ways. In iTunes, if one accidentally ends up with a duplicate song (for example by ripping the same CD twice, not realizing it was ripped before) the iTunes library shows the song twice (and the underlying mp3 files exists twice in the store). And the number of songs showing in the library includes both copies of the song, the original and the duplicate. If you then synch up the iPod, however, iTunes only loads one copy of the song to the iPod. So in my case it transpired that there were 40 duplicates on my computer, none of which downloaded to the iPod, and that is why the song count was higher in the iTunes library, and why the volume of music in the library showed as 240 MB more than what was in the iPod. Very strange design that iTunes knows enough not to download duplicates, but still shows them in the library. Solution is to go to Edit / Show Duplicates in the iTunes library, but be careful as there will be many false positives.

I just bought a new computer and have tried syncing my iTunes library and iPod 160gb classic to the newly downloaded iTunes on my new computer. It is not working.

Please can somebody help? I followed the instructions on the support page for transferring music from computer to another by downloading the music files then putting them into the iTunes music file on the new computer. Unfortunately, iTunes on the new computer is not recognising the files. I have turned on home sharing to see if I could transfer them that way. It seemed to work then disappeared entirely. I tried connecting my iPod to see if it would recognise it that way. It does recognise my iPod but not the music in it and will not sync with my new computer.
Sorry if this is a boring subject that everyone has had a problem with but I am not able to get a proper answer on the internet. This should be easy not rocket science.
Thanks for your help.
LD

Hi ldean1,
Welcome to the Support Communities!
The best way to get your music onto your new computer is to create a backup of your iTunes libray from your old computer to an external drive. Follow the steps in this article:
iTunes: How to move your music to a new computer
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT4527
You may also need to remove and reinstall iTunes and it's components. These articles will provide installation troubleshooting steps:
Removing and reinstalling iTunes and other software components for Windows Vista, Windows 7, or Windows 8
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1923?viewlocale=en_US
Issues installing iTunes or QuickTime for Windows
http://support.apple.com/kb/ht1926
Cheers,
- Judy

Possible to access your iTunes library from iPod with Homesharing ?

I have many movies in the library. Is it possible to access them from my iPod ( on the same network at home ) just using home sharing ?

Yes, although it depends a bit on how your library is organised. If everything is in the iTunes standard folders, libraries are in ...My Documents\My Music\iTunes and all the media in ...My Documents\My Music\iTunes Music then you can share the main iTunes folder over your network. Install iTunes on the laptop, then hold shift immediately after clicking on the iTunes shortcut to get the option to choose or create a new library. Navigate to your network share and open the iTunes Library.itl file. Don't try to access the library from two machines at the same time.
tt2

TS1474 Lost several albums *completely* from iTunes library AND iPod-HELP

Sooo I had been using my laptop for iTunes purchases, management, etc., and then the thing crashed and has never been revived. I decided to begin using the desktop computer to access iTunes instead, and in the process of syncing a new purchase to my iPod, somehow inadvertently lost several older albums that I had purchased earlier. Now when viewing my library on either iPod or iTunes library on desktop computer, they do not appear to be present. Are they truly gone? All that money spent..poof? Please advise!

You can redownload most iTunes purchases by:
Downloading past purchases from the App Store, iBookstore, and iTunes Store
It appears that the mess resulted in the iPod seeing the computer/iTunes library as a new computer/iTunes library. If you sync to a new computer your iPod gets erased and the media in the iTunes library ends up on the iPod.

Deleting podcasts from iTunes library AND iPod?!? HELP.

I have 61 podcasts on my iPod and in my iTunes library.
I didn't want them anymore, so I unsubscribed and deleted the podcasts from iTunes.
I synced to my iPod, assuming that the files would be automatically removed.
But they weren't.
I've tried checking and unchecking "Sync only checked songs and videos" on the iPod device page.
I've tried checking "Sync all episodes of:.." and then not checking any podcasts.
It's not worked so far. My iTunes is up to date and everything..my iPod charged..
Im wondering HOW do you delete podcasts - or any other music, videos...etc - from your iPod and iTunes?
Please help! Reply soon, I'm in desperate need.
Thanks.

You can redownload most iTunes purchases by:
Downloading past purchases from the App Store, iBookstore, and iTunes Store
It appears that the mess resulted in the iPod seeing the computer/iTunes library as a new computer/iTunes library. If you sync to a new computer your iPod gets erased and the media in the iTunes library ends up on the iPod.

ITunes 11 and iPod Classic Playlists - Problem?

I have an iPod Classic dedicated to use in my car [lives in the glove compartment]. A couple of days ago I decided to completely refresh the content, so plugged it in to my Mac Mini and set to work. First step was a factory reset, then a check for updates [none - it was running the latest OS] and then I loaded up about 156Gb of music data [all Apple Lossless].
Returning this to my car, I have discovered that it now plays music as before, but that it no longer recognises playlists. So for example, in my iTunes client, I have a PlayList folder called "_Compilations" [the underscore, _, brings it to the top of the list], in which I store about 8 or 9 playlists I have dedicated for use in my car. I can no longer access any of those playlists from my in-car stereo.
***Nothing*** has changed in this configuration, except the fact that I have upgraded to iTunes 11. There have been no changes to the configuration or firmware of the Pioneer in-car system, which is an AVIC-920BT
http://www.pioneerelectronics.com/PUSA/Car/GPS-Navigation/AVIC-X920BT
and the factory reset of the iPod did not result in any firmware or other updates. I have re-loaded the iPod with the exact same load-out as I had before, but this makes no difference. I have tried a variety of different things, but for some reason, within the "_Compilations" folder [which the Pioneer can see and let me navigate to] the Pioneer can only see a huge collection of individual songs.
I bought the Pioneer new with the car in May 2011 and it has given me no trouble since then.
I would be very grateful if anyone can suggest if anything has changed, in iTunes 11, with respect to playlist management, or if they can think of any other reason why I would suddenly see this unusual [and wrong] behavior. Oh, for what it's worth, if I remove the iPod from the car and use it with earbuds, all my playlists are present and correct and work perfectly via the wheel controller. This looks very much like some form of config change...
Any feedback or suggestion would be very much appreciated.
Thanks!
C

I have an iPod Classic dedicated to use in my car [lives in the glove compartment]. A couple of days ago I decided to completely refresh the content, so plugged it in to my Mac Mini and set to work. First step was a factory reset, then a check for updates [none - it was running the latest OS] and then I loaded up about 156Gb of music data [all Apple Lossless].
Returning this to my car, I have discovered that it now plays music as before, but that it no longer recognises playlists. So for example, in my iTunes client, I have a PlayList folder called "_Compilations" [the underscore, _, brings it to the top of the list], in which I store about 8 or 9 playlists I have dedicated for use in my car. I can no longer access any of those playlists from my in-car stereo.
***Nothing*** has changed in this configuration, except the fact that I have upgraded to iTunes 11. There have been no changes to the configuration or firmware of the Pioneer in-car system, which is an AVIC-920BT
http://www.pioneerelectronics.com/PUSA/Car/GPS-Navigation/AVIC-X920BT
and the factory reset of the iPod did not result in any firmware or other updates. I have re-loaded the iPod with the exact same load-out as I had before, but this makes no difference. I have tried a variety of different things, but for some reason, within the "_Compilations" folder [which the Pioneer can see and let me navigate to] the Pioneer can only see a huge collection of individual songs.
I bought the Pioneer new with the car in May 2011 and it has given me no trouble since then.
I would be very grateful if anyone can suggest if anything has changed, in iTunes 11, with respect to playlist management, or if they can think of any other reason why I would suddenly see this unusual [and wrong] behavior. Oh, for what it's worth, if I remove the iPod from the car and use it with earbuds, all my playlists are present and correct and work perfectly via the wheel controller. This looks very much like some form of config change...
Any feedback or suggestion would be very much appreciated.
Thanks!
C

ITunes Match and iPod Classic sync problems

Hi all,
I've recently signed up to iTunes Match and use iTunes on my Windows PC (at home) and MacBook Pro (at work). I also use an iPod Classic which I sync with the Windows PC.
I've had an issue which has happened a few times when I sync. I think the problem occurs when iTunes is open on both the PC and the Mac, but I'm not sure.
When I sync my iPod, it increments play count, and updates the recently played playlist as normal, but every now and then, I am asked to sign back into iTunes Match, and when I do that, all play counts from the ipod sync disappear. The Recently Played playlist also no longer has songs played on the iPod included. However, on the "last played" field, the correct date and time of when the song was played in populated.
The iPod is where I listen to music most often, and I would really like to keep the play counts up to date, but I can't figure out what is happening.
Has anyone seen this before? Any ideas if I can resolve this?
Thanks.

The same thing happened to my iPod. It shows that it has no songs, but when i checked the iPod's memory, it was using the same amount of space as before (i had 52 gb of music, now it's just 52 gb of... nothing).

Can you keep extra songs on your iPod that are not in your iTunes library, and not lose these songs every time you want to delete something from your iPod in the future?

I have all these songs that I want to store on my iPod but not on my computer, and I know that by choosing to manually manage my music I can still hang on to these songs when I add new songs to my iPod. However, what if I want to delete songs off of my iPod in the future? Will I lose all of the extra music that is on my iPod but not my computer, due to the fact that the only way to delete songs seems to be by syncing?

The answer to the question in the title of the thread is yes, but it is not necessarily a good idea. At some point you are likely to find you need to restore your iPod for one reason or another, or it could be lost, stolen or damaged. If your songs aren't on your computer, and backed up too, then you will be less than happy.
tt2

Different bitrates for iTunes Library and iPod

Community,
as a HiFi geek I would like tu use my Mac as a music server keeping all music in loseless format. This will explode my 80 GB iPod. Is there any way to keep the music loseless on the Mac and to have it compressed on the iPod?
Thanks
Oliver

I'm ashamed to say I don't own an iPod, but could you do this;
1) Create a new Folder, Playlist or Smart Playlist just for your iPod. Then convert your Apple Lossless to what ever bit rate you want.
2) Or, create another Library just for your iPod music. iTunes/Help/iTunes Help & do a search for "Using multiple iTunes libraries"
Message was edited by: Joe Gramm
Since you are a self proclaimed "HiFi geek" check out the new B&W Zeppelin

Organising your iTunes library and iPod Classic

Similar Messages

Maybe you are looking for