Organizing Music Folder is adding multiple track numbers

When "Keep Music Folder Organized" is checked in Preferences, file names are prefixed with track number. I think there used to be a way to prevent that but I can't find it in the current version (8.2). I could live with the track number prefix, but I now have several cases of the track number being repeated. Here's an example: "1-02 1-02 1-02 Where Did Our Love G". Note that the song name was truncated when the prefixes were added. It hasn't happen to all my tracks, but seems to have happened mostly to those that were imported from .WAV files that I copied from vinyl. Is there a way to prevent this? Is it an iTunes bug? Is there an easy way to remove the prefixes in bulk?

Success! From this thread...
http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?messageID=9267705&tstart=0
see turingtest2's note.
The part missing that I know works on Macs and may work on Windows, is AFTER you perform that hack, open preferences click on the Advanced tab and then UN-check "Keep iTunes Music Folder Organized", then click OK which dumps you out of preferences. Now open preferences again, and reselect (check) the box for "Keep iTunes Music Folder Organized" and click OK to get out of preferences. On a Mac, at this point iTunes will go through your whole library and fix all the file names to remove the track numbers in front of the song titles in the media files themselves.
Patrick

Similar Messages

"Add a copy of this File to iTunes music folder when adding to library" ???

why on earth is this feature a feature???
now that i finally realized what i have been doing all this time... i see that i have 1000's of dupes eating up HD space.
obviously when i add a song to my library - i want it in the folder i have chosen to be my iTunes music folder -- d'uh!!!
that is precisely where i added the songs to!
so can someone help me understand why i did this?
what need did i have to click this preference?
i know i made this choice...
what i want to know is if there is a reason to click it that i am missing the boat on?
thanks

hi nysepete,
why on earth is this feature a feature???
this feature is for copying files into the iTunes music folder when you are dragging/openning files into your library.
let's say you have a song file on your desktop that you just downloaded from Internet. if you double click on it or simply drag it into the iTunes windows, iTunes will automatically copy this file into your music folder. then, you can delete the file on your desktop since a copy have been made and referenced by iTunes.
if however this option isn't activated, the iTunes library will instead referenced the files in it's current location, i.e. in this exemple on your desktop.
personally, I keep the option checked so when I need to add files to the library, I know the will be managed by iTunes and then simply send the original to the trash. unchecking this option is mostly for people that want to manage files themselves outside the iTunes Music folder.

ITunes stopped organizing music folder

I have iTunes set to organize music. All of a sudden, when I put a tune into the music folder and click it, it appears in iTunes and plays, but a new folder is not created and it stays in the main folder. In the Preferences screen, Advanced, General tab, the box next to Keep iTunes folder organized is checked.
How can I get it to resume organizing?
Jan
AMD Windows 2000

Hello DenDen281. Welcome to the Apple Discussions!
This discussion area is for AirPort networking related items. You may have more luck getting a reply to your questions if you post in the iTunes area.

Playing music on iPhone 5, multiple tracks lose audio partway into the song

When playing music on my iPhone 5, multiple tracks lose audio partway into the song, even though the track is still playing.
I have tried re-syncing music to the phone several times. This will fix the problem for some tracks, but then re-create the problem in other tracks. Also, I have switched from syncing the entire library to only syncing a few playlists at a time. What can I do?

Hi Descending!
If your songs are playing correctly in iTunes on your computer, then it sounds like you will want to restore your iPhone using this article:
iTunes: Restoring iOS software
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1414
If the songs do not play correctly in iTunes on your computer, then you will want to recreate your library by following the steps in this article:
iTunes: How to re-create your iTunes library and playlists
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1451
Thanks for using the Apple Support Communities!
Cheers,
Braden

Sharing one organized music folder with different computers

I have one mp3 folder which is organized by itunes running on, lets say, computer 1. the mp3 folder is on the computer 1.
now there is a second computer, computer 2, running itunes and is connected via ethernet.
how can i use itunes on both computers now?
I want to import music on computer 2 and then see the imported files on computer 1 and vice versa.
I see all the files on computer 2, but silly me.. i said computer 2 to also organize the same folder, now computer 1 doesn't find any files any more. how can i fix this elegantly? all the files are still in the very same place, but itunes on computer 1 doesn't find them.
thanks for some help!

please let me know if this is an impossible thing for itunes or not.
if it is not then i don't know the key word or the name of the function.

Organizing Music Folder

I'm hoping that somebody can help me with this. I've noticed that I have several folders for one artist off of one album (for example: Alejandro Sanz's folder then there is an Alejandro Sanz_The Corrs folder). Is there any way to combine the two folders into one? This is a situation that I find myself running into often when I import music. I'd appreciate any help...

Thanks a bunch Doc. I tried the first method that you suggested and noticed that the Artist portion contains the name of the artist, /, then the featured artist. When I deleted the featured artist my problem was fixed!
I guess as a follow-up question is there any way to keep the multiple folders from being created or do I have to go through my music and manually make the changes each time it happens?

What happens after unchecking 'Keep iTunes Music folder organized'?

After unchecking the 'Keep iTunes Music folder organized' option, am I right in thinking that future additions to the library are simply linked from their default location? If so, what happens when ripping CDs, and how is it possible to rename or move files/folders without iTunes failing to find them and having to add them again?

It's more what doesn't happen rather than what does. If you like to organise your own folders in your Music folder you must leave it unchecked, as checking it gives iTunes the authority to rename and move tracks at will.
If you rip a CD with iTunes and the iTunes Music folder according the tabs recovered from Grace note. The hierarchy is Artist\album.
This is not affected by Keep iTunes Music folder organised.
If you add tracks already on your PC, depending on the setting of "Copy to iTunes Music folder when adding to library, iTunes will either store a link to the track in its current location or copy it into the iTunes Music folder according to the tags.
It is not possible to move or rename any track in your library or iTunes will lose it. There is no folder watch feature.
So you need to place and name a file BEFORE adding it to the library if you want to manage your own folders. Once added you can't change it without having to either add it again or find it manually in iTunes.
The only thing you can do is to use iTunes to move the whole iTunes Music folder to a new location.
Message was edited by: polydorus

Adding Entire Music Folder is Not Adding All My Music in the Folder

Ok. In my shared music folder on my computer it has every song i own in it. it is all in the same format and everything. when i go to add my shared music folder (using the add folder thing on itunes) it will not load all of my songs that are in the folder. i have 2500 something songs and only 2048 songs will load. there was two songs i noticed right away that werent there so i went and used the add file thing on itunes and that DID load them. but there are about 500 songs that arent loading and i dont know which ones they are because there is no pattern to the songs not loading. some are my really new songs that i have just gotten and some are songs that have been on my computer for a few years.
if anyone knows how i can add all my songs to my itunes library from my shared music folder, and have ALL of them show, please tell me what the problem might be and help me fix it.
thank you!

Luke, here is something you might try. I noticed you said that all your music was in your shared music folder (that you imported from). I have over twice as many music files as you do and I have not had this problem. If you want to save yourself some trouble from searching for all the missing files do the following.
1) Go into iTunes- Edit- Preferences- Advanced- General
If it is not already select, check the box that says "Keep iTunes Music folder organized."
2) Go to My Music - iTunes- iTunes Library and delete all song files.
3) Add all the music you want to be in your library from your Shared music to this folder you have now deleted all files from.
4) In iTunes go to File- Import- Folder and import the iTunes Library folder.
5) Go to iTunes- Edit- Preferences- Advanced- General make sure the box that says "Copy files to iTunes Music folder when adding to library." is checked.
This "should" fix your problem. However, as a warning you stand a good chance of losing all your playlists and song ratings, etc (the song files will be fine though).

ITunes Music Folder Organization Inproperly

After I imported music of the album "Wings Of Song", by James Galway, from my removable hard disk to "iTunes Music Folder" and had iTunes organized it, I discovered something that's a little bit wierd. All the music I just imported is put under the folder Compilation\Wings of Song. This means that when iTunes organizing the music folder, it unexpectedly "thought" all these music are by the artist Compilation. What is the reason? Could anyone tell me why? Thank you!

The Compilation directory is how iTunes organizes albums that Gracenote (CDDB) considers works of various artists or collections of songs from the same artist, but differing albums (like "Best Of's" or "Greatest Hits").
The CDDB is not always consistent, as some Greatest Hits are marked as compilations and others are not. This really irked me in the beginning as I was wondering why some of my albums went missing. At first I tried to manually reorganize and move the files, but it was cumbersome. I stumbled on the "Compilations" function and it made things much easier.
For instance, if you have a Greatest Hits album of U2 sitting in the Compilations directory and would rather have it under the U2 directory (where I feel it better belongs), you would perform the process outlined below and the album and songs would move to its "improved" location.
That's why you have folders in your Compilations directory. Some you may wish to keep there, some you may want to move to a more appropriate place. This is how. Try moving some of them to their Artist's folder (if you have any that would qualify).
First check your Preferences:
-- Advanced/General: Keep iTunes Music folder organized (on)
-- Advanced/General: Copy files to iTunes Music folder when adding to library (off) - change it back to 'on' after the song switch, if you want
To move an Album from the Compilations folder after it was imported from a CD (or otherwheres):
-- Highlight the collection of songs on that CD within the main Library
-- Right-click, 'Get Info'
-- Remove the 'Part of Compilation' check-mark - turn it to 'no'
-- Click 'OK'
iTunes will reorganize your PC folder structure, moving the songs from the Compilation folder to their Artist folder.
To defeat a Compilation designation prior to ripping the tracks from a CD, go to 'Get Info' on the CD and make sure that the 'Part of Compilation' box is not checked. This will keep the album under its designated Artist folder.
This is how I keep my music organized. I only want 'true' compilations under the Compilations folder, not some of the Artist's 'Greatest Hits'. You may have other desires.

ITunes Music Folder organization

Hey. I have all my albums stored in a My Music folder, some are labelled fully (Artist - Album) as the folder name, while others are simply the artist, the album or what have you. As I load new albums onto my computer, I just do a manual "add folder to iTunes" each time. I checked both Keep ITunes Music Folder Organized and Copy Files to iTunes Music Folder when Adding, and it prompts me to copy all the files over. I've tried this a few times, using My Music as the folder, and other locations, but it only ever copies like, ten of my three-hundred odd albums.. I want it to copy ALL my music and organize it accordingly, but it won't.. What gives?

Hi Jen, welcome to discussions
iTunes always manages the music folder in that way (\[artistname]\[albumname]\[title]).
To keep it from splitting up your albums with several different artist, check "part of a compilation" in the info tab (right-click->get info). Now those albums will appear in one folder (\compilations\[albumname]\[title])

ITunes Music Folder Issue: Won't Read External Folder?

Hi There. Just bought a new Mac Mini and installed a time machine backup on to it to mirror it with my latest laptop settings. So far, everything has been breezy, except for iTunes. I have an external drive with about 200GB of music/movies that I want to use with the Mini. When in advanced iTunes preferences, I change the iTunes Music Folder location to that of the external drive and click "Change".
I get no errors or anything, then iTunes tells me it is updating the library, but it is still the same old (internal) library. For the life of me, I cannot get it to change it to see my external. Any advice? I thought it might be an XML issue, so I moved the XML file but it didn't change anything. Is the "Add to Library" option my next best bet? I'm ok with that as long as it doesn't actually add the files to my internal hard drive and keeps all of the items sorted correctly. Is the last case scenario to reset iTunes? How would one do that? Any advice appreciated!

When in advanced iTunes preferences, I change the iTunes Music Folder location to that of the external drive and click "Change".
Okay. iTunes will use that folder for everything in the future. Anything added to iTunes will put into that folder if you have *Copy to iTunes music folder when adding to library* ticked.
If there is any previous items in iTunes, it will continue to look for them where they were.
I thought it might be an XML issue, so I moved the XML file but it didn't change anything.
The .xml is generated by iTunes simply for other applications. iTunes does not use it at all.
Is the "Add to Library" option my next best bet?
It's the only option since this is how you add files to iTunes (along with Import when RIPping from CD).
If you want to have the items in the new location in iTunes, you need to File -> Add to library and select the location on the external.
I'm ok with that as long as it doesn't actually add the files to my internal hard drive
See 1st comment in this response.
and keeps all of the items sorted correctly
Depends.
The sort in iTunes is whaichever column you are selected on.
If you are talking about the "sort" in the Finder/on the HD, then iTunes sorts by Artist/Album/Song name. If you do not want this, you need to to uncheck *Copy files to iTunes music folder when adding to library* and uncheck *Keep iTunes music folder organized*.

Organizing music in iTunes

Hello-
I apologize if this question has been posted in the past, but I'm having a difficult time successfully searching the thousands of threads here.
I am a new iPod owner (80gb) and am trying to organize my music. I am running Windows XP and have my mp3s organized exactly as I'd like them on an external hard drive. My problem is that I cannot figure out how to get iTunes to import and organize them the same way.
An example of how my music is organized (in Windows Explorer on my hard drive) is as follows:
<folder> mp3s
--<folder> classical
----<folder> bach
------*files
------*Winamp playlist(s)
------*subfolders
----<folder> beethoven
------*files
------*subfolders
------*subfolders within subfolders
----<folder> brahms
--<folder> jazz
----<folder> charlie parker
------*files
------*Winamp playlist(s)
------*subfolders
----<folder> miles davis
Any suggestions on how to successfully make my iTunes library look like my Windows Explorer library would be much appreciated. I've spent considerable time in the past organizing my files and playlists into Windows folders/subfolders and would like to avoid re-learning how to re-organize everything in iTunes.
Thank you!
Toshiba Satellite Windows XP
Toshiba Satellite Windows XP
Toshiba Satellite Windows XP

No, iTunes cannot do as you want.
It organizes on the drive by Artist -> Album.
But everything is done in iTunes. so how/where it is stored on the drive is pretty much irrelevant.
You can maintain your own structure in one of two ways.
1
iTunes prefs -> Advanced.
Uncheck Copy files to iTunes music folder when adding to library.
File -> Add folder to library and start adding yoru folders. They will go into iTunes but willstay where they are. iTunes will not copy them into the iTunes music folder.
2
iTunes prefs -> Advanced.
Uncheck Keep iTunes music folder organized.
Drag your music folders into the iTunes music folder.
File -> Add Folder to library and select these folders.
iTunes will keep the directory structure as it is and simply add them the library.
If you later tick Keep iTunes music folder organized, it will move and rename everything according to the ID3 tags into Artis -> Album folders.
Note that iTunes playlists are not saved as a separate file like WinAmp or WMP. They are part of the iTunes library file.

Downloading songs into itunes music folder from limewire

I currently have songs scattered all over my computer and hard driveome from various programs and methods I have used to get music over the years. Some of the music is already in itunes and some isnt. I want to consolodate everything into my itunes music folder to make it more convenient. In an effort to do this I have switched my limewire preferences to download directly into the itunes music folder. However, when I download a song it appears in itunes only in a folder called "Limewire Tunes" but it is not present in the recently added folder or the itunes library. Does anyone know how I could remedy this?

Of course you can always go into your preferences @
Edit>Preferences>Advanced
and put a check next to Keep itunes music organized and copy files to itunes music folder when adding to library.
This way you can just add your new music to your library and it will automatically put it in your itunes folder for you all nice and neat like then you can delete the other music files from your limetunes music folder to keep you from having duplicates on your computer. Its a nice way to consolidate all your music into one easy to backup location
Hope that helps,
Seth
Windows XP

How can I move iTunes music folder to another drive?

I have iTunes version 7.1 running on a notebook with Windows Vista. My iTunes music folder is becoming too large for the C; drive and I am having problems successfully moving it to the D: drive.
I know the folder is in the D: drive because I can see it there. I have followed guidance on how to link it to iTunes: Edit / Preferences / Advanced / General / Change (choosing iTunes music folder on the D: drive) / OK. I have also ticked the "Keep iTunes Music folder organised" box, as well as the "Copy files to iTunes Music folder when adding to library" box. Nevertheless, when I open iTunes my music does not appear in the library.
What am I doing wrong?

Firstly there is more than one kind of iTunes Library file:
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=93732
Secondly you should consolidate your library:
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?path=iTunesMac/7.3/en/670x.html
The following link will give you the instructions to move iTunes to an EHD. These instructions need to be followed EXACTLY.
The 2 metadata files within the main iTunes folder must stay on the main drive of your system as that is their "home", they can't be moved.
Now read this:
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=301748

Music file location. Trying to share music on same computer multiple users

THE FACTS!!:
I have a iphone4
my wife has a iphone4
my son has a itouch4
we each have different apple id's
we have one computer and all different user accounts on this same computer
Yes I have gone into I tunes on all three user signon's and gone to preferences then advanced and changed the music folder to the same location.
The problem:
     I will download songs on my iphone
     My sone will download songs to his itouch
     my wife will download songs to her iphone
     We go into our respective user accounts and plug in our devices, and the music will sync, but when I switch over to another user the music will not show up. It will only show on the itunes for the user that sync the music.
     In theory, if we are downloading music to the same folder, wouldn't the song show in each user's itunes music folder, since I chose the same library on each user account for itunes????
I would love for everyone to plug in their devices and whatever music is synced on any device, it will go into the same library. ONLY MUSIC!!
Does anyone have a answer. This is driving me nuts!

     In theory, if we are downloading music to the same folder, wouldn't the song show in each user's itunes music folder, since I chose the same library on each user account for itunes????
What you really have there is separate libraries sharing a common music folder. Adding new things to the folder does not cause the other iTunes library to know about it. If you would like to have this capability, you can use a 3rd party program such as iTunes Folder Watch.

Organizing Music Folder is adding multiple track numbers

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