Original music files no longer play in iTunes

So I recorded a demo for my band and after several months of trouble-free playing on iTunes it has all of sudden decided that I am nt authorized to play these files anymore and I can't get them to open outside of iTunes anymore. HELP!!

I am experiencing the same problem

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HT3842 Does iTunes store the original music file and copy it into a separate folder? If i delete the original file from finder will it remove it from my iTunes library?

Hi, on my last PC when transferring music to my new MacBook Pro i noticed i had about 6 duplicated of each song in every album i took hours in removing them.
I Just wondered Does iTunes store the original music file and then copy it into a separate folder?
If i delete the original file from finder will it remove it from my iTunes library or vice versa. I didnt want to lose any music like i have some how managed to on my old computer.
Or should i keep both files of it in the Music folder and also iTunes library folder?
Which is best ?

DrewPowell wrote:
I Just wondered Does iTunes store the original music file and then copy it into a separate folder?
It does both at the same time.
When you add files to iTunes, it copies them into /Music/iTunes/iTunes media/ folder. The original file remains where it was.
You can drag a file to /Music/iTunes/iTunes media/Automatically add to iTunes/ folder.
This will add to iTunes and move it to /Music/iTunes/iTunes media/.
I keep a shortcut of this folder on my desktop then simply drag files to the shortcut to add to iTunes.
Then there are no "extra" files around.

HT1459 After updating ITunes, it, ITunes started loosing my music files and stopped playing more than one song at a time.What now?

After updating ITunes, it, ITunes started loosing my music files and stopped playing more than one song at a time also there would be duplicate songs in the same folders.What now?

Sound like something messed up somehow. Maybe you can consider reinstalling the drivers again? @28.86.2.0

My PC computer was wiped (virus) including itunes. How do I transfer the many playlists and music to the new re-installed itunes?? Ipod is synced to old itunes. I have all original music files on external hard drive. Please help?

My PC computer was wiped (virus) including itunes. How do I transfer the many playlists and music on my ipod to the new re-installed itunes?? Ipod is synced to old itunes. I have all original music files on external hard drive. Please help?
New itunes is trying to wipe the ipod. But have many many playlists (many hours making) which I want to save. Any help would be appreciated.

If you want to just extract the playlists from your iPod, plug it in iTunes. When it appears under devices, right->click on it and choose Export Playlists. Save them to a location such as your desktop and them import them into your library once you have copied and imported all of your music back into it.
See this older post from another forum member Zevoneer covering the different methods and software available to assist you with the task of copying content from your iPod back to your PC and into iTunes.
https://discussions.apple.com/thread/2452022?start=0&tstart=0
B-rock

Where are music files stored when playing a song stored in iTunes Match?

Where are music files stored when playing a song stored in iTunes Match? Instead of clicking the cloud icon and downloading the song, I simply double click the song and it starts playing. Later, I can quite iTunes, come back and not have to wait for the song to buffer. When I go to about on my computer I am told there is 11 gigabytes of music on my computer. Where are those files stored, do they clear themeselves over time, etc...

but then why does the FAQ state this:
Does iTunes Match stream or download songs?
On a computer, any songs stored in iCloud will stream over the air when played, though you can download them at any time by clicking the iCloud download button.
Do they mean a different computer than the one with the stored music files? Would be nice if they specified what they mean

Music files missing? Seems like iTunes bug...

I recently noticed that many of my music files are missing, and that the selection appears to be somewhat random. They are retained in iTunes, but have the ! next to them. So, doing the logical thing, I tried to locate them, and the files themselves are missing, but their iTunes link is preserved.
In an effort to continue to do the logical thing, I then systematically went through my CD library, re-loading all the missing material back into iTunes. This was extremely tedious, but appeared to fix most of the issues (obviously, the ones were the CD case was mysteriously empty were left unfixed). The files played fine at that time. Then I carried the computer upstairs to my home office, where I proceeded to plug it in to do a time machine backup on the newly transferred files.
Now here's where it gets really strange... The time machine backup went swimmingly without hitches, to a relatively new USB 3.0 drive. I then set about organizing the music, so that it would all be in the iTunes music folder (User(me)/Music/iTunes/iTunes Music/ directory, the one automatically made by iTunes on installation). Many of the songs linked perfectly, and I didn't have to re-link the songs to their new location, as one might expect. So, I then thought I would sit down to enjoy this new library that I had spent a day bringing up to speed and organizing again. And, low and behold, songs are missing--again. Not just the ones that I couldn't replace, but some of the newly replaced ones. For example, Track 12 of an album might be missing, but the files for Tracks 1-11 and 13+ are all present.
As other people who have experienced this problem previously have noted, there does seem to be a slight preference for songs whose artist and/or title include accented characters, although my detection ability is more limited now, as I have since lost many of these original CDs, and so the songs were not replaced within the library. But, while they account for about 5-10% of my overall library, they accounted for about 50% of the songs missing at the beginning of yesterday's overhaul.
And what makes matters really strange is that when I tried to look up the missing files--which I know myself to have imported yesterday--in the fresh time machine backup I made right after importing all that music, they are all missing.
So, it appears that iTunes is systematically deleting files at random. While I'm tempted to try to put the missing ones back on (fewer are "re-missing" than I was able to replace, so it's a little better), this doesn't exactly seem fruitful, given the fresh deletions.
The original music files were encoded a long time ago, and have been copied and re-copied (and recopied... ad infinitium). It appears that everything that I encoded on the really old system (before iTunes really became popular for this sort of thing) were preserved; however, the issue seems to temporally localize around the time I started using iTunes for most of my music encoding needs (except, of course, for the little issue about files that were imported less than 24 hours ago).
A few other notes:
- I did not delete these files accidentally. I'm more careful than that.
- The files are not there (they're not just hidden--I already checked for this).
- iTunes has retained the link to where it believes the file should be.
- The issue appears to have originally arisen quite some time ago, as these files are systemically missing from all backups made by time machine. However, it wasn't all that long ago that I deleted my entire library and started over (about 2 years, so the files should have been natively present on 2 of my macs) by re-importing all the files in my music folder. This newly created library has since become the "master" library that is propigated to all my other computers (although I don't trust iCloud for obvious reasons, given this fiasco--Thanks, Apple...)
- I have not elected to have iTunes manage my music folder, or automatically copy things to the iTunes music folder when importing (although this is the default destination, so they are imported there, but not duplicated there when imported from elsewhere on the hard drive).
- I am currently running OS X 10.6.8 on an Intel Mac (yeah, yeah, I'd upgrade the OS, but software that cost more than the computer isn't 10.8--or even 10.7--compatible).
If anyone has any thoughts on how to prevent this issue in the future, I'd really appreciate it. I think the music files themselves are just... gone. But, I would like to be able to have them stick around for a bit when I get around to dedicating another day to trying to import them from their CD.
Does anyone know a piece of third party software that allows you to sync and update iDevices? Hopefully one that doesn't take over my music library and decide to delete things of its own accord?

I was lucky to be able to use a PC, that after trying numerous times actually read the external hdd, I quickly copied all files over to a backup hdd and recovered all files. After that I ended up in contact with Western Digital about the incident and they recommended to completely erase (7-pass erase) of the hdd, which ended up taking over 5 days to do. They gave me no reason as to "Why" it would have happened but if I erase and reformatted of the hdd and the problem reoccurred they recommended to get the unit replaced.
I was lucky to recover all my files.....keep trying on different computers if you can, and copy what you can get hold of. The 7-pass erase will delete pretty much every trace of information on the hdd with no chance of recovery.
So far since the incident its been running ok but I not longer trust the hdd to be stable. Not a simple nor quick process / solution I'm afraid.
Good luck!
Once you have recovered your files (or as many as you can get hold of) and ready to erase the hdd:
(THIS WILL ERASE ALL YOUR DATA, MAKE SURE YOU HAVE A BACKUP BEFORE PROCEEDING)
Connect the drive directly to the Mac, open Disk Utility.
Select the drive and click on the "Erase" tab Select the "7-times zeros" to completely erase the drive.
Once the erase have completed format the drive to your selection.

Movies no longer play in iTunes or ATV

I installed the software update for iTunes 11.1.5.5 and now movies (m4v from Handbrake) stored on my PC no longer play in iTunes or Apple TV. These have been playing fine for years, so I'm guessing that 11.1.5.5 has something in it that suddenly doesn't like this format anymore. I can still see my whole library in ATV, covers and all, but when I hit play, I just get the spinning icon. In iTunes, it's just a black screen with the timer staying at zero. Music still plays fine on both devices. I'm frustrated at myself to no end for installing the update. As well, I cannot fine a single complaint of this same issue. I'm hoping that might be because there's a simple fix (long shot I know). Anyone else having issues? Any ideas? Please remember that this file format has been playing without issue for years, so please don't suggest that I change the format unless you know for sure that is a new concern with playback. Thank you.

Well, in case anyone is reading this and willing to offer ideas, I did uninstall iTunes 11.1.5.5 and re-installed the last full version I had saved 11.1.1.11 (not really sure of the last version I was on before everything stopped working). Nothing was lost during the re-install (all libraries, playlists and such are still as they were....I was expecting this not to be the case). However, this process didn't change the video playback problem. I'm at a loss of what this could be. I went through the audio issues mentioned on another thread and did the recommendations, with no change. I did manage to find a few videos that still do play. The only difference I could see is that they are listed as "low complexity" and in stereo. I suppose it probably is an audio thing, though I have no idea why it's an issue now, when it never has been in the past. Please help. Thank you.

Cannot locate original music file error message???

cannot locate original music file error message ??? i transferred to a new laptop then some of my music collection seems to get this message .

This happens if the file is no longer where iTunes expects to find it. Possible causes are that you or some third party tool has moved, renamed or deleted the file, or that the drive it lives on has had a change of drive letter. It is also possible that iTunes has changed from expecting the files to be in the pre-iTunes 9 layout to post-iTunes 9 layout,or vice-versa, and so is looking in slightly the wrong place.
Select a track with an exclamation mark, use Ctrl-I to get info, then cancel when asked to try to locate the track. Look on the summary tab for the location that iTunes thinks the file should be. Now take a look around your hard drive(s). Hopefully you can locate the track in question. If a section of your library has simply been moved, or a drive letter has changed, it should be possible to reverse the actions.
Alternatively, as long as you can find a location holding the missing files, then you should be able to use my FindTracks script to reconnect them to iTunes .
tt2

Need an expert help solve linking original music files

All my iTunes music files now have an exclamation mark ( ! ) next to them. The error says unable to loacate original music file. I choose to locate the file, and I am able to find the file. When I find the file in "my music" folder, I see all my albums. If I open the album file I can find the original music file and I can link it successfully so that that particular song will play correctly from iTunes.
My problem is that I have almost 4,000 songs listed in my iTunes library. I can't possilby take each file and link each one manually through the My Music folder to the Album folder and then find the song. There must be an easier way, or I am doing this incorrectly.
I would certainly appreciate anyone's expertise.

I believe I followed the directions: I closed iTunes. I renamed the MY MUSIC file to MY MUSIC 1. (this is where all the music files were located). I reopened iTunes, then dragged the MY MUSIC folder into the open iTunes window. Now I have duplicates of all my music files in iTunes, but both sets get the exclamaion mark that original file cannot be located. Perhaps this works for MAC, but not Windows.
Still looking for any solutions. Thank you.

Music always stutters while playing in itunes

Hello,
I have a serious problem with my mp3s in itunes. for a while the music always stutters while playing in itunes. i checked many forums and have seen the advices with switching the audiodevice in quicktime to save play. but nothing has changed. my audio device is an nvidia nforce, is there any problem with the component an itunes. Please help me....
THX

MorningZ wrote:
the mp3 plays perfectly fine in VLC, so i know the mp3 is good
Don't leap to that conclusion. iTunes is more strict/finicky/incompetent (pick your own interpretation) about slight variations in MP3 headers, and will often trip on files that other players handle fine.
Treating the files with a 3rd party tag cleanup program such as MP3 Validator often clears up the problem.

Music files are not opening in itunes.

Hi
My music files will not open in itunes and is not recognised in the library. I have the files in the 'My Music' file however when looking at the music file it say the file is locked? is there anyway I can get my itunes to recognise the music files?

I finally removed those audio and video files from iPhone, although it will be tough to add them back to iPhone, but at least I saved the phone spaces.
I used software something like iTools, delete everything under File System / User / iTunes Control, then restart phone, that simple, usage count, spaces used are all correct now.

TS3297 What do I do if music files purchased/downloaded for the iTunes store don't work properly?

What do I do if music files purchased/downloaded for the iTunes store don't work properly?

Buddhabeat...clicking on the "Report a Problem" button next to the song(s) in question, should open a drop-down list menu, that allows you to select the specific issue/area of concern that you are experiecing (or you can select a generic "My problem is not on the list" (or something to that effect). Underneath this drop-down menu box, there should be another message box where you can describe the issue/problem your having. Below this message box will be a "Submit" button...clicking on that will send your message to the Apple iTunes Store Customer Support Centre (you will see a confirmation message that your message has been sent), as well as receive an email notification from the Support Centre confirming your message has been received, a case number, and that you will receive an email response pertaining to the issue/problem you're having, from the Support Centre asap (usually within 24 hours). That's how it worked for me, anyhow.

I had to restore my computer. After reinstalling itunes and sincronizing with my ipod, the music files were not organized in itunes as in the ipod: some songs were missing, some albums has no cover? Why is the sincronization not working properly?

I had to restore my computer. After reinstalling itunes and sincronizing with my ipod, the music files were not organized in itunes as in the ipod: some songs were missing, some albums has no cover? Why is the sincronization not working properly?

See Recover your iTunes library from your iPod or iOS device.
tt2

HT1711 I backed up my iphone5 in the morning and later again on the same day, in the afternoon. I then restored an older backup from the morning. Now all my music files refuse to play even though they still appear on iphone. How can I resolve this?

I backed up my iphone5 in the morning and later again on the same day, in the afternoon. I then restored an older backup from the morning. Now all my music files refuse to play even though they still appear on iphone. How can I resolve this?

Most likely you have Office 2004 which are PPC-only applications and will not work in Lion. Upgrade to Office 2011. Other alternatives are:
Apple's iWork suite (Pages, Numbers, and Keynote.)
Open Office (Office 2007-like suite compatible with OS X.)
NeoOffice (similar to Open Office.)
LibreOffice (a new direction for the Open Office suite.)

Some audio files no longer playing?

I am half way through an imovie project and recently added audio commentry, however some files no longer play also a few now have a yellow warning triangle?
Im assuming the files are now corrupt or something?
really annoying!, anyone have an idea what the problem is??
Cheers

Hi
I'm assuming the files are now corrupt or something?
I don't
Yellow triangle - indicates that the pointer in iMovie to the Audio file used, no longer is valid.
iMovie - DO NOT Copy the audio You put into Your movie project's at all - only points to where You found it.
E.g. - You insert an Audio-CD and use a tune from this in Your movie - then you need a tune from another CD and Ejects the first one =====> RESULTING IN A YELLOW Triangle - pointer to the tune on Your Audio-CD is broken up on You ejected the CD.
I copy all needed Audio to a dedicated folder first (as I store in a proper place e.g. movie folder in User account) - then I use them into my movie.
The deeper thing is - That there is NO movie in Your Movie Project at all - only a small text document pointing to the material used (video, photos, texts and audio) AND how You want it to be presented AS a Movie.
Only when Shared / Finalized - there is an actual movie created.
This is Non-Destructive non linear Video Editing and how it works.
Yours Bengt W

Original music files no longer play in iTunes

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