"Sort Artist" Problem

When browsing artists (Ctrl+B) in iTunes, "Jay-Z" and "Jay-Z Ft. MJB" sort different, even thought they both have the same album artist. When selecting "Jay-Z Ft. MJB" only one song appears.
So I tried entering Jay-Z as "Sort Artist" for all songs in album. But as "Jay-Z Ft. MJB" is the artist for the first song on the album, all songs by Jay-Z sort as "Jay-Z Ft. MJB" in the browser (Ctrl+B).
Why?

Ah, you've hit upon a problem with iTunes' sorting, although not really iTunes fault.
If you have tracks with different artists but all with the same Sort Artist, iTunes cannot reliably know which of those Artists ought to appear as the Artist name in the browser. So it uses the Artist tag of the first track (with this Sort Artist) that was added to the Library, which is not always correct.
So in your situation, drag the first track out onto the desktop and delete it from iTunes completely (select move file to Trash). You will now see that the browser displays the Artist name you want. Then drag that track back from the desktop and it will be added to the Library and be a part of that album again, but as it was added later, the browser does not use its Artist tag and still uses the Artist name from the other (now earlier) tracks.
Sometimes when there's lots of different artists on the tracks of an album (but it's not a compilation) you may have to delete several tracks and re-add them in this way to get everything the way you want, but in my experience, it does then stick, i.e. it doesn't forget and start using one of the other Artist names for browser display. Of course, Apple may change iTunes...

Similar Messages

How to fix sorting artist problems?

Hey, I need some help here.
So I got a MacBook Air and synced it with my iPhone 5s, I lost all my iPhone music and started adding them over again but I noticed something which is frustrating to me. For example:
Artist: A Day To Remember
When I transfer it to my iPhone, I open the app and it is sorted only as "Day To Remember" even when in the iPhone Music Library in my Mac it's listed as "A Day To Remember", after B's.
Same happens with some artists that start with THE.
I don't understand what's going on and fixing the tags in the iPhone music library is useless. And now the Mac library is not solving the problem either (Already tried checking and fixing the album artist and "sort as" types and still no response.)
Does anyone know the source to this issue?
Thanks
JM

There are actually several workarounds for this:
You can manually override the automatically-generated sort values - so if you want albums by The Beatles to sort by "T" rather than "B" you can enter "The Beatles" in the Sort Artist field
turingtest2 has created a VBScript that will do this automatically for a range of selected items - see the UnAutoSort script on this page.
If you're feeling really adventurous, you can modify iTunes' behavior for sort names by editing the appropriate version of the SortPrefixes.plist file - depending on your versions of Windows/iTunes this will be in C:\Program Files\iTunes\iTunes.Resources\en.lproj or C:\Program Files (x86)\iTunes\iTunes.Resources\en.lproj (for US English), or the relevant folder in iTunes Resources for other languages. Note that any changes here will need to be repeated after every iTunes update as the file is reset to its default values by the installation process.
(Edit: obviously the references above are for Windows, I'm not sure whether there's a Mac equivalent of turingtest2's script but editing the SortPrefixes.plist file will work on Mac as well, allowing for variations in iTunes' folder structures).

Sorting Artist Problem

I have this problem about artists featuring other artists sorting problem
For example, I have 2 Akon songs
One the artist is Akon
and the other one's artist is Akon featuring Eminem
Now I have 2 artists
ones Akon and the other one is Akon featuring Eminem
Shouldn't it just be Akon for both of them?

For albums with an artist and then some songs that are that artist featuring another artist the tracks (for the artist field) looks something like this...
1. Artist
2. Artist feat. Bad Rapper
3. Artist feat. Bad Rapper
4. Artist
5. Artist
6. Artist feat. Lame singer
7. Artist
etc.
which to iTunes will seem like three (3) different albums by "Artist", "Artist feat. Bad Rapper", & "Artist feat. Lame singer"
If that is the case, the fix is to use the "Album Artist" tag. So select all the songs from that Album at the same time. Do a Get Info on the bunch. In the Album Artist type in the "Artist" name only. Hit OK and now all the tracks will still have slightly different "Artist" fields but the entire album is tagged as just "Artist" and will group together properly.
Alternatively, if you didn't care who the songs "feat." you could rename all the tracks (by selecting them all and Get Info) so that the Artist filed is just "Artist" and not use the "Album Artist" field at all. But if you like that extra info in the Artist field, that is why the Album Artist field is there, to allow you to group an album together even when the Artist field is different from song to song.
Note, while this will fix it in iTunes, most of the iPods (not sure about the latest models) do not use or recognize the "Album Artist" tag and so on the iPod, the album will still break up into several different "artist" albums.
Cheers,
Patrick

How do I fix my problem with Artist and Sort Artist?

I have all my songs sorted by Artist and because I have songs that feature other artists I use the sort artist field.
In itunes it all looks fine but when I sync it with my iPod Nano 5th Gen one of the artists names comes up as the artist for all songs.
Eg. I have 5 B.o.B songs.The Artist field has B.o.B and the featured artist so it looks like -B.o.B feat. Hayley Williams-. The sort artist field along with album artist and sort album artist field are all only B.o.B.
My problem is that when I sync them onto my iPod all the songs by B.o.B appear under B.o.B feat. Rivers Cumo when I sort by Artist despite this only being the artist for one and all listed with the same format as above. They all also come up with the Artist as B.o.B feat. River Cumo when I play one of the songs.
Is there anyway to fix this so on my iPod they all appear under B.o.B when sorting by Artist but when I play the song it gives me the artist name? I'd prefer not to have to put the featured artist in the song title.

This sometimes happens if your MacBook battery is swollen, and pushes on the underside of the trackpad.
Some users forgot that an alternate input device, like a tablet, does not shut off when set aside -- it continues to provide input at the same time as the mouse you put your hand on.

Artist sort order problem

Hi.
I have music sync'd via iTunes Match from my laptop to my iPad and to my iPhone. The names and order appear correct on both the laptop and on the iPad but on the iPhone several artists are either shown in all lower case or the last name will be used by the sort, rather than the first.
I've reset the artist, album artist and sort artist tags to different names (and they show up correctly then on the iPhone) and then set them back, but the problem remains.
I'm thinking that the iPhone has a corrupt file somewhere - but how can I reset that without losing everything on the phone?
A factory reset and restore from iCloud results in the same problem.
Any ideas?
Thanks guys.
--Cynan.

I also have an Artist sort order problem. While the circumstances are quite different from yours, I wonder if it's due to a similar corruption problem. I don't use iTunes Match. I found Kenny G listed under letter T.

I have a major problem regarding Itunes mismatching sort-artists to the actual artist and reverting edits i make

this has been ongoing for about one and a half years, it started when one day i signed in and discovered that nearly everly. single. song was mismatched all over the place, it took me a while to understand why because i'm not tech savvy, but discovered that the sorting on each song had changed (for example, a piece by Beethoven would have the artist as Beethoven, but the Sort Artist under David Bowie etc...) I spent a year redoing everything, going through every single artist manually and changing it, hoping that would be the end of it. But now it's happening again, I do a thing where I change the Sort Artist and the Viewed Artist of an album to a certain classical composer so that it's all under his name in one place, however every week or so when i sign into itunes, it's all reverted back to the original artist name (IN NAME ONLY) by that i mean when i click on the piece of music, it immediately resets and jumps back down to where it should be (Händel for example) this is extremely frustrating as each time i sync my ipod it gets the mismatched artist info again, how in ** name do i stop this?
for clarification: with the pieces on which i click to revert back to normal, when i check their info, they have not only the correct artist, but also the correct sorting artist in place which i have put there, so it makes no sense why they would revert

tsdagg wrote:
for clarification: with the pieces on which i click to revert back to normal, when i check their info, they have not only the correct artist, but also the correct sorting artist in place which i have put there, so it makes no sense why they would revert
Are making the changes in iTunes or using an external app? Do you use "update iTunes Match"?
Jim

"Sort Artist" does not work on iPod / How to sort by album artist

I have many albums in my music collection that contain songs by different artists. In iTunes, I have set all these songs to the same "Sort Artist" so that they all appear under the same artist's name (the album artist's name).
However, when I sync my iPod, the "Sort Artist" settings don't carry over. For example, a compilation album with 10 songs by 10 different artists would show up under one single artist in iTunes (per my sort artist settings), but on the iPod the songs show up under 10 different artists. Is there any way to fix this problem? I basically want to sort my music by album artist, instead of just the artist.
The strange part is when I browse my iPod on my computer, the compilation albums are properly sorted under one artist, but it's still wrong when I browse on the iPod itself.

It could be that you have inadvertently imported these CDs into iTunes as part of a compilation. If so, the artists won't show in the artists menu on the iPod.
To check, highlight the tracks on one of the offending artists CDs in iTunes, right click and select "get info". This brings up a multiple song info window, and from there you can check if you have 'yes' in the box marked "part of a compilation".
If you have, select 'no' instead and click 'ok'. Do this with any CD that has this issue. This will alter the info in iTunes, and you should then connect your iPod and synchronize the changes.
The problem arises because the information contained on the Gracenote CD Data Base (where iTunes gets all it's album/artist/track info from), is sometimes incorrect. It can show CDs as compilations when in fact they are not.
You should also check that the songs have album name info in their ID tags.
See: Some songs don't show under artist on my iPod.
Once you add a second album name for that artist even for a single song, ALL the rest of the songs should now show up under that artist, even those without album names.
Providing the spelling for the artists is exactly the same of course.

Sort Artist field: how do you make it's data appear in the Artist list?

Usually, if I have an album by a particular artist already (e.g. Paul McCartney) and then add another which I want listed under the same artist (e.g. Wings), then there's no problem. I would just enter Paul McCartney in the Sort Artist and Sort Album Artist fields for the Wings album and I'd only have Paul McCartney listed under the artists (in List View).
However, occasionally this doesn't work and I want to know how to sort it. I imported an album by The Jacksons, entered Michael Jackson in the Sort Artist and Sort Album Artist fields, which resulted in The Jacksons being listed amongst the artists alphabetically as if Michael Jackson, although still displayed as The Jacksons. I then imported a Michael Jackson album and entered the same data in the same fields, and although the albums were displayed together and alphabetically listed as if Michael Jackson, they were listed amongst the artists as The Jacksons. I want to see Michael Jackson listed. I have it that way in 2 other libraries. I think this has occured because I entered The Jacksons' album first in a library which contained no Michael Jackson and therefore The Jacksons have taken precedence. How can I sort this?

As I see it the *Album Artist* field should keep tracks of an album together when different Artists are credited on an album. It does work this way in iTunes but not on most iPods. The *Sort Album Artist* field is used to control where that Album Artist is listed among others. e.g. to control whether "The Beatles" get sorted under "B" or "T". While linking different Artist values with an overal Album Artist makes sense, I don't think that the logic of Sort Album Artist was ever intended to merge different values of Album Artist.
Apple don't appear to be working to resolve this issue since it has been evident for quite some time. The workarounds I suggest in the post linked above will give one cover in cover flow, one album in the albums menu and one artist in the artist menu if applied consistently.
With your Paul McCartney/Paul McCartney & Wings issue for example, my preference would be to use the original album artists as credited. Otherwise change the Artist & Album Artist to "Paul McCartney" and then, if you wish, add \[As Wings\] to the album title or individual tracks. If you used Sort Artist & Sort Album Artist to make "Micheal Jackson" sort as "Jackson, Michael", "Janet Jackson" sort as "Jackson, Janet" and "The Jacksons" as "Jacksons" then all the related artists would be listed in the same place, but remain distinct.
tt2

Sorting: "Artist by Album" ??

Hi there, ...
I'm currently running iTunes using the CoverFlow view and the sorting "Album by Artist"! Now, when I quickly want to jump to another band using the keyboard letter (e.g. I want to jump to FOO FIGHTERS, so I hit the F to go near there) it does of course react wrong, as the "Album by Artist" sorting does jump to the next album starting with the letter F instead to the artist!
Now, when I select the sorting "Artist", this issue will work fine of course - but, I don't like to see all the compilation artists splitted up into the Library - as I CoverFlow I will have the same artwork like 20 times!
Feature Request: Is there any chance to get e.g. a sorting named "Artist by Album", which is organizing the music in the same way as "Album by Artist" does ... but the shortcuts will lead to the artist instead to the album ..(?)
Phew ... I hope somebody will get what I mean
Best, T.MOW

Hi!
I totally get what you mean, and I have EXACTLY the same problem! Please someone, is there a soulution? Or is the "Artist by Album"-feature planned for the next iTunes update?
This is so so SO anoying!!

Sort Artist and Sort Album tags don't update

Having spent a lot of time over the years getting the metadata in my iTunes library just right, I've noticed a frustrating problem when it comes to iTunes Match.
I make use of 'Sort Artist' and 'Sort Album Artist' tags so that my library is sorted by artist surname (eg. Lennon, John).
This always worked correctly when I syncronised my music via iTunes, but since switching over to iTunes Match this has become problematic.
When I initially signed up for iTunes Match, my Library moved over correctly - honouring the sort order tags that I had added. However, When I add NEW music to the library and subsequently change the sort tag, the change does not propegate to iTunes Match (Though it does appear correct in iTunes on my Mac). So the result is now a mixed sort order on my iOS devices - some by first name and some by second.
Under iOS 5.0 and iTunes 10 I used to be able to get around this with a little forethought - I would turn iTunes Match OFF on the Mac before adding any new songs, then I would edit the tags and then switch Match back on. This would rescan the library and add the new tracks to the cloud complete with correct metadata.
This workaround no longer works under iOS 6 and iTunes 11.
I have tried switching iTunes match off on my iPhone and restarting it. This does not work either.
Does anyone else have this issue or know of a way to 'force' the metadata to be updated?
Any help would be appreciated.

I also am finding it impossible to convince my iPhone that the Album Sort field exists. This is especially odd considering when I view my Home Shared music from my iPhone, it works exactly correctly. I have verified that the tags are being uploaded to iTunes Match by viewing the songs from another computer that has iTunes Match. So, for some reason, iOS 6 will not sort by the Album Sort field when using iTunes Match music.
Does anyone have any sort of fix or workaround for this problem? I've submitted Feedback to Apple.

Sort artists not quite matching up from itunes to ipod

OK, here's my dilemma. First off, I could not find this in the search field.
I have updated to itunes 11. I'm slowly learning to like it; however I'm having a problem with sorting artists in compilation albums. For example, I have "Atlantic Records: 50 Years". In order to keep the album all together in itunes, I sort it under "A" for Atlantic. itunes 11 shows all of the songs with the artists name underneath (which I love!) When I sync my ipod (1st generation ipod video), and search under Artists, all the individual artists are seperated (still sorted under "A") making it impossible to listen to that album in its entirety - unless of course I access it through "Albums" on my ipod.
Is there a way to sort the album so that it stays together in the "Artist" field under "Atlantic"? I have this issue with classical albums as well . . .
I hope this makes sense . . .
Thanks,
Jim

See here for information about transferring songs, and follow these instructions.
(23164)

ITunes 12 sorting artists and albums wrong/out of order

Hi,
So I'm using iTunes 12, though this problem occurred with 11 too...
As you can see in the image, I'm using Mac DeMarco as an example, it happens with selected other artists too. I have two albums of his, yet they don't appear together and there are multiple instances of the artist. Even the albums don't appear together. Both of them have the same "Artist" and "Album Artist" information.
Here you can see one instance:
Here's the second instance. Note, the artist appears amongst the "D" artists, after Deftones for some reason, instead of "M" with the other album:
What is going on? Please help.

Enable the Sort Artist and Sort Album Artist columns, chances are that the fields have been set inconsistently.
tt2

Sorting "artist" by last name

How do I sort artists by last name, i.e. Davis, Miles rather than Miles Davis?

I don't believe this issue is resolved. I believe it is a fundamental flaw in the iPod. If I'm look for a Frank Zappa song, iPod sorts it so that it's filed under "F" for Frank. Blech. The problem is, iPod does not have artist first and last name fields, just "Artist".
So the solution proposed above does work, but man, what a pain.
In the case above, an alternative (and quicker?) solution is to change the Artist Name sort field to "Davis" or "Davis, Miles" click OK, then click apply Artist sort to all songs by this artist, which iPod will do gracefully. But, man, with over 3,000 songs and who knows how many hundreds of Artists, Albums, and individual cuts, what an arduous process!
The fix is to have first and last name fields or to get "smart" and recognize a space between names so that an algorithm could be written to sort properly. Of course in that scenario, doing a mass conversion, "Led Zeppelin" would be filed as "Zeppelin, Led". Argh. (File as Zep).

About 'Sort Artist' name

Hi
i am trying to find out,
as some of my songs' "sort artist" is grey in color (instead of black),
and if the "sort artist" content word is grey in color, it will automatically sort songs with same ARTIST name to have the same "sort artist" name.
EG: if the ARTIST name is The Pussycat Dolls, and the "sort artist" name is Pussycat Dolls (grey in color instead of black), all songs ARTIST name with 'The Pussycat Dolls' will automatically change the "sort artist" name to Pussycat Dolls.
EG: if the ARTIST name is The Pussycat Dolls, and the "sort artist" name is Pussycat Dolls (black in color), all songs ARTIST name with 'The Pussycat Dolls' will not automatically change the "sort artist" name to Pussycat Dolls.
May I know how to set the "sort artist" name to become grey color so that it will automatically change the "sort artist" name for all ARTIST with the same name?
Anyone's soonest help will be appreciated.
Thank you
Grace Tang

Further to my question, when I plug in and select my iPad 2 I don't have the same problem. I have restored the settings on my iPod Touch and updated both iTunes and iPod Touch software and restarted my iPod touch. Nothing has made any difference.

Help with "Sort Artist" please

Hi all
What I'm trying to do is use iTunes to make it so that tracks that are by different artists appear under the same artist when I go through the "Artist" field on my iPod Touch.
For example, I've got songs that are by Prince & the Revolution, songs that are by Prince & the New Power Generation, songs that are by Prince on his own, and songs that are by O(+>. I want iTunes to know that they are by different artists, but I want them to all appear under Prince in the alphabetical list on my iPod. Am I explaining this right?
So, when I look at my iPod, I go to Prince, and everything by all those other "artists" are under that name, even though the iPod still knows they are credited differently.
I thought the "Album Artist" field would do it, like you use for Various Artist albums. But the "Album Artist" field doesn't even appear as an option on my iPod screen, only in iTunes. So I tried the "Sort Artist" field, which put all the various versions of Prince together in the list but still listed them separately.
I realize I could simplify my own life by just making the basic "Artist" field all the same, which would remove the problem. But that's not strictly accurate, is it? The NPG aren't the Revolution, and I should be able to credit them differently. But I also want, for convenience's sake, to be able to shuffle around all the various versions of Prince all together without having to create a playlist to do it.
Assuming any of that makes sense, does anybody have any advice?
thanks
lvsxy808

> No I cant thats why I am doing a course in it at the moment,
I said, then at the end. So if mlk can't read, then you can't program. I also posted a smiley to emphasize it was more of a cynical remark of me.
> I was not looking for someone to do my
homework I had a question regarding a sorting
problem.
I'm sure you aren't, but I don't see a question in there. I can only see a bunch of lines without comments. You also didn't provide some sample in/output, but only wrote "I want to do Y, but are only able to do X...".
I have told you this before:
Try to look at your own post as if you had never seen it, and are not familiar with the exact assignment. Would you be able to post a meaningfull answer to your "question"? I don't think so.
In previous posts you were given numerous links to basic tutorials (including sorting tutorials) which you apparently didn't read. That's too bad.
> Im sure everyone wont be as ignorant
What do you mean by that?

"Sort Artist" Problem

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