Suddenly missing songs in iTunes, though only a handful?

The songs were originally purchased through iTunes and are now missing from my iTunes library. They do, however, still exist on my iPod. When I try and open the file in iTunes, it tells me that the "original file cannot be found" and then asks if I want to look for it. I did move a library over from my PC awhile back, but some of the missing songs were downloaded from iTunes after that process, so I don't think there's a relationship.
I've also tried the "transfer purchases" from iPod option to no avail...
Message was edited by: hlo92

I'm having the same problem. I recently upgraded to iTunes 9 and at about the same time, upgraded to Windows 7 (64-bit). It's really weird. I'm missing random songs, some from artists that I still have other songs for, some where I purchased multiple songs on the same transation and 1-2 are missing and the others are still there.
I'm afraid to sync, the songs are still on the iTouch, but not in the library.

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Downloading a missing song with iTunes Match

On my second computer I had downloaded a song and it was deleted. iTunes now displays the missing file question mark. There is no option to download or play the song from iTunes Match. My assumption, is that if I delete the track it will delete from Match also. Is that correct? and also is there a way to download the song without rebuilding my iTunes library file ?

If you delete it, it will ask you if you want to delete from Match, select no. After that you will be able to redownload from the cloud hitting the cloud icon (if it was matched/uploaded to cloud in the first place).

Missing songs in iTunes; can't retrieve

30 GB video iPod, running latest iTunes. Several months ago my computer crashed. When I rebooted, all my songs were missing from iTunes. Not wanting to loose all my songs, I set my iPod to manual update.
I've tried everything to restore my songs to iTues. Out of 990 songs, I've been able to restore about 300 adding them individually - for instance dragging from the iTunes music folder. But I can't do it wholesale. When I try adding the iTunes folder from the File menu iTunes bombs - every time.
I've resorted to the iPod utility programs to legally get my songs back into iTunes. This process also causes iTunes to crash after a few minutes of trying to import.
I know I'm not alone, since I've heard that lost songs in iTunes is one of the known glitches. So I'm surprised not to be able to find anything here about it.

What about this -- take out anything that's not a file folder or an audio file. Take out all indexes, xml documents, etc (keep a backup). All we want is folders and music. The unwanted junk should be in the uppermost level, not buried too deeply in subfolders. Then try to import from the top again. Maybe iTunes is taking a shortcut and sees the indexes it created before. Get rid of the indexes and you force it to do its job.
It's just a guess, but worth a try I figure.

Missing Songs in iTunes Music folder.

I recently found that I have missing files in my iTunes music folder. The missing songs seem to be random. For instance, Abby Road is missing tracks 3 and 6. My music folder is on my main hard drive and I also have a Time Capsule backup.
When I look for the songs in my backup disk, I find I have to go back as far as 4 months to restore some of them and I just now found a song that was there yesterday but gone today. This leads me to believe that a few songs are randomly being deleted every day. Anyone else with this problem?
I'm using iTunes 10.1 but apparently I've been having this problem for at least 4 months now so I believe it was an earlier version when it started happening.

redcore,
I got an answer from AppleCare on this one and it seems to be working as I have not noticed any more lost songs. The first person I talked to had never heard of this but his boss had and told me I needed to create a new iTunes music folder. This is a bit of a pain, but not as bad as going through TimeMachine to replace all the random, missing files (that part took a while).
You have to Option-click (hold option while you click) on the iTunes icon and then click "Create new library". Name it something different from your old one and then drag all your old content into the new library. You will have to do this with the music, apps, movies, etc. Also, keep in mind you will have to export all your playlist info to the new iTunes as well. I didn't export them all so I'm not sure how, or if, you can do them all at the same time. I did File/Library/Export Playlist in the old iTunes... Than had to do File/Library/Import Playlist when in the new iTunes I had created.
Hope this helps

Missing songs in itunes

When syncing my iphone today, I recieved a message that "Some of the items in the iTunes library were not copied to the iPhone...because they could not be found." All the missing items were ones I had purchased thru iTunes. The songs in question are still on my playlist, but there is an exclimation point next to themthat when clicked on, another message box appears: "...song could not be used because the original file could not be found. Would you like to locate it?" When I choose that option, it takes me to iTunes folder in C drive:\Windows\sysWOW64. I have no idea where the files would be in the huge list that comes up. I haven't deleted anything recently (I synced the iPhone 2 days ago and didn't get the message). My CCleaner and anti-virus have not run yet today. They last ran 3 days ago. Some of the missing songs are actually albums that I purchased. Help?!

You're on the right track - somehow the ITL file got damaged. Nobody knows exactly why this happens - you can google "data corruption" and read about it.
If you don't have a good backup of your ITL file, you're going to have to rebuild your library. I know that's not what you want to hear, but it's true. You have 2 options:
You can build on the current ITL library file that has missing songs, if you can figure out what's missing. This method won't lose all your ratings & playcounts.
Or, just start with a an empty library and add your main music folder back into itunes.
Then start making weekly backups of your ITL file so if something like this happens again, you're not totally out of luck.

Can I use my nano to add missing songs to iTunes?

I recently bought a MacBook Pro, and I've been trying to transfer my iTunes library from my old PC to my new Mac. I was having a lot of trouble with it, so I got in touch with Apple Support, who were very helpful, but nothing worked. In the process, any songs in my iTunes library that I hadn't downloaded from the iTunes store went missing. I haven't been able to find them, and neither could Apple Support. I still have everything on my iPod nano. Can I use that to add the missing songs to my iTunes library on my Mac?

Moving a library: Quick answer if you use iTunes' default preferences settings: Copy the entire iTunes folder (and in doing so all its sub-folders and files) intact to the other drive. Hold down the option (alt) key (shift on Windows) and open iTunes. At the prompt to create or choose a library choose the copied iTunes folder. You would have to try really, really hard for this method not to work.
If this is to a new computer and you put the copied iTunes folder in the default location of Macintosh HD > Users > *User Name* > Music then you don't even need to start with the option key held down, iTunes will automatically look for it there. (Make sure there isn't anything already in the iTunes folder there that you want to keep since you will be replacing it with the one you are moving.)
Windows users see tip at: https://discussions.apple.com/message/18879381#18879381
Consider moving everything from your Windows PC to your Mac in a single move, including your iTunes library: About Windows Migration Assistant - http://support.apple.com/kb/ht4796 - Learn about how to use Windows Migration Assistant to migrate your files from a Windows PC to a Mac.

How can I relink my missing songs in iTunes?

Hi,
I´m a bit panicking since now 1000 songs on my iTunes library aren´t being located by my iTunes... What happened is that I had to reinstall my MacBook Pro after it crashed, and my network drive failed, so no possibility of Timemachining it. Fortunately I had a second manual copy of all my data on another external hard drive, but here´s the problem:
Even though I did all right when switching from PC to Mac a while ago with iTunes (did consolidate library and allowed iTunes to keep it organized), it turns that I now have two folders for my music, on iTunes Media and iTunes Music, and my music library split in both.
I have copied all files from Music to Media, and tried to let iTunes find other missing links in the same folder (Media), but it doesn´t seem to work - it never finds them, even though they´re there, and in theory, in the same config that they were in the Music folder (as this one appears to be also organized). Tried to reboot library with option-down, and unchecking both keep it organized and copy files, but nothing worked. Also tried to have iTunes looking at the Music folder for the library, but this way it wouldn´t find the songs either.
I did edit the iTunes Library xml file, and replace all iTunes%20Music for iTunes%Media, in the hope that´ll fix it, but somehow, even Dreamweaver finds and replaces all, and I save the file, every time I open the xml again it does appear as unchanged (that´s to say, still with the iTunes%20Music references).
Can you please help me? The thought of having to manually locate 1000 songs keeps me awake at night...
Thanks!!!

Look at the FAQ here http://www.apple.com/itunes/content-providers/music-faq.html consider the "aggregators" they will assist with the process for a fee.

Missing Songs Using Itunes 7 Backup/Restore Feature

Using iTunes 7 for Windows Backup feature (File->Backup to Disc...) I backed up my entire iTunes library to DVDs. I then used the "restore" feature to duplicate my library on a second computer. iTunes said it completely "restored" my library, but I have noticed that a number of songs/artists are not on the second computer but in my orginial library. So my question(s) is had anyone else found iTunes not backing up all their files and if so found a solution for it other than manually backing them up. I can't think of a reason iTunes would backup only 80% of my songs but think it did all of them. The first songs I noticed missing from the backup was the "compliations" folder.

Well your first question. Yes it backs up all info.
Second, yes you can use it to restore a mac also.
I believe it will restore to whatever you have your music folder set to in preferences.
When i backed up my music, my podcasts were all where they should be. I think your podcast subscriptions are saved to your account when u subscribe. Hope that answers your questions

Missing songs in iTunes Match?

Just got iphone5 upgrade, was using a 3GS running 5.0.
Imported all settings/email/photos etc from icloud backup. Very cool.
But, all music is gone. I though I'd just make a playlist of songs I wanted to download, but many don't appear in the playlist.
With itunes Match turned on, and "show all songs" I can see all the songs, but I can't download a "SONG". Just an album.
And for specifics> I purchased the Adele, 21 album on my 3GS.
Now it will allow me to download the album, but NOT track 1. ?!?!
And on my work computer, running itunes Match it shows 3 tracks from the album, and track 1 IS playable there...
Can't this just WORK?

This topic has been discussed in-depth on this forum. A search will turn up several threads.
In iOS 6 Apple changed the behavior so it is no longer possible to download single tracks but only albums, artists and playlists.

TS1503 3010 songis on itunes and only 797 will sync

Hi All
I need your help.
my ipod touch 32gb (3rd gen) died so i bought a replacement, i got a 64 4th gen from ebay. the new one was reset to factory settings and the simple back up from library set up looked easy.
it was and i was happy, until that was i realised that only a 3rd of the songs synced, i have tried several things.
unchecking the Sync music box on itunes and removing all songs, syncing, rechecking the box then resyncing, no joy.
i tried reseting all warnings and clearing the cashe (prefrences- advanced ) no joy.
i tunes is upto date.
im getting desperate.
help

Bless you, dear Jimz! It's great to reach out and find someone listening. Thank you! Here's some background.
1) My ipad Air is brand new, and I'm trying to sync my iTunes library from an older Mac (10.6.8)
2) All of my PURCHASED music syncs successfully -- no problem there. BUT ... none of my CD music from the 1990s, or my friends' music from their CDS, syncs with the new iPad. Only purchased music will sync.
3) I'm running iTunes 11.4 which is the latest update that my 2011 Mac seems to be capable of.
4) I had hoped to use Home Sharing, but it appears that my Mac's operating system is too far out of date for that, and can't be updated for free anymore. (?)
4) I did visit the iTunes Match page before posting my question but the info was vague about "music that lives on local devices." And before I pay the $35 for iTunes Match, I would like to know that all my weird old songs will sync to the iPad! It appears that iTunes Match will store ALL my music in the cloud, but I've also seen posts by people complaining that they couldn't access music that iTunes couldn't identify or find in the iTunes Store. And my music is definitely not in the iTunes store or anywhere online.
So.... how can I get my full iTunes library, with oddball tracks -- to sync with my ipad air? Is iTunes Match the solution, or would I be better off waiting until I can get a new Mac, and use Home Sharing? Or am I still asking the wrong questions? THANKS.

Imported song from iTunes but only plays 8 bars, how do I get it to play the entire song?

I Am writing a song and using a instrumental as part of background. I imported to garage band by dragging it. It plays 8 bars then stops. I am missing something very obvious.

You need to change the length of the song section - best set it to automatic, before you add the audio file.
See this help page (assuming you are using GarageBAnd 2 on an iPad - which GarageBAnd version are you using?):
http://help.apple.com/garageband/ipad/2.0/index.html#chs3c3ef5dc
Change the length of a section
Open the song section controls and tap the section you want to change.
Tap the up or down arrow next to Manual to lengthen or shorten the section incrementally by bars. You can swipe vertically to change it in larger values.
If you want the section to match the length of your next recording (to the nearest bar), turn on Automatic before you record. This is especially useful when recording improvisations or longer parts. The Automatic option is available only for the last (rightmost) section in a song.
Tap anywhere in Tracks view to close the song section controls.
When you shorten a section, any regions extending past the end of the section are shortened. When you lengthen a section, all regions that extend from the beginning to the end of the section now loop to the new end of the section. A section can be any number of bars, and the overall song can be up to 320 bars long.

Missing Songs in iTunes Library

My iPhone 4 has 662 songs in it, this being a mix of purchases and songs I have imported from CD's. Somehow a problem has occurred with my laptop and my iTunes library has only 189 songs in it - all of these also being on my iPhone 4. I last backed up my iPhone 4 to iCloud around 1 hour ago and all seems fine.
How do I get the content of either my iPhone 4 or iCloud to replace the contents on my iTunes library?
Obviously, I want my iPhone 4, iCloud and my iTunes library to all be the same.
Many thanks in advance for all responses that may be sent.

The songs mysteriously re-appeared on the original Mac.

Missing Songs in iTunes 7.5/Leopard

I have my entire iTunes library on an external HD while the iTunes library file is in my home>music folder. This has worked fine until recently when iTunes keeps giving me the "original file cannot be found" message with exclamation points. Music folder location is set correctly in Preferences and I've tried restarting with option key -- no luck. Some more newly imported songs are playing but the vast majority of the 16K songs are not. The files are not missing from the drive. I have an older copy of the library from Libra which seems to work, but it's missing a fair amount of new music I've added since. I can't seem to get this fixed. I really don't want to trash everything and start over. Anyone else experiencing this/have any solutions?

well, after a permission repair and reboot i can delete songs from playlists, but not the library. and syncing an ipod locks the entire system not just iTunes, and iTunes will not be killed.
did 7.5 get tested at all?

I bought 53 songs from itunes and only shows 15 songs that i have purshaced the others are in library why can't they be in one place

I go to click on a song that i purchaced from the itunes store and it says that it can't be found and i don't know where to look for it and why can't all the songs be on one page . how do i get them back all on the same page. the purshased page. help please someone thank you. On my computer I have windows vista.

Does the track play correctly in Quicktime Player? If it does then it is an iTunes issue. If it doesn't then it is possible the file was not completely downloaded, or is corrupt.
https://discussions.apple.com/thread/3712298 - applying system update cleared issue of songs ending early
Solution to purchased songs not playing (2009) - http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=1934256 - authorization issues and files not playing all the way through
https://discussions.apple.com/message/17382022 - Problem was incomplete files due to poor WiFi connection
https://discussions.apple.com/message/17661693 - issue resolved by re-downloading files or rebuilding library file [note, although the poster says this restored all, my understanding is the .xml file does not retain all the details of the original library file].

Another victim of the suddenly-missing AppleTV in iTunes

I picked up my AppleTV a couple of weeks ago, brought it home and synced it successfully to a G4 iMac. Put some content on it, and it ran quite well.
Last night I get home, and iTunes cannot see the device any more. The only variable? Installed the QuickTime "security update" that came down the other night. Can ping the aTV, the router can see it, the aTV can get to the internet and view trailers, did the factory reset twice. AppleTV never appears as a device on iTunes 7.1.1(5) on that machine.
However, my girlfriend's MacBook sees it perfectly. It shows up in the Devices list within seconds and can sync or stream, no problem.
Steps I've already taken:
- Powered off the aTV
- Factory reset the aTV
- Restarted the wireless router
- Restarted the G4 iMac
- Logged in as Administrator and a couple of other users on the iMac
- Physically removed and reinstalled iTunes on the iMac
- Verified that I can ping the aTV both from the G4 and the router
- Verified that all devices are on the same subnet
- Verified that all devices can be seen by the router
- Changed channels on the wireless (from 6 to 11)
- Forced the router to 802.11g-only
- Read at least ten threads over the last two weeks about similar problems, none of which have conclusive solutions (Apple's troubleshooting page about this pretty much parrots the user guide and is thus useless in this situation).
Without any of these tricks, the MacBook sees it and works with it. Even with all these tricks, the G4 cannot at all.
Other fun facts:
- Firewall is not and has never been enabled on the G4
- Router is not blocking any ports
- Router configuration has not been changed (except channel as noted above) in weeks
- All of this used to work on all machines involved
And to restate: this all worked perfectly with the G4 for a couple of weeks. I cannot say that the QuickTime update had anything to do with it, and in fact, the MacBook *got this update too* and still talks to the aTV just fine.
The one thing I haven't done is physically wire the G4 and the aTV to a 10/100 hub and do it wired-style.
I've seen several threads about this, as I said. Nobody seems have come up with a reliable solution and there seems to be a lot of casting-about for possible solutions instead of Apple investigating this properly.

OK, even further update... it turns out that the installer for the new EyeTV 2.4 AppleTV-compatible software has a problem with the QT 7.1.6 update.
Here's the scenario:
I redid my iMac back to a known-good configuration from a few weeks ago, before the 7.1.6 update. AppleTV now appeared on the Device list just fine, synced up, did everything perfectly.
I installed the 7.1.6 update, and Apple TV STILL worked perfectly!
Then I ran the installer for EyeTV 2.40, and as soon as I gave consent for it to modify some device driver it was using, which I assume means it tweaked QuickTime or iTunes somehow, AppleTV disappeared from Devices, iTunes stopped working correctly, and EyeTV itself would frequently hang.
Reverted back to the next-earlier EyeTV, pulled a good copy of iTunes from my earlier image, and everything started working again.
Late yesterday, Elgato sent me a link to a new beta version of 2.40, which apparently addresses this problem. It has been reported only by users of PowerPC machines, which is why my fiancee's MacBook didn't have a problem. The new patched code works nicely with 7.1.6 and everything works again.
Here's the patched 2.4:
http://s3.amazonaws.com/eyetvbeta/eyetv24_betabuild2654.zip
I'll post another thread about this with a better subject so that EyeTV owners can find it and deal with it.

Suddenly missing songs in iTunes, though only a handful?

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