Scottfromoh

Q: iTunes Match explicit/clean music switch

Hey everyone,

 

First I guess that I should point out that I am using the current version of iTunes and iPhone software. Here's my problem.

 

I bought Drake's Take Care album (explicit and hardcopy) a few weeks ago and imported it into my iTunes library. In the computer that I imported it on, it plays the correct versions of the songs, but when I go to play the album on my iPhone 4s, it plays the clean versions. So somehow, iTunes Match put the clean version in the cloud, instead of matching it with the explicit.

 

Another oddity I found was with Mac Miller's Blue Slide Park (also explicit and hardcopy) that I imported into iTunes. When I play this album on my home computer it plays fine but once I play them on my iPhone, it plays completely different songs, except for a couple that play correctly. iTunes Match apparently did not match these songs correctly either.

 

As a side note, I imported Coldplay's new album into my iTunes library as well, and it matched correctly in iTunes Match.

 

I have tried turning on and off iTunes Match on my iPhone as the Apple Support lady said, but this did not solve the problem. Does anyone have any suggestions on how to fix this? I've not noticed if any other music is incorrectly matched in my library or just these two albums.

Posted on Jan 11, 2012 2:09 PM

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Q: iTunes Match explicit/clean music switch

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  • by roebeet,

    roebeet roebeet Jan 12, 2012 10:21 AM in response to JiminMissouri
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    Jan 12, 2012 10:21 AM in response to JiminMissouri

    I like that idea - I'll test that first.  It's "Songs of the Deaf" from Queens of the Stone Age, btw.

  • by JiminMissouri,

    JiminMissouri JiminMissouri Jan 12, 2012 10:21 AM in response to Michael Allbritton
    Level 2 (465 points)
    Jan 12, 2012 10:21 AM in response to Michael Allbritton

    And for those of us who don't have kids and wouldn't think this would be an issue, check out this from a "Yahoo Answers" page.

     

    Explicit Songs on iTunes?

    If you buy an explicit song, can you change it so in your library it doesn't show up explicit? My mom might look at my iTunes library and I don't want her to see. She doesn't like me listening to that kinda stuff.

    Seriously . . .

  • by JiminMissouri,

    JiminMissouri JiminMissouri Jan 12, 2012 10:25 AM in response to roebeet
    Level 2 (465 points)
    Jan 12, 2012 10:25 AM in response to roebeet

    We're counting on ya, robeet.  See, thing is, while I have a few explicit discs, nothing's loaded into iTunes so I can't check it.  I do have plenty by artist who self-destructed, like Chet Baker, Janis, Jimi, but that's another issue.

  • by Michael Allbritton,

    Michael Allbritton Michael Allbritton Jan 12, 2012 10:32 AM in response to JiminMissouri
    Level 6 (16,832 points)
    Photos for Mac
    Jan 12, 2012 10:32 AM in response to JiminMissouri

    That is certainly a possibility. But I think what may be happening is when there is a "clean" and "explicit" version of an album on the store perhaps the "clean" version is getting matched to a CD rip just because it is first in the DB. I don't know... I'm just throwing that out there.

     

    Also, the "explicit" tag is an embedded ID3 tag that isn't accessible through the iTunes tag editor. You'd need something like Subler or MetaX to edit that tag in song files. Which might be worth pursuing. Although I really don't know what effect editing an AAC file with Subler would have, since I've only used that app for video files.

  • by roebeet,

    roebeet roebeet Jan 12, 2012 10:37 AM in response to JiminMissouri
    Level 2 (430 points)
    Jan 12, 2012 10:37 AM in response to JiminMissouri

    Arrgh!   So I changed my parental controls to Restrict Explicit content.   Then restarted the app and confirmed that the Explicit tracks in the ITS were greyed out.

     

    Then, I Matched "Six Shooter" from my QOTSA CD (that's got F-bombs galore in it, and the Clean version beeps them all out).   Deleted the local file and played the iCloud version, and all the F-bombs are there.  Now THAT's really bizarre given that I have the app locked down to restrict Explicit content.

     

    I just wish I could replicate the issue - as an Operations guy, it's the first thing I try to do when trying to troubleshoot a problem.  And we know this is a problem because a lot of people have reported it, but so far I can't replicate it.

  • by JiminMissouri,

    JiminMissouri JiminMissouri Jan 12, 2012 10:36 AM in response to Michael Allbritton
    Level 2 (465 points)
    Jan 12, 2012 10:36 AM in response to Michael Allbritton

    OK, so there's an embedded "explicit" tag.  Is that tag present on a CD version, or are you talking about a tag embedded only in iTunes purchase.? If it's on a CD, would it stay there through a rip?  If it's not on a CD, would iTunes be looking for it and if it doesn't see it, offer up the "clean" if there is a clean to be had?

  • by JiminMissouri,

    JiminMissouri JiminMissouri Jan 12, 2012 10:40 AM in response to roebeet
    Level 2 (465 points)
    Jan 12, 2012 10:40 AM in response to roebeet

    OK, so if what you have is seen as explicit by iTunes, it gives you the track, even if parental controls are enabled.  But getting to what Michael said about an embedded tag, is it possible that if that tag is present on your CD, that the manner in which you ripped it to iTunes preserved the tag, while for other people it gets stripped out??

  • by Michael Allbritton,

    Michael Allbritton Michael Allbritton Jan 12, 2012 10:42 AM in response to JiminMissouri
    Level 6 (16,832 points)
    Photos for Mac
    Jan 12, 2012 10:42 AM in response to JiminMissouri

    No, the tag would not be there on a CD rip. It would have to be entered using a specialized app like I mentioned above.

     

    When an explicit track is purchased from iTunes, that tag is "enabled" probably during the encoding process.

  • by JiminMissouri,

    JiminMissouri JiminMissouri Jan 12, 2012 10:47 AM in response to Michael Allbritton
    Level 2 (465 points)
    Jan 12, 2012 10:47 AM in response to Michael Allbritton

    This is very interesting.  So if a person rips from a CD, they're missing a key piece of metadata that Apple uses to identify its explicit tracks.  That's probably strike one, but it in and of itself, doesn't necessarily kill the proper match.  Still sounds like the key is to get more information from people who are having the problem, specifically if it's tied primarily to material other than iTunes purchases.

  • by Michael Allbritton,

    Michael Allbritton Michael Allbritton Jan 12, 2012 10:52 AM in response to JiminMissouri
    Level 6 (16,832 points)
    Photos for Mac
    Jan 12, 2012 10:52 AM in response to JiminMissouri

    Looks like someone would need a different tool that one of the two I mentioned above. Neither one of those is really appropriate. But, yes, perhaps if the CD rip is has the hidden "explicit" tag entered. That might help with the mis-matches.

  • by JiminMissouri,

    JiminMissouri JiminMissouri Jan 12, 2012 10:55 AM in response to Michael Allbritton
    Level 2 (465 points)
    Jan 12, 2012 10:55 AM in response to Michael Allbritton

    You'd need something like Subler or MetaX to edit that tag in song files. Which might be worth pursuing. Although I really don't know what effect editing an AAC file with Subler would have, since I've only used that app for video files.

    It sounds like what is needed is to identify a CD rip explicit/clean mistmatched track, something not purchased from the iTunes store, something where both a clean and explicit version are availble for sale, add the proper tag and see if that does the trick.  Am I correct in my thinking here?

  • by JiminMissouri,

    JiminMissouri JiminMissouri Jan 12, 2012 10:56 AM in response to Michael Allbritton
    Level 2 (465 points)
    Jan 12, 2012 10:56 AM in response to Michael Allbritton

    I'm a hair behind you (considering I'm bald, that's not surprising).  So anybody have an idea of what would work to get that embedded?  I really think this may answer a lot of questions if we can nail it down.

  • by roebeet,

    roebeet roebeet Jan 12, 2012 11:11 AM in response to Michael Allbritton
    Level 2 (430 points)
    Jan 12, 2012 11:11 AM in response to Michael Allbritton

    Anyone happen to know what that tag looks like?  (EDIT: Jim beat me to it)  I'll add it to my test file if I knew what it looked like - so far I don't see anything in my Matched files that are jumping out at me.

  • by Scottfromoh,

    Scottfromoh Scottfromoh Jan 12, 2012 11:18 AM in response to Michael Allbritton
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Jan 12, 2012 11:18 AM in response to Michael Allbritton

    I just checked my Parental controls and nothing is selected, so that's not the issue. Thanks for the suggestion though.

  • by JiminMissouri,

    JiminMissouri JiminMissouri Jan 12, 2012 11:25 AM in response to roebeet
    Level 2 (465 points)
    Jan 12, 2012 11:25 AM in response to roebeet

    From what Michael is saying, it's not something easily accessible, and I can understand why.  Guys, I do appreciate you doing the heavy lifting on this.  I'm just not set up to do anything in the way of testing.

     

    What I'm thinking is that if we can get just a little more solid info in the form of a test, I'd be willing to put up a request for information, if you will, posting, to try and draw in relevant info. from people who have had the problem.  I'd want to start it out by saying we believe that some of the problems stem from Apple's use of an embedded tag that isn't present in CD rips, but that isn't likely to be the answer to all instances of mis-matches.  I don't think we'd need to go as far as fo formally tabulate what we get, probalby would be enough if we could get people thinking about this from a little different perspective.  My guess is some answers would present themselves pretty readily.  Thoughts?

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