Why wont Music import mp3 files even though it will play them when they are selected?

Question

Why wont Music import mp3 files even though it will play them when they are selected?

I am running Catalina 10.1.5 and Music 1.0.5.14. I have some mp3 files that I digitized from old albums in a folder on my desktop. If I open one of the files, it will play in Music, but it will not import. I have tried using File>Import, by doing drop and drag, and by copying the files to my Music folder. Nothing is working. I have tried every import setting available in Music's preferences.

Does anyone have any suggestions? Thank you.

iMac 21.5″, macOS 10.15

Posted on May 31, 2020 9:03 AM

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Answer 1

Top-ranking reply

no_personal_information222 Author

Level 1

9 points

Jun 1, 2020 7:43 AM in response to ed2345

ed2345,

I think you're right. Boy, is that going to be a lot of work. If you don't fix the details right away, you can mix up a bunch of albums and artists because the tracks have no data. Looking at my "recently added" list, I am finding other imports that I thought had not worked. I will have to do a lot of clean up.

Thanks for your help! And I hope that Apple can make this work better. Oy.

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Answer 2

ed2345

Level 9

62,858 points

May 31, 2020 10:27 AM in response to no_personal_information222

no_personal_information222 wrote:

Yes I can open the files that way and they'll play. But they don't get added to the list.

While the song is playing in Music, use the command Controls > Go To Current Song. What happens?

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Answer 3

ed2345

Level 9

62,858 points

May 31, 2020 2:02 PM in response to no_personal_information222

Information222,

When you play an MP3 with Music, if it is not already in your library, it will get added. The library listing will be based on the metadata in the MP3 file. If the metadata is not correct, right-click the track in your library, Get Info, go to the Details tab, and edit in the correct artist, title, etc.

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Answer 4

ed2345

Level 9

62,858 points

May 31, 2020 9:11 AM in response to no_personal_information222

Hello Information,

Can you make it play by right-clicking the file in Finder, and choosing Open With > Music?

If so, do you then see it in your library Songs list?

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Answer 5

May 31, 2020 10:13 AM in response to ed2345

Yes I can open the files that way and they'll play. But they don't get added to the list.

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Answer 6

May 31, 2020 1:42 PM in response to ed2345

I see a an Unknown Album with unknown artist, unknown genre. Below is a list of tracks: Track 01, Track 01, Track 02, Track 02, etc. When I click on any of those tracks, I get other music.

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Why wont Music import mp3 files even though it will play them when they are selected?

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