Where is custom artwork stored on external device?

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Level 1

12 points

Where is custom artwork stored on external device?

Does anyone know where custom artwork is stored for Music app items when library resides on an external storage device? If I manually add artwork for a song, better yet a playlist or playlist folder, where does it store this new information?

I know that native library artwork can be found at ~/Library/Containers/com.apple.APMArtworkAgent/Data/Documents, however this is obviously not a legit pathway for an external source.

Thank you.

Device: Macbook Air (M1, 2020)

OS: Monterey 12.0.1

External Storage Source: Western Digital 1TB My Passport

Posted on Nov 20, 2021 10:19 AM

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Answer 1

Top-ranking reply

turingtest2

Level 10

274,168 points

Nov 22, 2021 11:41 AM in response to Pork-Maestro

Custom artwork attached to an album should be embedded in the tag (permissions permitting) and then cached in the artwork database. Purchased songs usually include artwork. Neither iTunes nor Music pay attention to images in the same folder as the file, but Finder may do. Artwork obtained from the store when there isn't already embedded art is usually associated with the tracks, that is it is stored only in the cache and not embedded. There are scripts you can use to embed album artwork. I assume custom playlist artwork only goes to the cache, there isn't a file object representing the playlist to attach it to.

tt2

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Answer 2

judysings

Community Specialist

Nov 21, 2021 10:39 AM in response to Pork-Maestro

Good afternoon Pork-Maestro,

Welcome to the Apple Support Communities!

It sounds like you are trying to find out where artwork files get stored if your iTunes library resides on an external storage device. In most cases, artwork that is manually added is placed in a tag within each track file.

For best results, the entire Music folder should be moved to your external drive, then press the Option key when launching the Music app to open the relocated library.

The resources below will provide some guidance:

Add artwork to content in Music on Mac - Apple Music User Guide

Change where your music files are stored on Mac - Apple Music User Guide

Storing artwork on an external hard drive - iLounge

If the issue persists, please reply to this thread and we'll do our best to help you!

Take care.

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Answer 3

Pork-Maestro Author

Level 1

12 points

Nov 22, 2021 9:37 AM in response to judysings

Thank you for responding. This is already how I have my library set up. Every element of my library lives on the external, except the Music application itself of course, and I access via holding down option method.

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Answer 4

turingtest2

Level 10

274,168 points

Nov 22, 2021 10:10 AM in response to Pork-Maestro

I don't think there is any way to create a separate artwork cache for the library on the external drive. If you move the library to a new computer that will build a fresh cache unless you prepare by copying over ~/Library/Containers/com.apple.APMArtworkAgent/Data/Documents first.

tt2

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Answer 5

Pork-Maestro Author

Level 1

12 points

Nov 22, 2021 10:59 AM in response to turingtest2

Thank you for your response.

I'm assuming the new artwork cache created on the new computer is sourcing replacement artwork via the music store database then, yes? In that case, if I assign a custom image to an external library song on one computer, then open said library on another computer, is there any way for Music to recreate the custom artwork, seeing as it is not available on the store database? I'm assuming not, unless the image is saved someplace within the mp3 file itself, which doesn't seem to be the case.

To clarify, the issue I'm trying to resolve is a process called AMPLibraryAgent preventing my music library drive from ejecting after quitting the Music application. Hence I'm investigating whether this process is searching for (and failing to locate) foreign artwork assigned from another device, thus prohibiting ejection.

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Answer 6

turingtest2

Level 10

274,168 points

Nov 22, 2021 10:57 AM in response to Pork-Maestro

I think the background process should first attempt to pull from any embedded artwork, then failing that it should attempt to pull an image from the iTunes Store, provided you are signed into an Apple ID and have given permission for the app to fetch data. There is a subtle difference between Music and iTunes with Home Sharing, with iTunes this only worked when the app was running, with Music once the library has been set up for Home Sharing it can remain active when Music is closed. This likely means that background processes may still be connected to the media folder even when you're no longer using the app.

tt2

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Answer 7

Pork-Maestro Author

Level 1

12 points

Nov 22, 2021 11:10 AM in response to turingtest2

Interesting. I reckon files purchased from the store naturally have artwork embedded in them. Do you know if custom artwork is embedded into the file itself upon assigning, or is it simply linking from image file's original source location?

Which raises another question: if I'm assigning artwork to a playlists and folders in the application (which I am), then where does this information get saved?

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