Inconsistent Lossless Tagging of Imported M4A/ALAC Files

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Inconsistent Lossless Tagging of Imported M4A/ALAC Files

I buy music from Bandcamp, often from artists who are not on Apple Music. I always download in ALAC quality, and I've double-checked that my Import settings in the Music app are indeed set to ALAC.

However, many albums I've imported do not have the Lossless tag in Album View, while some do. I cannot for the life of me figure out what the difference is between those albums. Even weirder, one particular album (the Pyre OST) started out with the Lossless tag, which subsequently disappeared.

This affects Music on iOS as well as Music on macOS.

MacBook Pro (M2 Max, 2023)

Posted on May 18, 2023 3:05 PM

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Answer 1

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Jimzgoldfinch

Level 7

28,393 points

May 18, 2023 10:59 PM in response to ionesvitsky

Hi,

The import settings only applies to music ripped from CDs. Music from other sources will be added as is - settings doesn’t affect imported files.

I would not expect to see tracks tagged as “Lossless “. This tag is a feature of an Apple Music subscription and only applies to tracks downloaded or streamed obtained from the subscription. It also applies to tracks matched - the tag will be shown while streaming or if you remove original and download matched version which has copyright protection.

In any event, the music you have on your computer will play in its imported format.

Jim

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Inconsistent Lossless Tagging of Imported M4A/ALAC Files

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