Apple Doesn't Know Who Bob Dylan Is.

If iTunes or Music show multiple instances of an artist or an album then what generally works is to select all related tracks and use Song Info to add say a trailing X to each of the fields that the tracks should have in common:

• For an album; Album, Album Artist, and Artist (if artist is the same for all tracks) *
• For an artist; Album Artist (and Artist unless there are guest/featured artists listed which should not be changed)

Apply the change which merges things together, then remove the excess characters. Occasionally it may help to close and reopen the app between the two renaming operations. Part of a compilation should also be set consistently.

* If tracks are to be synced to a non-iOS device there should be a common Artist and/or the album should be set as a Compilation.

Use the songs view and display the fields Album, Sort Album, Album Artist, Sort Album Artist, Artist and Sort Artist side by side so you see whether or not it is appropriate to edit Artist and if sort values could be causing any further problems. See Grouping tracks into albums for more help if required.

One further tip for really stubborn duplicates. At one point I had three lots of Various Artists in the artists view of my iTunes Match library that wouldn't respond to the usual trailing X treatment. What I found worked was to add the trailing X to start with, but then with each group that iTunes wanted to keep separate start typing a value and let it autocomplete from say Var... to Various Artists. Picking from the autocomplete lists seemed to work when pasting/editing the whole value didn't.

Oops, I see Matti Haveri already linked to this advice.

tt2

Different embedded artwork shouldn't be an issue. Make sure to check sort fields as well as the primary values. You could try the trailing X trick again, but close and then reopen iTunes before removing the X. One other thing that might help is to hold down shift+ctrl as you launch iTunes which opens it in its safe mode, and may rebuild various indices.

tt2

Does this help with the merge problem:

How do I merge multiple albums into one a… - Apple Community

Consistency is key. Check that the lone track isn't marked as a compilation or has some other rogue value when compared to the rest. Use the songs view with all relevant fields enabled.

tt2

box sets always pose a challenge because if you ask 3 people how to manage it, you get 3 answers (not tech, but how to view - some see each album in a set as separate, someone else as one, etc)

And sorry to say, any boot leg items, would be a roll of the dice. The info comes from publishers to start. There is no standard. Your best bet is to play with the settings, and when you see the result you like, run with that.

Sometimes flexibility, means things need more hand holding to see what you like.

this thread discusses outright that Apple isn't set up for box sets, and the work around is of your own devising. In short you're probably asking it to do something never designed. I often send in many apple.com/feedback suggestions about how to improve. The key - offer a solution, and not only the complaint or problem.

I have a couple of artists and some of their work, that their box sets don't play well in Apple. It's unfortunately an area that could improve. But often in these cases because as I said earlier, you have varying expectations, the work around is for you to enter parameters yourself to get the outcome you want to see. That's what I did and solved 90% of mine.

A box set - for example my opinion - can be a complilation of covers the artist did (that's know under other artists names) is a huge area of disagreement how to handle. I personally think a box set is still at the root at the DISC level and not the box itself. The box is an external housing (again to me). I'm illustrating there is no one way and probably no matter how Apple "fixed" this in a future upgrade, we'd still find something not to our liking.

I'm the first one to not give in, but more and more are want our apps, devices etc to do SO much, and hold so much data, and for long periods of time we have progressed and even generations pass. I'm saying that the flexibility is really the better choice, instead of Apple fixing it, and putting you into something you risk not liking (and can't adjust).

Take a deep breath, take a break, and experiment a little. I suggest if you find something that work, post your reply with a few screen shots to this post and help others!

Naming Discs in Box Set - Apple Community

👍

tt2