When does iTunes update meta data?

Question

Level 1

11 points

When does iTunes update meta data?

Hi.

I updated some meta data on MP3 files previously added to iTunes.

While doing a sync to iPhone 3GS, I noticed that these modifications were not sync'ed to the iPhone. Later on, I found out that even iTunes didn't catch the changes.

How can I force iTunes to reread the MP3 files in order to make the changed meta data visible in iTunes?

Thanks,

Windows XP Pro

Posted on Dec 23, 2010 10:25 AM

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Answer 1

ed2345

Level 9

62,492 points

Dec 23, 2010 11:18 AM in response to geohei

geohei wrote:
How can I force iTunes to reread the MP3 files in order to make the changed meta data visible in iTunes?

If you use the normal Get Info dialog to change tags, the metadata is written to the file when you click OK.

99% of the time, that is all there is to it. But, there are a few exceptions: If you don't have Read/Write permissions your changes will not "take." WAV files cannot store metadata within the file. And some data (e.g. Rating) is stored in the library, not in the song file.

Sometimes, people have other programs running on the computer that change tags (or change them back after you've changed them). Windows Media Player is the usual culprit, but you can go to its Library tab and turn off all the options that automatically change song info.

Finally, make sure you are using automatic sync for your iPod/iPhone. If you do manual sync, changes do not get picked up unless you do them manually.

Does any of this help with your issue?

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Answer 2

Katrina S.

Level 7

24,131 points

Dec 23, 2010 12:10 PM in response to ed2345

ed2345 laid it out for you. I'll just add, you need to change WMP in 4 tabs, not just the library tab.

See my other post here:
http://discussions.info.apple.com/message.jspa?messageID=12742872#12742872

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Answer 3

geohei Author

Level 1

11 points

Dec 24, 2010 3:49 AM in response to ed2345

If you use the normal Get Info dialog to change tags, the metadata is written to the file when you click OK.

Ok, this is understood and works. But I don't want to change meta data using iTunes. I use Mp3tag 2.47a.

Until now, I only found 2 ways to make iTunes aware of meta data changes inside an MP3 file.
1. Like you mentioned ... Get Info. Buit this only works for 1 file. When I select multiple files, it doesn't work.
2. When I play an MP3, iTunes also catches the changes.

99% of the time, that is all there is to it. But, there are a few exceptions: If you don't have Read/Write permissions your changes will not "take." WAV files cannot store metadata within the file. And some data (e.g. Rating) is stored in the library, not in the song file.

Hmmm ... iTunes doesn't store rating values inside an MP3. MP3 foresees "RATING MM" and "RATING WMP" tags, but these aren't used by iTunes (to the best of knowledge). So iTunes stored the ratings inside it's own library.

Sometimes, people have other programs running on the computer that change tags (or change them back after you've changed them). Windows Media Player is the usual culprit, but you can go to its Library tab and turn off all the options that automatically change song info.

I use Mp3tag 2.47a.

Does any of this help with your issue?

A bit 🙂

I found 2 ways to tell iTunes that the tags changed, but I't like to have something where iTunes automatically checks more files and adjusts its database accordingly.

Thanks,

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Answer 4

turingtest2

Level 10

272,743 points

Dec 24, 2010 6:15 AM in response to geohei

See http://samsoft.org.uk/iTunes/scripts.asp#updateTagInfo

tt2

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Answer 5

geohei Author

Level 1

11 points

Jan 7, 2011 4:29 AM in response to turingtest2

Hi.

Great stuff!
This works indeed ... but is there no iTunes built-in feature to directly, or indirectly, force iTunes to read the MP3(s) and update its batabase accordingly?

Many thanks!

Regards

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