Two Import Questions...M3U and Gracenote CDDB (audiobook CD and MP3 CD)

On the first issue:
Any chance that the Playlist you are importing has some 'special characters'? They are usually fine within the playlist, but the title of the playlist cannot contain them. You may have luck by changing the filename of the playlist to take uot any punctuation characters and the like. That will get the playlists imported.

You do know that all you need to do is 'Add' the MP3 file to iTunes? You can drag it into the Library, or copy it to the PC and then 'Add' it into iTunes.

On the second issue:
Other than physically disconnecting your connection to the Internet (or your network), I have not seen a way to stop the connection. Maybe a setting in your Firewall or security program. Of course, you would need to re-enable it when you actually needed this feature.

Hi all. I have come upon a way to import audiobooks and be able to simply ignore the junk we get from CDDB. You just have to be willing to join the CD tracks, and thus not have the individual information of each track on the CD:


Insert CD

Ignore CDDB junk

Sort disc contents by clicking above the very first column; this first column has no heading and simply contains the track numbers, many times out of order thanks to Gracenote. I didn't know this column could be sorted until recently. Click for the arrow that will appear in the heading to be pointed up, and the numbers to be sorted 1 2 3...

Click the Edit button, and chose "Select All"

Now, chose the Advanced button and click on "Join CD Tracks". A bracket will appear around the tracks to show they are joined.

With "Select All" still enabled, right click the selection and chose "Get Info". At this point, the Album Name will end up in the Name column for the CD, so I put the Audiobook name and the cd number i.e. Mrs. Dalloway 06. Be sure to put a 0 in front of the single digit numbers of 1-9 so that they will sort correctly. Then I put the disc number in the Disc box. Click OK

Start the import.

Once you have imported all the Audiobook's CDs, create a new Smart Playlist using the Audiobook 'Name' (Mrs. Dalloway) minus the CD number, and 'Contains' as the parameter.

Chose Edit and Select All, right click for Get Info, and fill out the "Multiple Song Information" for the entire Audiobook. Click OK, and you are done.

This has worked out beautifully for me, and hope you will give it a try. Let me know if you have any questions or improvements.

Windows XP

Thank you for the link to aldoblog! Lots of good advice, plus a link to booksfree.com (though they are not 'free'). I am gleefully adding mp3s to my list for their rental program. Now I will have to read up on the best way to add mp3s to iTunes...

Windows XP