Why does iTunes not change metadata (outside) of iTunes?

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Level 1

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Why does iTunes not change metadata (outside) of iTunes?

I use iTunes pretty exclusively for managing my music however I notice that if I change something (ID tags-wise) within iTunes, it doesn't change the actual files metadata?

Hope this makes sense but I do use my music collection on a non-Apple product in my car. I actually have a 250gb hard drive that I use in my car and try to keep my MBP and my external hard drive in sync. It's aggravating that if I change something within iTunes it won't carry over the change to my hard drive.

Ideas?

Posted on Aug 10, 2011 5:47 PM

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Answer 1

Chris CA

Level 10

82,434 points

Aug 10, 2011 6:46 PM in response to Ibis Ghost

I use iTunes pretty exclusively for managing my music however I notice that if I change something (ID tags-wise) within iTunes, it doesn't change the actual files metadata?

It does.

try to keep my MBP and my external hard drive in sync

How are you keeping them in sync?

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Answer 2

Ibis Ghost Author

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Aug 10, 2011 7:41 PM in response to Chris CA

I've been using ChronoSync

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Answer 3

Ibis Ghost Author

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Aug 10, 2011 7:51 PM in response to Chris CA

It changes the metadata as long as your using iTunes but it won't change it if you use an external hard drive like I am in my car.

It might be because the hard drive in my car has to be formatted for FAT32, my MBP is OS JOURNALED and the files won't transfer over fully. I'm not sure but that could be it.

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Answer 4

Chris CA

Level 10

82,434 points

Aug 10, 2011 9:08 PM in response to Ibis Ghost

Ibis Ghost wrote:

It changes the metadata as long as your using iTunes but it won't change it if you use an external hard drive like I am in my car.

It changes the ID3 tags in the files that are in iTunes.

iTunes does work fine with external drives but you are not using the external drive with iTunes. And it will work fine with a Mac and FAT32 drive.

So you remove the HD from your car and use ChronoSync to sync your files from the MacBook to the HD for your car?

Sounds like ChronoSync is not copying the updated files across.

Check the file modification date after you use Chronosync to update the external. Make sure it matches the date on the internal.

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Answer 5

Ibis Ghost Author

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Aug 10, 2011 10:26 PM in response to Chris CA

Thanks for your help. I've just started using ChronoSync for my last sync because it was recommended by someone on MacRumors.

I only mention this issue because I've noticed it before. Before ChronoSync I used to just copy and paste my entire music collection to get the two in sync. I would notice that some of the metadata I have changed in iTunes didn't transfer over to the external hard drive.

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Answer 6

Ibis Ghost Author

Level 1

8 points

Aug 10, 2011 10:41 PM in response to Chris CA

Yes, I remove the external from my car and update if via copy & paste or as of recently ChronoSync.

I don't use the hard drive with iTunes, I just manage my iTunes library on my Macbook and after I edit some of the metadata I'll copy/sync it over to the external hard drive.

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Answer 7

ed2345

Level 9

62,438 points

Aug 11, 2011 3:59 PM in response to Ibis Ghost

Ibis Ghost, It is true that if you edit the tags in iTunes, they will get written to the file (with a few exceptions, such as WAV files, or files whose permissions are Read-Only).

However, some files have two sets of tags, one in ID3v1 format and another in ID3v2 format, in which case iTunes only writes the v2 tags, and leaves the v1 tags alone. If you then look at it with anything that only sees v1 tags, it sure does look like iTunes didn't change anything. There is a more information here:

https://discussions.apple.com/thread/3222771?answerId=15788415022#15788415022

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