When I export a playlist and then open in excel, do whatever sorting I want, I then save the file and reimport into itunes but not all the songs are there. It appears to be from "comma's" in the song name. Any solutions?

I see songs such as "Monday, Monday" or "Paint It, Black" or even the artist name such as "Fireballs, with Jimmy Gilmer" which have comma's in them, being a problem when I try to do the following:

1. Export a playlist which contains songs which are all there and play fine, but some have comma's in the title such as listed above.

2. I then open that file in Excel and bring it in as a Tab-delimited file. Everything lays out fine, and all the songs are thing (including those with comma's).

3. I then sort the varoius fields I want (which I can't do in i-tunes because i-tunes won't sort it properly), and resave the file as a newly named file, which is also a .txt file.

4. I then import that playlist into my itunes. It is exactly the same songs that I just had exported but i-tunes says some of the songs can't be found.

I have traced this problem to comma's in the file name of the song such as listed above. There must be a solution to this either as the file is opened in excel or in how it's saved or some other solution short of having to rename song/artists without using comma's.

Thanks.

Posted on Aug 31, 2011 8:41 AM

57 replies

turingtest2

Level 10

278,179 points

Dec 15, 2011 1:32 PM in response to William Richards3

Ah, I'm thinking the new copy arrives sans any meaningful tag, or does your conversion process include you filling out the details that aren't present in the .wav?. If there is no tag iTunes simply "remembers" certain significant data in the same way that it can for .wav files, but it drops the comments for some reason. When you add a comment that should create a tag when there wasn't one before.

Are the .wav files in a logical <artist>\<album>\<tracknum> <track name> hierarchy? Your plans for creating a .wav based iTunes library could involve an awful lot of data entry if not, and even if so iTunes needs a helping hand. On import of a .wav file all that iTunes reads is the filename into the name field. Provided the data exists in the path, and you prevent iTunes from reorganizing the files, then my script TagFromFilename can add in additional details. My file naming scheme is actually <album artist>\<album>\<track num> <track name>[ - <track artist>] but, as ever, the script could be tweaked to cope with a different layout.

tt2

Dec 15, 2011 2:26 PM in response to turingtest2

I don't put wave in any hierarchy other than Artist/Title. No track #, etc on .wav files. The mp3 versions in itunes will have track information on most (other than single "one-hit-wonders" kinds of things), but I'll generally do that myself as I find apple to not always be accurate. The ID3 tagging tool I use is called "Tag & Rename". It doesn't have a comment field, and even if it did, I'd be having to do it there. So if I have to do it, I might as well do it in itunes after it imports.

Could you do me a favor and do this:?

1. Fill in the comment field for a couple of your tracks by putting dates in such as 04/23/1981, 11/14/1977 or whatever. And put them in a playlist you create.

2. Copy those existing track in your itunes that you just put the comments on and back them up to a different folder, but don't delete the original song from its location.

3. Burn the song using a conversion program (I'm sure you have one). Burn it at a different bit rate but use the exact same file name such as "Beatles - Hey Jude".

4. Copy the song you just converted to replace the one in your folder with the original one - the one itunes is linked to.

5. See if the comments you added stayed, and if the playlist you created is there.

THen we can see if you get the same behavior, and then maybe figure out a solution. I'd love to do a massive burn and copy those on top of the ones in itunes now. But if I do, I'll lose all the comments (chart peak position dates). Now I realize I can first export it and then have excel version to work off of to put them back on but if I can find a way to keep the comments, that would save a massive amount of work.

I'm in the radio business so I enter chart dates, peak position, etc, on songs. It's a blast making playlists off this data as I can pretty much do anything - and especially with the first data-arranger fix you created, it will make it amazingly cool.

turingtest2

Level 10

278,179 points

Dec 15, 2011 4:08 PM in response to William Richards3

If you are tagging the files after conversion then that explains why the comments disappear. If I understand correctly Tag & Rename is setting just Artist and Name, nothing else. My iTunes library is so album centric the very thought makes me shudder. 😮

iTunes will re-read the tag in the file after noticing that the last modified date is different from the value currently recorded in its database. The comment likely stays there until the moment you play or highlight the song and move away.

I performed a slightly different experiment:

Select a test file in iTunes with full tag data including data in the comments field.
Create a test playlist and add the file to it.
Set import settings to a different bit rate from the original.
Right-click the file and use the Create MP3 Version function.
Right-click the resulting file and use Convert ID3 Tags... None.
Delete the new file from the library without deleting the underlying file.
Move/rename the files so that the new file replaces the old one.

Result: All tag data bar the artwork (which was embedded in the original file) remains intact as does playlist membership. As a final step one should use Convert ID3 Tags... v2.3 to ensure the tags are available to third party software/hardware using the file.

In short, skip the Tag & Rename step and you should be laughing 😁

tt2

Dec 15, 2011 4:21 PM in response to turingtest2

I'm up to step 2. I don't import tracks with itunes. Remember, I have the .wav file. Unless I'm missing something, I have no clue how to import existing wave files. If I have the CD and want to burn that, I get/know how to do that. But I'm not doing step 3, 4, and 5 above.

And what's the difference between Convert IDE3 Tags...v2.3 and Tag & Rename? Isn't it just a renaming software tool?

What I need to be able to do is take existing .wav file ALREADY EXISTING IN A FOLDER, and convert it using a conversion software program (I use Creative Audio convertor). As there is no existing data on the .wav file other than artist/title, I then convert .wav to mp3. Then open it up in Tag & Rename so that it properly converts the artist and title. If I don't, then the file just shows up as one under Title column in itunes such as NAME: "Beatles - Hey Jude". Under ARTIST there is nothing listed. That's why I have to use Tag & rename, though I'm sure any simliar tagging software would work.

Sorry, guess I'm not understanding your steps above. Unless you are suggesting that I import the .wav file, and then right-click on it and create an mp3 version of it. Is that what you mean? And if so, since the wave file has no tagging, how is it going to create an mp3 version with tagging on it?

Sorry. 😟

turingtest2

Level 10

278,179 points

Dec 15, 2011 5:05 PM in response to William Richards3

You don't need to repeat my experiment, just use the observation.

You have an existing file at 160k which you want to replace with a 320k version.
Take your original .wav file and convert to a 320k mp3 using the software of your choice. Make sure that software is not programmed to add in any form of tag.
Move (not copy as it saves an overwrite) the original to a backup folder as before.
Now copy move (again, less housekeeping) in the new higher bit rate version so that it occupies exactly the same path that the file you've moved used to be in.
Play the track in iTunes and examine the info. You should find It Just Works!^TM🙂 (Poor attempt at humour)

Comments & playlist membership and all other track details (Artist & Name if that is all you use) should all be preserved in iTunes with no additional effort (up to this point).

As stated, right-click Convert ID3 Tag... v2.3 (in iTunes) will actually embed the data into the file otherwise iTunes only holds the record internally which is of no use if you want to use this file with other software/hardware.

The process above should work equally well on batches of files.

tt2

Message was edited by: turingtest2

(Hopefully clarifying the points requested in your post below)

Dec 15, 2011 4:52 PM in response to turingtest2

You're awesome. (My convertor will not do any ID3 tagging - I have to use a tagging software to do that). So are you saying I should move the original file to a backup folder? So it basically doesn't exist in the location itunes thinks it's in, correct? Then I put the new version (without any naming) in the higher quality file back to the folder the original file was in? When you say "copy in the new higher bit rate version giving it the correct filename if it is different", I'm confused. Also, what is the "It Just Works" comments & playlist membership about.

And I'm so sorry (hang with me... 🙂 ), but I am not understanding your last paragraph either. Neither sentence do I understand.

Sorry again. 😟

Hope you can clear it up. Perhaps you could take a couple of captures for me? I converted an existing mp3 file in itunes and it created a copy of what's there, but that's not what I need to do. Help! 🙂

turingtest2

Level 10

278,179 points

Dec 15, 2011 5:37 PM in response to William Richards3

Just realised the thread might not show as "updated" after my amendments above...

tt2

Dec 15, 2011 6:03 PM in response to turingtest2

I think this makes more sense. Let me give it a try. Heading out, but will return and try later tonight or in the morning. Thank you so much. This is much clearer!

Dec 15, 2011 6:17 PM in response to turingtest2

Okay, I couldn't wait so I tried this. It does keep the "comment" column and playlists. Now the only thing missing that was lost is the album art.

1. I converted existing wave to 320. No tagging of any kind was done in further steps. Just converted to mp3 at 320 baud.

2. I moved the original file to a different folder.

3. I moved the new 320 version into the folder that the original folder occupied. Exact same file name.

4. Clicked info in itunes and all the comments were there, and other fields. Album art was lost.

5. Playe the song. It's the 320 baud. Plays fine.

The only problem now is the album art. Hmmmm. Thoughts?

turingtest2

Level 10

278,179 points

Dec 16, 2011 1:44 AM in response to William Richards3

If the files are stored one album per folder then my CreatetFolderArt script could work as it is to create local copies of the artwork before the upgrade. It can then embed the locally stored artwork into the updated files in a second pass.

If you have files from different albums residing in the same folder the script will want a slight tweak so that it creates unique names for each image (based on the track's filename probably) instead of calling them all Folder.jpg.

tt2

Dec 16, 2011 8:45 AM in response to turingtest2

I usually put the album artwork on myself as I find itunes to be horrible in choosing wrong album covers. For fairly common, well-known albums, they usually get it right. But get even somewhat deeper into library and do a request to look for artwork, and itunes will invariably pick an album cover of "Greatest Hits" or some compilation album that the song might be on. So anyway, I'll usually drag and drop artwork from Amazon, Rate Your Music, or even capture it with a tool I use called Snag It and then paste it onto the song. Then if there are other tracks, I'll select them all, copy the one I just dragged in, and then apply to all the other songs.

I'm not sure I understand exactly what to do per your previous post. Can you sort of map it out as you did earlier? I'm not understanding the "one album per folder" comment, or the rest of that post actually. Sorry. 😟

Thanks so much for all your replies.

turingtest2

Level 10

278,179 points

Dec 16, 2011 10:55 AM in response to William Richards3

The CreateFolderArt script process a selection of tracks in two passes.
The first pass inspects the folder each track lives in to see if there is a Folder.jpg image.
If there is no image, or the current file has an image assoicated with it and the track was modified more recently than the folder art then save the track's artwork as Folder.jpg.
The second pass also tests for a Folder.jpg image in folder the file lives in.
If the trak has no artwork and there is a Folder.jpg image, or there is folder art that was modified more recently than the track then embed the Folder.jpg art into the track.

The upshot is that all files in any album processed (assuming the tracks are in the same folder and you had selected all tracks from the album) end up with the most recent image that you attached to any one of the tracks. After the script has been run the folder the tracks live in has a Folder.jpg image representing that album's artwork. If you subsequently replace the tracks with a new higher bit rate version of the files, with no tags and hence no art, then run the script, the script will embed the artwork into the tracks restoring the art you had previously obtained.

The suggested process relies on each folder containing tracks from one and only one album. If you have things arranged differently then the script would need modifing so that images were produced with unique names, e.g. matching the track's filename bar the extension, or <Artist> - <Album>.jpg, rather than Folder.jpg.

tt2

Dec 16, 2011 6:21 PM in response to turingtest2

Cool. I'll give it a try. Heading out on vacation back to my folks with my family. I'll circle back later next week when I return.

Thanks SOOOO much. You rock!

Jan 27, 2012 9:47 AM in response to turingtest2

Hi again,

I'm just trying a few things out now. Here's what I did;

1. I took the original file and moved it to another folder.

2. I imported back to the original file location, the new file I wanted to replace it with.

Here's what the results were;

1. Most of the file Info content remained, even the artwork.

2. The only thing I noticed that didn't take, was the "genre" at the bottom. I guess because the new file was burned or created using the genre that was on the CD I guess, when the file moved to replace the original one, it kept the genre. Which is a little odd.

3. The album title for the new CD also changed, not keeping the original one that was on the original file.

4. The playlists all stayed, which is a major thing.

Any thoughts kind sir?

Thanks!

turingtest2

Level 10

278,179 points

Jan 27, 2012 10:07 AM in response to William Richards3

iTunes records the metadata for the files that it manages. Some of that metadata is replicated in the tags, for files that have a tag, some like rating, playlist membership is only ever stored in iTunes. Artwork is sometimes embedded directly in the tags, but if iTunes automatically fetches the art it is only stored in a local database.

If you play cuckoo with iTunes and replace one file with another that has the same filename it won't notice unless it has reason to access the file, this can happen if you play the file or sometimes if you select it with the artwork viewer set to Selected Item. Data that is private to iTunes and not stored in the tag won't change, but anything else is up for grabs.

Getting iTunes to systematically updated itself with any external modified data is the topic of yet another script, UpdateTagInfo, which does just what it says on the tin.

tt2

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When I export a playlist and then open in excel, do whatever sorting I want, I then save the file and reimport into itunes but not all the songs are there. It appears to be from "comma's" in the song name. Any solutions?