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iTunes Match Lost Cover Art

After hours and hours of uploading iTunes crashing repeatedly, removing problematic songs, etc. and matching the rest of my iTunes library iTunes Match finally finished.


Now all of the cover art for rare albums, etc. that I had scoured the Internet for over the years has been lost. 😟


Needless to say I am very dissapointed. I have a normal Time Machine backup , but I don't know of any way to recover those particular files. Any help would be appreciated. TIA.

Posted on Nov 15, 2011 12:46 AM

Reply
172 replies

Nov 15, 2011 12:46 PM in response to Deron Dantzler

Deron Dantzler wrote:


Any of those ripped CDs after you enabled iTunes match?

10 of them. I enabled/signed for iTunes match yesterday afternoon. Of course I had several CDs ripped in Apple Lossless from before. I ripped 10 fresh new CDs this morning.


One thing I noticed with my iphone4: I had to keep the "music" app on and switch between artist often. I would notice that the cover art for an artist would not be there in an instant, and then after going back, and back on, I would see it. No need to tap the "cloud" to download though, just switch around.

Nov 15, 2011 12:51 PM in response to joshuafromorion

joshuafromorion wrote:


Seems as though iTunes syncs over some cover art when physically attached to your computer. I just noticed that a minute ago. Charging with my MBP and it was syncing over album art. Hmmm...

Not really, my iphone was NOT connected (I mean with cable) to my machine, a Windows 7 PC. It was shown on iTunes wirelessly though, but I did not sync anything.

Nov 15, 2011 1:04 PM in response to Thyname

Interesting theory regarding the artwork being transferred via a sync with iTunes. I am at work and my Mac is at home. My phone was syncing wirelessly with iTunes overnight though. Perhaps you're right and that's the key. I was under the impression that your devices no longer sync after enabling iTunes Match on them. I thought that all of the content is pulled from the cloud.

Nov 15, 2011 12:57 PM in response to joshuafromorion

joshuafromorion wrote:


Seems as though iTunes syncs over some cover art when physically attached to your computer. I just noticed that a minute ago. Charging with my MBP and it was syncing over album art. Hmmm...


Yes, that's been my experience on all of our devices, iMac, iPad, Apple TV2, etc. Initially the cover art is missing however as you scroll through it, it begins updating. I can see the network connection starting each time more cover art is added. Eventually it's all there and shouldn't have to be downloaded again.

Nov 15, 2011 1:00 PM in response to Thyname

All of the songs do have artwork in the iTunes library. I should note that this is a very small issue for me right now, because it only is causing a problem with a few recent rips, and a few songs that I purchased from Amazon and added. I like the idea of being able to price shop and have the song grabbed DRM free from iTunes now. I intend to use it more often in the future, which is my point of contention. That's what I don't get, because it seems like in your situation you had more missing artwork at first and it all eventually came in. I'm literally talking about 10 songs that I attempted as a sample or so that do not have artwork and there has been no changes as the hours have progressed.

Nov 15, 2011 1:02 PM in response to richsadams

richsadams wrote:


joshuafromorion wrote:


Seems as though iTunes syncs over some cover art when physically attached to your computer. I just noticed that a minute ago. Charging with my MBP and it was syncing over album art. Hmmm...


Yes, that's been my experience on all of our devices, iMac, iPad, Apple TV2, etc. Initially the cover art is missing however as you scroll through it, it begins updating. I can see the network connection starting each time more cover art is added. Eventually it's all there and shouldn't have to be downloaded again.

I would probably agree although NOT necessarily "physically attached" to the computer as Joshua suggested. Maybe simply "attached" to the computer via itunes, wireless or physically. The fact is that the artwork would simply appear with time.

Nov 15, 2011 1:06 PM in response to Deron Dantzler

Deron Dantzler wrote:


All of the songs do have artwork in the iTunes library. I should note that this is a very small issue for me right now, because it only is causing a problem with a few recent rips, and a few songs that I purchased from Amazon and added. I like the idea of being able to price shop and have the song grabbed DRM free from iTunes now. I intend to use it more often in the future, which is my point of contention. That's what I don't get, because it seems like in your situation you had more missing artwork at first and it all eventually came in. I'm literally talking about 10 songs that I attempted as a sample or so that do not have artwork and there has been no changes as the hours have progressed.

Try this:


Have your computer on and with itunes running showing your iPhone on it (wirelessly or physically - mine was wirelessly).


Go to your iphone, Music app and access the artist/album you don't have artwork on. Tap on the album to access the album, then tap again on the artist at top left corner to go back. You may also want to go back one more step by tapping on "artist". Repeat. See if it comes up.


All this assuming that the artwork is available on your computer for each and every song of your album in question.


Good luck and keep us updated.

iTunes Match Lost Cover Art

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