Q: iTunes Match Lost Cover Art

Agree that the service is awesome. However, I am not terribly happy with the artwork issue. I setup iTunes match with no hitch, then ripped a CD that I had at 128kb simply to test the service. Gracenote found the tags and when the album was imported, iTunes displays the artwork for the album (it grabbed the art itself from ITMS). The songs status changed to "matched." I proceded to delete the files and the download icon appeared. I downloaded the 256kb version of the tracks as advertised with no hiccups. The artwork still displays fine on iTunes. However, on iOS devices (Apple TV 2 and iPhone 4), while these songs appear in the cloud they do not have the artwork. I understand the idea of "waiting," but with my library which is rather small (abt. 1,500 songs) and there being no other issues that it seems that Match is trying to resolve (there were no hiccups for me when enabling Match - every song matched or purchased, I didn't have single upload), it would seem that by now the artwork would have appeared if it was going to (waiting now for 14+ hours).

I tested additional CDs that I had using the same method at the same time of the first, and the issue effects every one of those as well. It's not a hit or miss thing.

I just wanted to report that all (I repeat all) my albums on my iphone through icloud have artwork now. I just checked, and here they were! I did nothing to have them appear. Admitely, I have only ripped 1/4 of my CDs (about 1,400 tracks on my icloud now) so your mileage may vary.

Any of those ripped CDs after you enabled iTunes match?

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.

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...

Deron Dantzler wrote:

 

Any of those ripped CDs after you enabled iTunes match?

One more thing Deron: Did you have the artwork in your itunes library (machine) after you ripped the CDs? If not, you would have to add the artwork manually to your itunes library. I am talking about the hard drive in your machine via itunes.

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.

Will try that out a bit.

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.

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.

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.

Can't wait to get home to try it. If this is all that the issue is, I'll be thrilled with iTunes match. I just want to identify the process, and then I'll be happy.

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.