iTunes Match artwork reverting to old version

Would be great if this annoying bug got fixed soon...

This issue is still present with iTunes 10.7 (21). It is really hard to replace already existing covers in the iCloud library. It is almost impossible to even delete covers (as the first step before setting a new one in the second step). Even an iTunes with no local files that (should) directly interact with the data in the cloud is unable to replace covers. I also tried to remove a cover and hit "refresh iTunes Match" (dont really know the correct english label in german it is "iTunes Match aktualisieren") instantly but it does't work in a solid way - in very rare cases the cover was deleted. That is an insufferable situation! It is an unacceptable solution to remove songs completely from iCloud replace the cover locally and then upload these songs again into iCloud.

***** APPLE FIX THIS BUG! ******

Suggest you try the following:https://discussions.apple.com/thread/3650114. My library and all associated devices have consistently worked via iTunes Match, post the initial effort as outlined.

Thank you for you advise. But it dosen't work for me. I already have 100% album artwork for all my albums (at my macbook). Even if I activate iTunes Match at my iMac the library is 100% covered with album artwork (on the iMac there are no local music files stored - it is 100% iCloud access - i also deleted local stored cover artwork "/iTunes/Album\ Artwork/") to see what covers are stored in the iCloud. BUT on my iPhone5 some album artwork is suddently missing in the cover flow view (rotate to landscape and flipping through my library). At my notebook and iMac and all other Mac's (I also tried iTunes on a Windows machine) I never recognize missing artwork in the cover flow view. So I start over to determine why the artwork is missing. I come over that all missing covers at the iPhone in cover flow where of bad quality (lower then 300x300). So I start to replace those bad album artwork with better onces in the way you described in your thread. After change the cover and press "update iTunes Match" the old covers are showing up.

In comparision to other changes in the library (change the artist, title, name, genere what ever you want) iTunes Match synchronizes the data without "update iTunes Match" within a view seconds to all other devices. But replacing a cover is a mess - it's simply not working in a way an user expects that it have to work.

***** APPLE FIX THIS BUG! ******

I agree with Stefan. This is really frustrating and it would be great to hear when this bug is fixed.

Unfortunately this bug is still not fixed in iTunes 11.

Previous low resolution artwork reverts back again automatically when I try to update it to a new higher resolution image in iTunes Match.

COME ON APPLE PLEASE SORT THIS!!

He Guy's, I agree 100% replacing a cover is frustrating but as long as Apple did not fix it there is a workaround (yes I know very ugly) available:

0.) locate album first in finder, you have to reimport it in few minutes

1.) delete album from your iTunes library, answer YES when iTunes ask to keep the files, but do not forget to check "delete album from iCloud"

2.) "update iTunes Match", after update is finished "deactivate" iTunes Match

3a.) update your album-art cover with an external ID3 Tag tool (cover scout or what ever) and reimport to iTunes when your done OR

3b.) reimport your album to iTunes and replace album cover-art as "usual" - check if the cover also changes in the opend finder window

4.) "activate iTunes Match" again. You will see that the album with the changed "album cover-art" is marked as not yet in iCloud. Add this album (or as many as you have changed) now to iCloud again

5.) iTunes now uploads the album to iCloud (it is very fast - your songs where not yet "really deleted" from iCloud) but you see in the upper status bar for a short second something like "uploading cover art..."

6.) your done - check the result on other PLAIN iCloud attached devices - eg your iPhone|iPad (PLAIN==no local copy from the changed album, cause the local copy with the old cover may be loaded and will be displayed)

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These steps worked for me very well. I replaced +50 albums where I had a low cover-art resolution (299x300 or around this). By the way the resolution of album cover-art is not restricted, I also have cover-art with a resolution of (2000x2000) which looks awsome on a retina display.

Regards from Munich

Stefan

PS: @APPLE: FIX REPLACING OF ALBUM COVER-ART!

The same problem. I was updating artworks again and again, but none of my actions were efficient. I still have different artworks on every device. They are resurrecting like zombies, when you delete 'em.

***** APPLE FIX THIS BUG! ******

I've been having the same problem, and I've actually had an Apple Support ticket open for this since October, I think. I've been going through a support rep who relays messages to me from iTunes engineering. Their initial response almost made it sound like they had never heard of the problem, even with all the reported cases here. They even replaced a piece of my album artwork on their end, and it eventually reverted. I've sent screenshots, video walkthroughs, etc, to get this fixed. I have heard nothing back over the last few weeks, and Im assuming my ticket is still open.

I will say absolutely nothing has worked, I don't even want to go through the options I have tried. Whatever I do, my artwork will eventually revert.

I didn't want to try the method Stefan mentions above because I didnt want to lose my metadata, play counts, etc. But I figured out a better way.

If you have two computers (you can set up another libary on one computer, but this will be even more of a pain in the *** than it already is), make sure the files are downloaded on Computer A and make sure the iTunes library is only a "referenced" library on Computer B, meaning it has no files downloaded.

On Computer B, delete the album from iCloud. On Computer A, the files' iCloud status will change do "Removed".

On Computer A, change the artwork for the files.

On Computer A, then right click the files and choose "Upload to iCloud".

This should save your metadata AND change the artwork. I have not thoroughly tested this, but it appears to be working. I have my doubts being how every other thing I've tried eventually reverts, but I think this is one of the better options so far.

@Starhawk: Now did this method work in the end, or did the artworks again revert back eventually?

Have the same problem :-(

It's very-very annoing!

***** APPLE FIX THIS BUG PLEASE! ******

Serge Piskarev wrote:

Have the same problem :-(

It's very-very annoing!

***** APPLE FIX THIS BUG PLEASE! ******

What he said.

I thought this was a new bug... pretty dismayed it's been unfixed for going on a year now.

iTunes Match has been a series of problems for me. I love the promise, but the attention to detail for this product just doesn't exist.

A year?!?!

1. The elaborate method (delete tracks from iCloud using a second account as Guest or on another Mac; match updated track from your original account) still works. This cannot be the final solution though.

2. It was suggested that things might have improved with the possibility of 'Clear downloaded artwork', although that only seems to work for multiple tracks. Initially this seemed to work well, with tracks being updated in the Cloud as intended. HOWEVER, after some weeks (!!) the cover art in the Cloud reverted back to the previous versions. Oddly enough this time around the tracks in my original account did NOT change and the new cover art remained in place.

This suggests that somehow a switch occurs in the Cloud to a previous back up??

Very annoying.

He Hank,

did not recognize that my changed album artwork changed back... hmmm

Regards from Munich

Stefan

As of iTunes 11.0.2, or put differently, after nearly a year and a half since the launch of iTunes Match, the reverting of artwork still exists. I've been using the same technique as Starhawk, which seems to work, however another bug seems to have popped up, seemingly since iOS 6 (or perhaps in a release since).

If I turn on iTunes Match on my iPhone or iPad, all artwork will appear correctly. But once I download an iTunes purchased album, the artwork will revert to what was originally from the iTunes Store. For albums not purchased through iTunes, this problem doesn't exist. What's weird is that the correct artwork is in iCloud and it propegates to all my devices perfectly. Just as it did pre-iOS 6. And I don't have any of these problems on my Macs or Apple TV. All fine. But for some reason, with my iPhone/iPad, once I download the iTunes purchased album, the artwork flips back to the artwork I bought. Very strange.

I'd be curious to see if anyone else is having this problem and, if so, how long.

Thanks.