Why can't itunes identify albums?

alfowler7 wrote:

The thing I hate about my Apple experience is iTunes seeming ineptitude at properly importing songs from a CD.

I have no issue at all with the way iTunes imports songs from a CD, I do it all the time. What exactly is your issue?

alfowler7 wrote:

Windows Media Player beats iTunes hands down in this respect.

I find that hard to believe, I've used WMP.

alfowler7 wrote:

Does anyone have a suggestion to work around this problem?

What problem exactly? In the title, you ask why can't iTunes identify albums? Is that your problem, or is it that (you say) iTunes isn't importing the songs "properly"? There would appear to be two different scenarios here, which one is yours, or is it both? And what do you mean by "properly"?

I wonder if this is a case of you trying to use iTunes in exactly the same way as WMP and expecting iTunes do everything in exactly the same way as WMP, because there is no question about it, iTunes can find information about albums you import from CD into iTunes. This is all the more odd if you've been using an iPhone (and presumably iTunes too) for four years.

To clarify what I THINK the OP meant.

I am about to try importing a CD (Album) to transfer to an iPod. I have configured the import settings and ticked "get track names" etc.

When I read about importing in Help, it tells me that the tracks will appear in the Music Library. Does this mean that I will have to create a playlist and then select the tracks and drag them into the playlist? Or does iTunes recognise it as an album and create an album title?

The iPod I plan to upload them to has both Album and Playlist choices. Is it just a case of which heading I drag the playlist into?

iTunes gets its metadata from Gracenote, WMP from All Music Group. As a former WMP user I'd agree that in general AMG often has data for CDs that Gracenote doesn't recognise, holds more details, and WMP's facility to browse the results of multiple matches beats iTunes hands down. I don't expect Apple to switch providers.

For tips on sorting out your media so that it hangs together properly in iTunes see Grouping tracks into albums.

tt2

Thanks for your reply.

Do I understand correctly that if Gracenote has the metadata for a particular album that iTunes WILL create an album title under playlists with all the relevant tracks in it?

Or does it still just dump all the tracks in the music library meaning you have to create a playlist to drag them into?

I realise that an album is by definition a playlist.

Is it worth having Albums and Playlists as separate choices in iPods? Why not just Music?

Message was edited by: Smirnoff I think I've answered my own question. It must be that you can get the album artwork when importing a CD. Just what you need to waste space on any device.

Smirnoff wrote:

When I read about importing in Help, it tells me that the tracks will appear in the Music Library.

Correct, complete with the song titles and album and artist names - as well as appearing in the import window, prior to you selecting Import CD, so you will able to confirm titles before importing.

Smirnoff wrote:

Does this mean that I will have to create a playlist and then select the tracks and drag them into the playlist?

No.

Smirnoff wrote:

Or does iTunes recognise it as an album and create an album title?

Yes, of course. The album will imported into your iTunes Library under the album title and with the artist listed, just as you would expect to see the album information on the CD you imported from.

Smirnoff wrote:

The iPod I plan to upload them to has both Album and Playlist choices. Is it just a case of which heading I drag the playlist into?

No. Once you have imported a CD as an album, it is listed in your iTunes Library, as an album, by that Artist, or as a Compilation album. A Playlist, is simply that, a list of songs to be played as one "set". Once on your iPod, there is a list of Albums, a list of Artists, a list of Genres, another list of Songs and then the Playlists.

So, on your iPod:

• ... if you look under Artists, you will see a list of all the artists on your iPod. Select any artist to see a list of the songs by that artist, on your iPod. If you have more than one album by that artist, you will see the song list split into the different albums. If you want to listen to only songs from one artist, select the artist in this menu.
• ... if you look under Albums, you will see a list of all the albums you have on your iPod, by album name. If you want to play a specific album (for instance, a Compilation or Various Artists album), use this menu. So all songs from different artists, but on one album (Now 467,478,585,463,783 for instance!) will be played as one "set" or album.
• ... if you look under Genre (music style), you will see a list of Artists, followed by their albums and then the songs. But only the songs in that genre. So if one album has songs from two different genres, only the songs from the currently selected genre will be listed. If you want to listen to only music in the Dance Genre, or the Rock Genre, but from all the different albums you have, use this menu and select just that Genre to play.

Playlists: I can't believe this causes such an issue for everyone.

Suppose you always want to listen to two songs from album A, and three songs from album B and also one song by Artist X, and they are all from different Genres, you can put them into one Playlist and "name it whatever you want". This list (and all Playlists) is in addition to your albums, genres etc. You then navigate to Playlist "named whatever you want" and play just those songs.

So when you import an album into iTunes, it is automatically added into the Albums "playlist", as well as the Genres "playlist", the Artists "playlist" and the Songs "playlist". You do not need to do that, it is all done for you. But - you can, if you wish, select which ever songs, albums etc. that you want in an (additional) Playlist and you drag them there. Do this in your iTunes Library. When you Sync your iPod to iTunes, everything is added to the iPod.

You can then choose to either listen to either one album, one artist, all songs, or any Playlist that you have specifically created, they are all "playlists". It just happens that one of them is called Playlists. iTunes also creates special Playlists for you, such as the Recently Added playlist, the Recently Played Playlist and the My Top 25 Most Played Playlist.

These special playlists are Smart Playlists. Each Smart Playlist has a special set of rules, which enables iTunes to add songs and then take them out again according to those rules. So, for example, guess what? The Recently Added playlist looks for songs that you have added to your iTunes Library in the past two weeks (I think), and adds them to that list. Once they have been in you iTunes Library for longer than two weeks, iTunes removes them from the Recently Added playlist - but - they stay on your iPod, in all the other playlists, such as Artists, Albums and Playlists.

Notice the difference in meaning when I use Playlists or playlists.

I suspect that the OP is trying to do what you have been thinking of doing and that's why he (or she) is confused. Perhaps we'll find out when he (or she) posts back with more information.

Smirnoff wrote:

It must be that you can get the album artwork when importing a CD.

No, see my answer to you, above.

Smirnoff wrote:

Just what you need to waste space on any device.

Don't have the artwork then. Personally, I want the artwork, apart from anything else, it helps me see which album is playing and adds to my enjoyment of my choice of music.

You have answered my main concerns in your first four inline replies. I am aware of the Mix 'n Match capabilities of playlists.

iTunes Help is not very "helpful" when explaining the importing of CDs, hence my question about whether it would include the title.

I am aware that including album artwork is a personal choice.

Seems a pity that Apple doesn't get you to rewrite the Help files as you have the ability to explain things in simple terms.

Thank you very much for an excellent and comprehensive reply.

If iTunes/Gracenote fails to identify the CD either enter the details by hand or rip to MP3 with WMP and chuck the resulting files into the Automatically Add to iTunes folder.

tt2

alfowler7 wrote:

So, since iTunes can find information about albums I import, please tell me what I'm doing wrong. Obviously I need to do more than simply rip the CD.

When iTunes reads the CD in your CD drive, it (iTunes) should ask Gracenote for the the album information straight away. You should see the track names, album name and artist all appear as appropriate in the CD import window. If that doesn't happen, check your Edit/Preferences>When you insert a CD: and make sure that Automatically retrieve CD track names from Internet is ticked "on". You will notice the drop-down menu as part of that section as well. Since you are having issues, I suggest that you set the drop-down menu to Show CD which will allow you to check that the track name information is being completed prior to importing.

If this information is missing or incomplete, it is at this point that you should identify the cause, not after importing. Perhaps your iTunes is not able to get online.

Just to clarify something; Gracenote can only identify commercial releases, not home burnt CDs. Frequently, now-days, artists release albums directly, without the use of a record company. In this situation (and even with very new company releases), Gracenote may not have that information yet. It is possible for an individual (including yourself) to submit track information (for a commercial release) to Gracenote through iTunes if so desired. If someone has done just that, with the albums you are having trouble with, but they did not fill in the details correctly, perhaps that is the problem. If you tell us which albums they are, maybe someone else with that album can offer specific help.

I feel the need to make an observation here.

I made several points in my response to Smirnoff about what happens when a CD is being imported which, if you had read them, might indicate - to you - at which point in the procedure, your process fails and without the need for your "attitude";

E.G.

Smirnoff wrote:

When I read about importing in Help, it tells me that the tracks will appear in the Music Library.

Correct, complete with the song titles and album and artist names - as well as appearing in the import window, prior to you selecting Import CD, so you will able to confirm titles before importing.

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and...

Smirnoff wrote:

Or does iTunes recognise it as an album and create an album title?

Yes, of course. The album will imported into your iTunes Library under the album title and with the artist listed, just as you would expect to see the album information on the CD you imported from.

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... and yet you have not acknowledged that. If you had read either of those points, surely you would comment to me about whether that did, or did not, happen in your case, instead of coming out with condescending stuff such as "Well I obviously need your superior skill to operate iTunes" and "Please share your superior wisdom"

wouldn't you?

Don't you forget, people such as myself post here in order to help other people, (look at the number of points awarded to those who do actually help) and we do so on a voluntary basis. If you are rude to those who offer you help, how long do you think that help will continue? Huh?

One last gesture of help towards you. You say you have a collection of songs in your Library without names, from previous "failed" imports. You can edit the song information in your iTunes Library, even after importing the CD. Highlight the song and select File/Get Info/Info and type in the information you require. You can bulk edit items such as Album Name and Artist by selecting all the required songs and using the same File/Get Info ... Just be cautious that you don't overwrite individual song information. If all else fails, once you have identified and corrected the cause of your initial problem, you could re-import the failed imports.