Changing id3 tags from iTunes to original file

Whhich tags have you been changing?

Some info is not in an ID3 tag and is contained in the iTunes library file, not the song file.

If by original you mean another copy of the file left outside the iTunes media folder while iTunes is working with a copy made during import then iTunes has no further interest in the originals.

If you mean that changes made to metadata in iTunes don't appear to be reflected when the same file is viewed in Windows Explorer or if the file is imported into a new library then the most likely cause of this is multiple embedded tags. iTunes works best when there is a single id3v2.3 tag. Select a couple of test files, right-click and use Convert ID3 Tags > None, repeat two or three times, then Convert ID3 Tags > ID3v2.3. Now see if updates are properly carried through. You'll have to reapply any embedded artwork. If it works repeat with other problem files.

For the future backup your library regularly with this User Tip.

tt2

Hi,

you said: "If by original you mean another copy of the file left outside the iTunes media folder while iTunes is working with a copy made during import then iTunes has no further interest in the originals."

I have that problem. When I add files to iTunes, and I change the information of those files (autor,album,etc.) I keep that "new" information in the files that have been copied in iTunes Media, but the "original ones" (the ones that have been left outside the iTunes Media folder). I would like to modify both files,e.i., the original ones that are outside the iTunes Media folder and the ones in the iTunes Media folder.

Could you help me with this? Thank you very much.

One way of working with iTunes and an existing collection of media files is to have iTunes set up to "Copy files to the iTunes Media folder when adding to the library" (See Edit > Preferences > Advanced) and add in folder of media from the original collection. If this is what you have done then iTunes will create a copy of each file you add inside the iTunes Media folder. Any edits you make to the tag will be stored in this local copy of the file and not reflected back in the original collection. If fact iTunes no longer cares about the original and will even let you copy those files in again if choose, creating duplicates, albeit now with different versions of the tag data.

iTunes can only work with one copy. If your edits haven't caused the filenames to change, and the originals were in the same layout as iTunes, then you could manually copy the updated files back to the source folder letting the new versions overwrite the old, or if there have been changes you could delete the originals and copy in the current versions from the iTunes library. Personally all my media is in my iTunes library and I routinely update a backup copy of the library with any new changes to it.

tt2

Thanks for the informative post. I had encountered a similar issue. However, I had a snag that I figured out. I'll share:

I use a shared NAS across multiple computers. I have a ton of files without any track/artist info. I updated the info for them in iTunes on my PC. I converted all links in my iTunes on my PC to the newest version of ID3 tag. Then I went to my MacBook and reimported the files with the updated ID3 tags. Nothing updated. Then I realized that I needed to delete the links to the updated files from iTunes on my MacBook first before reimporting. After I deleted the links (not the actual files) from iTunes on my MacBook and then reimported, the files had all of the same new information populated that I had added on my PC. Just thought I'd add that.