iOS 7 renames albums purchased from iTunes Store

Thanks for the advice. Unfortunately, this didn't work.

This is what I know so far and/or what I believe is going on:

1. Apple embeds metadata into all their iTunes Store tracks, videos, movies, etc. Both "seen" information, such as copyright, record label, etc., as well as "unseen" data.
2. That same metadata overides any changes you make to "iTunes Store purchased" titles when you sync. It does not change your iTunes Library (although at one point, that was an issues as well), but it does change the info on any iOS devices you sync to.
3. My assumption is, this is their way of keeping track of purchases for iCloud re-downloads and iTunes Match services... whether or not you choose to use them. The smarter way to do that, would be to use the behind-the-scenes metadata for tracking, thereby, allowing the user to make any changes to an album title (such as corrections), songs, etc. and still have a unique identifier, allowing such services to recognize the originally purchased content.

So for instance, the renamed, purchased song "Summer Roads" becomes "Summer Roads - Single" after syncing. And if the system becomes confused, your album could get named something ridiculous, like "x". Don't laugh, this happened to me...

Now, having said that, what frustrates me the most is that I spend a lot of time and effort configuring and managing my music for ease of use. And while I understand Apple's position to a point, I think if a person turns off iTunes Match and doesn't sync their music through the cloud, then using a hard-wired sync should replicate your data exactly the way it is in your iTunes Library. It's really that simple. Or otherwise, why allow me to change the data at all. I feel like true music lovers with larger libraries are being forced into "idiot" mode for the causual listener who can't manage their own music. "I know I bought that, where'd it go?"

Hopefully, a bit of light in the this situation:

I've noticed that (at least so far - fingers crossed), the only songs that appear to have been impacted are the newer tracks that were in my iTunes Library just before the iOS 7 upgrade, but were not yet synched to my devices. So in other words, I made a few purchases while still running iOS6, made a few updates to the titles, etc., then downloaded the upgrade before syncing the changes to my devices.

Painful work-around:

If I make copies of these tracks using "Create AAC version" or using "Garage Band", the corrupted metadata is stripped away and then the info is correctly brought over during the next sync. (Be sure to delete the "old" versions before transferring your music or you'll end up with even more headaches.) A pain in the butt, to be sure, but it works. I'm just hoping this does't happen with all newly puchased content. Because I'm not going through this every time I buy, change, and sync an album.

Bottom line, if I can't continue to manage my purchased content the way I want, I will start buying downloaded tracks from Amazon, Beatport, etc., thereby, bypassing Apple's "tracking" mechanisim.

Yes! You rock man!

😀

I was getting very frustrated trying to figure out a workaround to this sitution, and although I managed to find one, it was not nearly as easy as the fix you just provided. Thank you so much!

Now, I'm just hoping that when I download (and update) future iTunes Store purchases, I don't have to go through this every time. But even so, signing out before syncing is still a lot easier than "tricking out" the system.

Thanks again!

Yeah, I kinda figure that part out.

As for the uploaded artist images, I kind of like them. It gives the artist a sort of up-to-date feel. However, not all the choices are good ones, so it's nice to know there's a way to replace some of them. I had similar feelings beforehand, as well, with the album covers randomly chosen for each artist. Not all album covers make a good "header" choice. I always thought it would be cool if Apple allowed you to choose the cover you wanted, much the same way iPhoto lets you chose a 'key photo" to identify Events.

In any event, thanks again for all your help!

What I’ve discovered is that this issue is related to the iTunes Store and iCloud storage of purchased music via iTunes. Again, I somewhat understand Apple’s position in keeping things named consistently so that they can correctly identify previously purchased music (allowing users to re-download when necessary), as well “advertise” remaining tracks available from an album not yet purchased (i.e. “Show Complete Album”).

However, I think if you choose not to store your music in the cloud, don’t use iTunes Match, and “hide all store purchases” music, Apple should assume you’re not interested in using its iTunes Match or cloud services to help you manage your music library. What would be nice, would be if they would offer users an option that said “Do not allow iTunes Store to modify previously purchased content when synching”.

That said, The only work around I’ve found so far, is to first sign out of my Apple ID on each device before synching it. (Airplane mode settings don’t matter.) Then after synching, sign back in and carry on as usual. The problem with that method is that the very first time you forget to do this, you library is littered with duplicates and renamed metadata. And a good sign that this is happening, is an extremely long sync time. That’s because iTunes is in the process of identifying each and every previously purchased track/album and is renaming them. Again, a simple “ignore” checkbox option, like I stated above would be great.

Recently, making matters even worse, I’ve discovered an additional annoyance that wasn’t present before the last update. Now, in addition to the annoying problems mentioned above, I’ve noticed that when I connect my iPhone to my car, all the “hidden music” not currently being shown on my phone, now shows up on the dashboard touchscreen as album and track options! (Again, even though they’re not showing up on the phone.) So now instead of just seeing the album name, you see 2, 3, 4, or even more “versions” of the same album with only partial tracks included in each one. So in other words: Robbie Williams: Escapology (Trk. 1), Robbie Williams: Escapology (Trk. 2,3,9,10), Robbie Williams: Escapology (Trk. 4,5,6,7,8,11), and finally : Robbie Williams: Escapology (all 11 trks., full album – the one that was properly synchronized). So not only does my library show 5x the number of titles, but if I click on any other version of the album other than the “correctly” synchronized one, the track isn’t found and won’t play! Ugh.

Sigh…

Yes. That's exactly what I mean. And what makes it worse, is that Apple is so obsessed with keeping you signed into your acct. that even when you decline, the iPhone will often sign you in anyway based on your previous credentials! Thankfully, My iPad doesn't do that. But my iPhone 4S will.

I agree. I love Apple, but I have become very disappointed with their products/services lately.

Recent example: I bought a 128GB iPar Air back in December, which worked great until March, after which, it began crashing multiple times per day. After going round and round with the “Geniuses” at the Apple Store, it turned out to be a hardware issue (not software-related, abuse, or a lack of user knowledge), which I told them up front. But the part that really pushed me over the edge was that I had to wait nearly 2 weeks for a replacement unit even though they had brand-new 128GB models in-store! Keep in mind, this was a device that was still under warranty and in brand-new, perfect condition (not a scratch on it). Cleary not the result of misuse or neglect. When the replacement finally did arrive, it was clearly a “refurb” and had all the cosmetic flaws to prove it.

There’s a lot more to the story, but the bottom line is, I purchased a brand-new $800 piece of equipment that was extremely well cared for, and in less than 6 months, required a replacement. To add insult to injury, they refused to replace it with a new one and I hate to wait. I could understand accepting a “refurb” (or repair) IF THE PRODUCT WAS OUT OF WARRANTY OR WAS THROUGH FAULT OF MY OWN. But that was not the case. I will definitely think twice before purchasing another iPad, that’s for sure.

As far as the synching issues go, they continue to plague me as well. In addition to the problems I previously mentioned, I also encounter other ongoing anomalies as well. For example:

1) Often times my iPad Air will sync w/o any problems at all, but not my iPhone 4S. Even though they are connected to the same library and both are running iOS 7.

2) Sometimes a newly imported CD will not sync to my devices and the only way to fix this is to “uncheck” the recently imported tracks, then resync (w/o them marked), and finally, go back and “re-check” the tracks and sync again. Essentially, a total of 3 times in order to pull over new music. *sigh*

That said, the only other solution I can offer regarding the previous topic at hand, would be for you to go in and “uncheck” the problem albums/tracks, then resync… followed by “rechecking” the same album/tracks and syncing again… [MAKING SURE YOU ARE NOT SIGNED INTO ANY OF THE DEVICES YOU ARE CONNECTED TO!] (And be sure to make sure that you are still “signed out” between each step because this burned me as well, when my iPhone would “automatically” sign me back in using my previous login credentials. Now the music is correct on one device, but not the other… Talk about frustrating!

However, usually once you do that, the tracks will pull over correctly and won’t be modified during subsequent synchronization. But, I always sign out now before synching, because if not, it will impact any newly purchased iTunes music. Absolutely ridiculous!!!

Good Luck!