Why won't Gracenote recognize my CDs?

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Why won't Gracenote recognize my CDs?

Recently, about 1,700 songs in my iTunes library on my old laptop got the dreaded exclamation point. After searching several discussion groups for answers, I was able to find a few hundred of them in my recycle bin. The rest I've found various places, but iTunes still won't recognize. Most have been ripped from CDs, which I then got rid of. Yeah, I know, stupid.

Anyway, I figured I'd just rip the CDs I still had -- all my Van Morrison, Dylan, Springsteen, John Hiatt -- not obscure people, into my new computer.

Gracenote is not recognizing any of them, and these are all the ones that have disappeared from the library in my old laptop.

Yes, I'm connected to the internet. It won't recognize them on my new desktop, my new laptop or my old laptop where my old library is.

What's the deal? Is it my preferences? Windows 8? Is iTunes doing things differently?

Don't tell me Gracenote doesn't have, for instance, the names of the tracks on Highway 61 Revisisted.

Seems to me back when I first started using iTunes, the only CDs it didn't recognize were copies I''d burned.

This is an annoying issue and if there were a good way to get my precious music on my iPhone and iPod without being hostage to iTunes, I'd do it.

Thanks for any help anyone has on this.

And to recap: Yes, I am connected to the internet and yes, these are the Columbia, Sony and other label CD's, not copies.

Windows 8, iTunes

Posted on Mar 17, 2014 9:41 AM

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Answer 1

Mar 18, 2014 3:32 AM in response to MaureenM47

It certainly sounds like something is wrong, these days if anything I find too many results via Gracenote and have to work out which is the best match each time. The information is user submitted and a lot of it has minor errors in it.

I don't think it will help you but here is Apple's official help on the subject http://support.apple.com/kb/PH12488

Other than that I would suggest trying an alternative program for Windows which also uses Gracenote, this will help prove whether iTunes is the problem or not.

Try http://www.vuplayer.com/player.php which is free or something similar. If it works then you know your CDs are ok and are listed, if it does not work then it may suggest an issue with your network connection. See if you can try a laptop via someone else's broadband with one of the same CDs.

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