Multiple folders on MP3 disk

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Level 1

8 points

Multiple folders on MP3 disk

Is there a way to burn MP3 disks from iTunes playlists that would contain more than one folder? Putting hundreds of MP3 files in one (root) folder on a CD makes finding songs a nightmare, especially when you are driving. Most MP3-enabled CD players support nested folders and recognize them as individual playlists. Any solutions for creating folders on MP3 disks other than using third-party software? Apple folks may want to consider adding this feature, if it is not there already. Also, it never made sense to me that one cannot select multiple playlists at once, and then drag them, play them, etc.

Dual G5, Dual G4, 17" Powerbook G4, Mac OS X (10.4.6)

Posted on Sep 8, 2006 2:00 PM

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Answer 1

macmenno

Level 6

10,080 points

Sep 8, 2006 2:55 PM in response to komich

iTunes: How to set the play order of songs on an MP3 CD tells you how to create a playlist by album or artist.

Hope this helps.

M

17' iMac fp 800 MHz 768 MB RAM Mac OS X (10.4.7) Several ext. HD (backup and data)

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Answer 2

Chris CA

Level 10

82,513 points

Sep 8, 2006 2:56 PM in response to komich

http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=60931

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Answer 3

komich Author

Level 1

8 points

Sep 8, 2006 9:14 PM in response to macmenno

Thank you guys, but this does not help at all. It is like something from a parallel universe. Are we talking about iTUnes version 6 for Mac? There is no buttons, fields, or tabs that are mentioned in the instruction you referred to.

First, there is no "song" to click on in iTunes, as suggested in step 2. There is simply no such field. Did they mean "name" ? And no matter how you sort - the CD still places songs alphabetically, and drops the track number prefixes that were present in the original MP3 files.

Second, the advice about multiple folders: in step 3 they suggest to open "get info" dialogue, and click "Tags" tab. There is no such tab! What are they talking about? The tabs I see are: Summary, Info, Options, Lyrics, and Artwork. Neither there is any "Track number" field anywhere. It feels like we are talking about totally different programs.

The document also states that iTunes automatically creates track number prefixes in file names. In my experience it DELETES such prefixed from the file names that initially contained them. Could it be that there is some sort of preference setting that should enable/disable this feature?

Did you try to do what this document suggests yourself ? I am also surprized that there is no mention about this in iTunes Help. Judging by the date stamp on the document you referred to (2001) this may have been the case in some old version of iTunes. I continue to be totally confused about the advice in this document, and would appreciate any help.

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Answer 4

Chris CA

Level 10

82,513 points

Sep 9, 2006 1:22 AM in response to komich

Yeah, it is pretty old and was update din 2004.
It will still work, you just need to "interpret" a few things. I corrected it below

How to burn by album
You can create an MP3 CD that organizes songs into folders that represent an entire album. This allows you to duplicate the play order of an album on an audio CD, for example. Follow these steps:

1. Create your playlist.
2. Click "Album" to sort the playlist by album.
3. The songs' play order should appear as it does on the original album. If the songs are not in order as you want them:
a. Select a song.
b. Choose Get Info from the File menu.
c. Click the Info tab/button.
d. Modify the Track Number fields to arrange the play order.
e. Repeat as needed.

4. Click Burn CD.
5. Insert a blank CD and burn the disc.

Each album has its own folder and the songs in that folder have the song number added to the beginning of their filenames as described above. Figure 2 illustrates an MP3 CD burned by album order as it appears in the Finder.

Figure 2

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Answer 5

macmenno

Level 6

10,080 points

Sep 9, 2006 1:58 AM in response to komich

I re-read the whole article and it seems quite outdated.
The last modification was done in june 2004 and it does not meet the lingo used in the latest iTunes versions.

First, there is no "song" to click on in iTunes, as suggested in step 2. There is simply no such field. Did they mean "name" ?

They do mean 'Name'

Second, the advice about multiple folders: in step 3 they suggest to open "get info" dialogue, and click "Tags" tab. There is no such tab! What are they talking about? The tabs I see are: Summary, Info, Options, Lyrics, and Artwork. Neither there is any "Track number" field anywhere. It feels like we are talking about totally different programs.

They mean the 'Info'-tab. At the right you will find the 'Track number' fields.

The document also states that iTunes automatically creates track number prefixes in file names. In my experience it DELETES such prefixed from the file names that initially contained them. Could it be that there is some sort of preference setting that should enable/disable this feature?

This setting (Create file names with track number) can be found in Preferences>Advanced>Importing.

Did you try to do what this document suggests yourself ?

No, I didn't (don't have an MP3 player), but I thought it would be a good idea to broaden my experience right now.

I first converted a couple of albums to mp3 (all my songs are in AAC).
All the tracks of the albums were already correctly tagged (also correct track numbers), so I didn't have to correct that.
I then burned an MP3 CD sorted on album as well as one sorted by artist.
Both CD's showed the correct order on my TV when played in my DVD-player.

I have notified Apple that the documents needs updating.

Edit:
After posting, I saw Chris already posted a step-by-step instruction.
Following his instructions you should succeed in burning the desired order of your mp3's

M

17' iMac fp 800 MHz 768 MB RAM Mac OS X (10.4.7) Several ext. HD (backup and data)

Message was edited by: macmenno

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Answer 6

komich Author

Level 1

8 points

Sep 11, 2006 8:07 PM in response to macmenno

Thank you, Chris and macmenno. Life would be much easier if Apple made a more informative Help for iTunes. I've searched the help contents up and down, and could not find what you've recommended.

Regarding "create song names with track numbers" in Preferences: I had it on, and it did work when songs were converted from audio CD format. Apparently, if songs are added as MP3 files - then no track info is generated, and it has to be added manually. This is something for Apple programmers to consider.

Thanks again.

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