Song titles turned into numbers

Some information for the Apple troubleshooting folks if they are actually interested in trying to solve this mess for all the people experiencing this problem. If anyone else has similar scenarios or versions, this kind of information might help them to recreate and correct?:

Windows 7 Home Premium Service Pack 1

iTunes 12.7.0.166

iPhone 7 iOS 11.0.1 (when the problem occurred), now on iOS 11.0.2

This occurred after I did an iPhone sync to my iTunes on the PC. My sync settings are:

- Automatically sync when this iPhone is connected

- Sync with this iPhone over Wi-Fi

- Manually manage music and videos

I am also setup for an Automatic backup on sync to my computer with the "Encrypt iPhone backup" option selected.

The songs on the PC displayed correctly still, only the songs on the iPhone were messed up to these very long and unusual numbers like 15702895289075 or -382754089274. I'm not sure I have the length of the numbers correct anymore as I did the lengthy "delete from Library", and then reinstate the purchase and redownload solution. Was not fun for 300+ songs/albums.

One thing I remember that maybe could have thrown the library off: I introduced a regular MP3 to my library on the PC and then did a right-click from my Library "Add to Device" and selected my iPhone. It's possible this was DURING the Sync or maybe right before. I can provide that specific MP3 file if it would be helpful. It was a free download from a local radio station of a new song.

Hope that helps Apple attempt to do a recreate or troubleshoot of this issue.

Hi mbeck1,

Like you, and many others, I have similar issue with random tracks having either no title or a string of numbers instead of a name. This has been going on for at least a couple of years but I still can't find a definitive reason or fix. (Whilst you mention a Mac, I'm using a PC.)

If I view my iTunes library 'Songs' on PC, sorted by name, all is correct and complete (9500+ tracks), as are all playlists.

But if I plug my iPhone 6 into PC then view 'Devices, phone, Music' sorted by 'Name' (which only shows downloaded 2500+ tracks) there are about 100 tracks at the bottom which have either no name or have a number string. (They all still play fine.)

Yet, if I look on my iPhone directly 'Music, Library, Songs', all 9500+ tracks appear alphabetically in the correct order, all with correct names. But when I look in any of my playlists, sorted alphabetically, there's a bunch of tracks at the bottom of each list not in order.

I can't find a way of getting round re-naming tracks or getting the lists sorting correctly on iPhone. Grrrr.

I have the same problem and I disagree with the Apple approved resolution of it. I think it is a cop-out for Apple to put the burden on the user to address the problem. Why did it arise in the first place? It is not one that is unique to you. Imhabe a substantial music library on iTunes. Apparently Apple doesnt care about that or appreciate how much time is involved in trashing and redownloading every song that has a string of numbers as a title. I was hoping that Apple could do better than that.

Just in case it matters and the number of issues reported might have apple give more focus to this problem,

I have the same issue with number strings replacing song titles, some of the older tunes purchased songs and some newer (non iTunes downloaded) added songs to my iPhone 6, I have all the latest update for my MBP and iPhone.

This same issue just happened to me with a massive amount of my library after a sync between iPhone 7 and my PC. Never previously witnessed. Is there a larger fix to correct across the board - doing this download by download would take forever. What a mess! What is the root cause of this issue?

I agree! I have well over 800 songs and about 200 songs show number strings. They are always complete albums that I’ve purchased. If apple can’t have a better support team, and investigate the issue, I’m willing to give up my many years with apple. It seems the issues haven’t gotten worse rather than better. I never had a single issue with the iPhone4, the iPhone5 a few issues, iPhone 6 I started having the iTunes issue, and the 7 I want to throw in the trash! Definitely not spending the money on 8 or X.

I have the identical situation, albeit with iTunes 12.4.1.6. I just bought an Anthology (Tom Petty) and about half the songs did not contain the title, just a long number.

The rest of the information is complete. I had bought the music from my iPad and when I synced to my iMac the songs were transferred. That is where the data is messed up. The songs appear to be fine on the iOS devices.

I am guessing there are two choices for solutions. Delete the songs from the iMac and redownload them.

Or, just type in the song titles manually using "get info".

Try this.

1. Delete your purchase with corrupted titles from your iTunes library.

2. Open your account info (iTunes menu: Account > View My Account).

3. Find 'iTunes in the Cloud' section.

4. Click Hidden Purchases > Manage.

5. You'll see your deleted purchase in the list. Click Unhide.

6. Go to your library and check out the album/song, it must now have correct titles.

It worked for me in iTunes 12.6.0.xxx.

Yes, those are probably your options. You can report the issue to Apple but unless they can reproduce it there is likely nothing they can do. Even if they can I personally would not wait for them to fix it since it will likely involve re-downloading something somewhere anyway.

http://www.apple.com/feedback/itunesapp.html

I have completed the form and also asked my local store to assist. I have not received any feedback from Apple as yet.

I made mistake of downloading my purchases from Apple Store on my new SE phone as it wouldn't synch with my MacBook Pro ( older iOS was the reason) anyways, lots of songs downloaded had numbers for titles. Also, when on music on my phone and on wifi also seems to be spinning icon at top right screen not sure what is going on. Any ideas or solutions?

As can now synch my SE phone with my MacBook Pro ( had to upgrade from leopard to lion to sierra) I can delete bad files from phone and transfer good files from my computer. Alternatively I can edit bad titles on phone as I can look up correct title on computer. Still a big nuisance for sure. PS- all files with numbers for titles were originally free downloads from iTunes from good old days when new free songs and videos were offered each week. Hope this helps.

HI the problem just popped up on my brand new iPad Air after syncing it with my iTunes library : my library seems fine, but the songs on the iPad after the first albums in the "recent" playlist just display a number instead lf the somg name... *** Apple ?

Same problem here with my iPhone 6 plus. This started about week ago when my Music app recently added started showing some old songs and albums as most recent and some song titles have changed into some weird number string. The songs and the albums have one thing in common - I have bought them originally from iTunes store. If I look at these songs in my iTunes library they seem ok as ever. The sync between my Mac and iPhone does not fix the situation.

I don't like the solution either where I should delete all the corrupted songs and then download them again. Something has gone wrong and Apple should find out the reason. Otherwise it will happen again.