How Do You Backup Music on iTunes?

Some changes to iTunes content are made to the iTunes database (the iTunes Library.itl file) rather than by updating tags within the media files. As long as all your media files are contained within the iTunes Media folder then you should backup the complete iTunes folder - typically C:\Users\username\Music\iTunes, with a structure like this:

then you are replicating everything correctly. I'm not familiar with SyncBack but I assume that it is similar to Microsoft SyncToy - see turingtest2's user tip on Backup your iTunes for Windows library with SyncToy for more info.

iTunes depends on both the content of the database file and the tags within media files - in some cases these are redundant but in others metadata values are held only in the database. There's nothing within iTunes that allows the values held only in the database to be "forced" into the media files (though it is possible that some cases could be supported using a scripted solution).

As long as you backup the complete iTunes folder then there should be no issues with recovering all information in the event of a system failure, or when transferring your library from one computer to another. I've been using SyncToy for 5+ years not only to maintain a backup of my library but also to replicate it across several systems - never had a problem with any metadata being lost or updates not recognized.

ID3 is the standard for tagging within MP3 files. There are several different versions of this, and MP3 files can include different versions of ID3 tags at the same time. iTunes can sometimes get confused when the same tag exists multiple times/using different ID3 versions in the same file - which can result in incorrect reading of some metadata or apparent failures to update it. When you use iTunes to add/update metadata for MP3 files, it uses ID3v2.3. As the quoted article states, it is possible to update tags using other versions of ID3 to v2.3 ... if an MP3 file has multiple tag versions, there will be a right-click option available labeled Convert ID3 Tags... which will open up a dialog like this:

Typically you may need to select None a couple of times then select ID3v2.3 for force all the tags to be converted and consolidated.

However, this should only be necessary if you're encountering the problems referred to above. As long as the content within your iTunes media is correct and can be updated when required, this isn't really relevant to backup processes. I just ran a quick test updating an MP3 file within iTunes to modify the Comments and Grouping values - the MP3 file was updated and detected by SyncToy as a file that had been changed subsequent to the last backup operation. If you do this and don't see any change to the file (including its date-time stamp) then its possible that the file is read-only or that Windows permissions are preventing updates. If the date-time stamp is updated but SyncBack doesn't recognize the change then maybe it is less sensitive than SyncToy in this respect.

It'll only be available on MP3 files that have multiple tags.

I'm not sure if there's a definitive reference for this, but as far as I know the following are stored as embedded tags in music files (except .WAV), and are in most cases are replicated within the iTunes database:

• artist, album artist, sort artist, sort album artist
• name, sort name
• album, sort album
• compilation flag
• track number, track count, disc number, disc count
• composer, comments, genre, grouping
• embedded artwork (i.e., added through Get Info dialog rather using Get Album Artwork function)

Others are only stored in the database:

• date added, played date, skipped date, played count, skipped count
• checked/ticked flag, exclude from shuffle, unplayed flag
• album rating, track rating
• volume & EQ adjustments
• start time, end time, bookmark info
• media kind
• playlists & playlist folders (stored as a list of songs and as a list of playlists respectively, other than smart playlist where the playlist rules are stored, not the members)
• downloaded artwork (actually held as separate files in the Album Artwork\Cloud Purchases or Album Artwork\Download folders

Any edits you make to aac/m4a should be saved internally within the file. The exception might be when security permissions prevent iTunes updating the files. See Repair security permissions for iTunes for Windows to make sure permissions are not a problem. Depending on the version of Windows you may not see the tag data displayed in Windows Explorer.

You've addressed the potential problem of .mp3 files with no tag at all, convert to ID3 V2.3.

Another possibility it that iTunes seems to have an issue with mp3 files that have multiple tags (provided to allow backwards compatibility and multiple language support) in that it can sometimes appear to update the tag data, then read back unchanged data from another tag in the same file. iOS devices might also read a different copy of the tag from iTunes. If you think you may have files with this issue then with a selection of affected files you could use the option Convert ID3 Tags > None several times, followed by Convert ID3 Tags > V2.3 which may sort things out.

tt2

Hmm. I guess a script that systematically goes through a selection of tracks and, where year is not blank, adds one to the current value, then takes one away again, might do the trick. However I'd be worried that the act of testing the current year could discard the values you have now if they are not already stored in the tag but other data is.

I can put something together for you to test later.

tt2

Another possibility would be to identify a metadata element that's not being used in the tracks that don't have the year value as an embedded tag, select all these tracks and enter a dummy value in this unused element - this should result in iTunes updating all the metadata (and you can delete this dummy value afterwards). I've been using this recently as a workaround for an oddity in iTunes 12.1.1 where some newly-added media isn't renamed correctly, even though the Organize option is selected in Edit > Preferences > Advanced.

Yes, that ought to work, and would be easier if it does. 🙂

tt2