Complete my Album not showing some songs as purchased

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Level 1

23 points

Complete my Album not showing some songs as purchased

I have a problem where not all the songs I've purchased are showing as purchased in the iTunes store. They are downloaded to my library and play fine but when I go to Complete my Album in the Store some songs aren't showing as purchased so if I complete my album I'll have to buy those again.

There's 1 album in particular where I own 2 songs from it but when I view it in iTunes store only 1 of them shows as purchased the other one doesn't even though both songs are in my library.

I've checked hidden purchases and it's not in there. Any ideas what going on?

Thanks

Posted on Feb 24, 2016 9:28 AM

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Answer 1

King_Penguin

Level 10

334,330 points

Feb 25, 2016 9:01 AM in response to randysh

I've now found a similar thread with the same issue, though it hasn't got any replies : Complete My Album and older purchases no longer showing as purchased

It seems that for whatever reason, some albums get re encoded and re uploaded. When that happens they delete the old version from the store but leave it on their servers and your previously purchased songs are still attached to the old no longer available for purchase version. They dont migrate your purchases over to their new replaced version (were talking same exact album here, not a newer extended version or something)

You can re download them from the cloud no problem, but when you view the album in the store, it doesnt show any purchased tracks. If you re purchase one of those tracks it now shows in the cloud that you own it twice. (the album are will usually have slightly different coloring from being rescanned) I downloaded them both and the size was a bit different, the newer one even had a slightly higher bitrate.

Just figured id post this here for anyone not able to complete an album and thinking there is an issue.

...

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Answer 2

randysh Author

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Feb 24, 2016 10:10 AM in response to King_Penguin

How would I find that out for sure? I just checked the 2 songs and they have the same year in the metadata but the album art was the same picture but looked slightly different, like the colour and text font were slightly different.

Maybe the album was updated and replaced?

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Answer 3

King_Penguin

Level 10

334,330 points

Feb 25, 2016 7:54 AM in response to randysh

It's possible that it was removed and replaced. I'm not sure that there's an easy way to find out, the release date that shows on an album in the store may be the date that it was released as a CD as opposed to being released on iTunes (I'm not sure which it refers to) - but does that date (which should be under the album artwork on the left-hand side of the store page) give an indication that it might be a 'new' version ?

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Answer 4

randysh Author

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23 points

Feb 25, 2016 7:49 AM in response to King_Penguin

The date in the iTunes store is the same as the date on both songs in my library.

I also found another album by the same artist, that I own 3 songs from, and none of those are listed as purchased in the store, so I'm thinking maybe the artist or his label/producer re-released or updated most of his music.

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Answer 5

Feb 25, 2016 8:20 AM in response to randysh

If you have iCloud, right click the song, choose REMOVE DOWNLOAD. At that point a cloud will appear beside the song title. Click that cloud and your song will be re-downloaded automatically. I just discovered this yesterday.

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Answer 6

randysh Author

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Feb 25, 2016 8:34 AM in response to harmonyhillbill

Tried that and I can re-download but it's still not showing as purchased in iTunes store.

Tried removing download on another song from another album where none of them were showing as purchased, then quit and relaunched iTunes and the song disappeared from my library but there's a Cloud icon by the album title but nothing happens when I click it.

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Answer 7

Feb 25, 2016 8:37 AM in response to King_Penguin

That's correct. But I had exclamation marks show up on hundreds of my songs after switching from XP to 8.1, and even songs purchased as far back as 2004 were able to be re-downloaded. As long as they are listed in your ACCOUNT, PURCHASE HISTORY file, you should be able to download them again. If they are no longer available in iTunes, you are screwed.

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Answer 8

randysh Author

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23 points

Feb 25, 2016 8:37 AM in response to randysh

The interesting thing is, if I right click on a song that's having the problem and click show in iTunes Store, it takes me to the correct album where the other song is showing as purchased, but the song that I selected to see in iTunes store is just available for purchase.

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Answer 9

King_Penguin

Level 10

334,330 points

Feb 25, 2016 8:40 AM in response to randysh

Edit : your last reply appeared whilst I was typing and checking this

If you can redownload it then it implies that what you bought is still in the store. If you select the downloaded copy in your library and right-click it (control-click on a Mac) and select 'Show In iTunes Store', does it take you to the version that you've been looking at in the store ?

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Answer 10

randysh Author

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23 points

Feb 25, 2016 8:45 AM in response to harmonyhillbill

The problem is that I want to complete my album, since there's a song on there that I want but it's Album only, I can't buy it individually. So if I complete my album, I'd have to pay again for the 1 song that's not showing as purchased. The money is not a big deal, it's just a 1.29, but I'm trying to figure out why it's doing this. But as King_Penguin said it was probably removed and then updated or replaced or something like that.

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Answer 11

Feb 25, 2016 8:59 AM in response to randysh

You can also right click the album title in your MY MUSIC screen, REMOVE DOWNLOAD, then click the cloud that appears after the album title. That way the entire album is re-downloaded. If that doesn't work to relist the one song as part of the complete album, then assume Penguis response is correct and there is some other issue. He certainly has a lot more experience than me.

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Answer 12

randysh Author

Level 1

23 points

Feb 25, 2016 9:14 AM in response to King_Penguin

That makes sense that it's still available on their servers for redownload, but the store shows the updated version. Thanks for your help!

Edit* I went ahead and completed my album and the new version of the song that was showing as not purchased is a bigger file size than the old version. So I believe that confirms that it was re-encoded or something and that's why this happens.

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Answer 13

King_Penguin

Level 10

334,330 points

Feb 24, 2016 9:52 AM in response to randysh

You bought those songs from that album, they weren't bought from a different version of the album or from a single, or from a different country's store (or on a different account) ?

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Answer 14

randysh Author

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23 points

Feb 24, 2016 9:54 AM in response to King_Penguin

Yes, I bought it from that album, in the same country Store and the same account.

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Answer 15

King_Penguin

Level 10

334,330 points

Feb 24, 2016 10:10 AM in response to randysh

The rights-holder hasn't removed the album (or possibly just those tracks) that you bought, and replaced it with a new album (which would be treated as a separate purchase) ?

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