mjs22
Level 1 (12 points)
iTunes

Q: Resetting iTunes match data

I have a large music collection that contains many unreleased live recordings, and iTunes match didn't work correctly with them - it replaced them in the cloud with album versions or official versions of the songs that were released from other concerts.  Needless to say, it made a complete mess of my music collection due to matching by metadata.

 

I read that Apple is rolling out an improved iTunes match based on audio fingerprinting, which should fix the problem I had.  Unfortunately, when I turned iTunes match back on this weekend, it seems to see the old matches that it made incorrectly in the past and I can't figure out how to get it to reanalyze my whole music library.  What I'd like to do is somehow just reset and remove all information that iTunes has about my music collection in the cloud, and then start over fresh from a backup of my music library.

 

How do I reset all of the information about my music collection in iCloud so I can start over fresh?  I have looked and see no information about how to do this.

Posted on Aug 1, 2016 12:18 AM

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mjs22

Q: Resetting iTunes match data

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  • by Jimzgoldfinch,

    Jimzgoldfinch Jimzgoldfinch Aug 1, 2016 1:37 AM in response to mjs22
    Level 6 (9,339 points)
    iTunes
    Aug 1, 2016 1:37 AM in response to mjs22

    Hi,

    Itunes audio fingerprinting is already used in iTunes Match. It was not originally used for Apple Music but this has now been brought in line with iTunes Match. I don't know if they have tweeked this but my understanding is that the matching algorithm used now is the same for both iTunes match and Apple Music.

     

    One option is as follows:

    1. Close iTunes and back up to an external drive
    2. Create a new blank iTunes library Open a different iTunes Library file or create a new one - Apple Support
    3. Go to preference and check iTunes music library - you will now see all the music in the cloud
    4. You can select all the tracks and delete from cloud (alternatively delete only the problem tracks)
    5. Reopen original iTunes library - hold alt/option key whilst opening itunes
    6. Go to song view and make sure you have iCloud status column shown - the status for the tracks deleted from the cloud will be removed
    7. To add tracks back to the cloud, select tracks then ctrl click and select add to iCloud music library but see 8 & 9 below. There is no guarantee that you will get a correct match as previous matches and uploads may be remembered.
    8. If you have the incorrect version in your iTunes library you will need to replace it with the correct version
    9. As an alternative to 7 & 8 you could create a new library from your original backups but you would lose play counts, ratings etc.

     

    Jim