Why does iTunes keep changing the genre of some of my music to a number like from "Rock" to "17" upon playing it, and most importantly, how do I stop it from doing that?
iTunes (12.4.3.1)-OTHER, Windows 7, iTunes (12.4.3.1)
I've invariably found my problem to arise from some sort of mismatch in the field(s) of a file's ID3v1 & ID3v2 tags.
Here's the manual workaround that's worked for me since my music files come from multiple sources. Not all steps were always required, but if you do them all, I have not seen this fix fail yet so it's been universal.
1) Make sure iTunes currently shows the song to have the genre you want. For example, if iTunes shows the genre to be '17', right click on the song and select 'Get Info' to manually change the genre to 'Rock' or whatever you want it to be.
2) Save a copy of the music file in question. For example, left click hold and drag it to your desktop to make a copy of the song there.
3) Delete the file from iTunes.
4) Use a program of your choice that allows you to edit the tags of the file on your desktop so that the ID3v1 tag fields all match the ID3v2 files EXACTLY and save your edits. (I use WinAmp for one off songs because it has a simple tag copy button for this, but you can search for mp3 bulk tag editors if you need to fix many songs).
5) Left click-drag the file back into your open iTunes program (or manually from iTunes by left-clicking "File->Add File to Library..." or Control-o).
6) You can now delete the edited file copy from your desktop, if you wish, once you've imported the fixed file into iTunes.
7) If the genre now displays the correct genre, try playing the mp3 in iTunes to see if iTunes doesnt change the genre again. I've seen it change the fixed file genre from 'Rock' to '17' still upon the first play after doing all this. If it does change the genre to '17' or if it displayed as '17' when you first imported the new fixed file, all you need to do is left-click the file and choose 'Get Info' and change the genre from '17' to 'Rock' and try playing it again. You should find it will not change it back to '17' ever again even if it had the initial bad genre.
You could probably update your entirely library at once if you have the patience or not many songs, but I have so many mp3 songs that I just fix them as I find them. It's usually a one off song or an entire album that needs fixing.
Like I said, some steps may not be completely necessary depending on your file & its tag issue, but doing all the steps guarantees you dont have to go back and keep figuring out which steps you do or do not need and so it's covered all cases I've come across in my library.
I've invariably found my problem to arise from some sort of mismatch in the field(s) of a file's ID3v1 & ID3v2 tags.
Here's the manual workaround that's worked for me since my music files come from multiple sources. Not all steps were always required, but if you do them all, I have not seen this fix fail yet so it's been universal.
1) Make sure iTunes currently shows the song to have the genre you want. For example, if iTunes shows the genre to be '17', right click on the song and select 'Get Info' to manually change the genre to 'Rock' or whatever you want it to be.
2) Save a copy of the music file in question. For example, left click hold and drag it to your desktop to make a copy of the song there.
3) Delete the file from iTunes.
4) Use a program of your choice that allows you to edit the tags of the file on your desktop so that the ID3v1 tag fields all match the ID3v2 files EXACTLY and save your edits. (I use WinAmp for one off songs because it has a simple tag copy button for this, but you can search for mp3 bulk tag editors if you need to fix many songs).
5) Left click-drag the file back into your open iTunes program (or manually from iTunes by left-clicking "File->Add File to Library..." or Control-o).
6) You can now delete the edited file copy from your desktop, if you wish, once you've imported the fixed file into iTunes.
7) If the genre now displays the correct genre, try playing the mp3 in iTunes to see if iTunes doesnt change the genre again. I've seen it change the fixed file genre from 'Rock' to '17' still upon the first play after doing all this. If it does change the genre to '17' or if it displayed as '17' when you first imported the new fixed file, all you need to do is left-click the file and choose 'Get Info' and change the genre from '17' to 'Rock' and try playing it again. You should find it will not change it back to '17' ever again even if it had the initial bad genre.
You could probably update your entirely library at once if you have the patience or not many songs, but I have so many mp3 songs that I just fix them as I find them. It's usually a one off song or an entire album that needs fixing.
Like I said, some steps may not be completely necessary depending on your file & its tag issue, but doing all the steps guarantees you dont have to go back and keep figuring out which steps you do or do not need and so it's covered all cases I've come across in my library.
What language is iTunes set up for? Where have these files come from? Numeric genres are designed to be replaced by localized text for terms like Rock, Pop, Classical, Choral etc. In some cases the tag for the file may indicate that it is for a language where iTunes might not have a set of replacement texts, in which case you might see the number. There could also be an issue with multiple tags, so corrections you make aren't stored in the tag that iTunes later reads back.
Multiple tags (Mp3 files only)
The ID3 specification allow files to have multiple tags in different versions and languages, but iTunes only works properly with single tags. When multiple tags are present it can sometimes fail to apply updates to the tag that it reads back (presumably updating one of the others in the file) and it is also possible that iPod & iTunes may have different rules for which tag they give priority to. This could lead to situations in which everything is properly organised in iTunes but then inexplicably falls apart on an iPod, or tracks that display different information in Windows Explorer or another media player. There are 3rd party tag editors that can manipulate multiple tags but I don't have a recommendation offhand. A workaround in iTunes is to use right-click context menu Convert ID3 Tags... > None a few times to remove all existing tags and then Convert ID3 Tags... > v2.3 to build a fresh tag with the information still held in the iTunes database. I've read in the past that iTunes isn't fully compliant with the v2.4 spec. although this may no longer be the case, however support for v2.3 is widespread so I would suggest using v2.3 over v2.4. Any embedded artwork will be removed so this needs to be replaced if wanted. For Windows users running a script called CreateFolderArt before and after the tag cleaning process should manage this.
tt2
I have thousands of mp3 files in my library collected over years. They vary in source from CD rips, purchases from iTunes store/Amazon, personal device recordings, etc.
Language is set to English (United States)
As an example, I did notice one album had ID3v1 Genre tag for all its mp3 songs set to "Metal" but all their ID3v2 Genre tags were set to "Rock". iTunes displayed them all as "Rock" Genre. Upon playing all the songs, iTunes automatically changed the listed Genre to "17" for only one of the album's mp3 songs. I changed all the tags to be "Rock" outside of iTunes and it does not seem to mess with renaming of the genre tags for those songs any more.
If this is music that you're streaming, or was matched in iCloud Music Library or iTunes Match, then there's not much that can be done. That's how it's coded by the distributor in iTunes. You can report the error directly to Apple via this link http://www.apple.com/feedback/
iTunes doesn't automatically pick up on externally edited tags, but it should read them when it plays the tracks. I have a script called UpdateTagInfo that can force iTunes to read the changed metadata. Converting to one ID3v2.3 tag should help with this issue.
tt2
Typical reasons for iTunes not accepting metadata changes are given above or in the user tip Repair security permissions for iTunes for Windows.
tt2
What frustrates me is that iTunes has finally allowed the shuffle by genre option but... For instance, I have two Norah Jones albums, one is classified as Jazz, the other as Pop. I am unable to change the genres to match, this is just ridiculous as it prevents me from shuffling a genre and including all songs of that artist.
The same is true for some albums that I would consider "Classic Rock" and they are listed as Rock and cannot be changed.
There must be a work around to this? I get no error notifications when attempting the change, no warnings, nothing, just no change.
Thanks much.
I actually figured it out.
I was trying to edit the genre for the entire album, the minute I selected all the songs and changed the genre it worked perfectly.
The question then is: Why will some albums allow changes at the parent level and others will not?
Interesting.
thanks,
Gordon
iTunes, the puzzle that keeps on giving. 😝
tt2
I have a related issue: The genre is grayed out for a few songs on an album even though I can change it for the other tracks on the same album. It's irritating, and it shouldn't happening twelve releases into iTunes.
Don't ask me why, but the only way to change is if you select the "Songs" tab on the left, under "Library".
If you try from "Albums" or "Artists", it won't work.
Why does itunes keep changing the genre of my music?
