Level 1

74 points

Artist Artwork is missing in iTunes 12.5

Hey everyone,

First off I am running iTunes 12.5.1 and iOS 10.0.1 on my Macbook Air and iPhone SE respectively.

In previous versions of both iTunes and iOS, iTunes has automatically added Artist artwork to my music collection. No, not Album artwork. Artist artwork.

Above you can see the artist Passenger has a blank artwork, whereas Pete Murray has the artist artwork

Both artists have all of their albums with the correct names and correct artwork, but the only difference between the two is that i have purchased one of Pete Murray's albums. So why has Passenger's disappeared? How can I add it again?

Thank you for all your help,

Grant

MacBook Air, OS X El Capitan (10.11.6), null

Posted on Sep 13, 2016 5:19 PM

Top-ranking reply

jonny_thunder

Level 1

4 points

Posted on Nov 8, 2017 8:59 AM

I may have found a possible solution (well it worked for some of my missing artist photos in iTunes). I noticed that some of the artists with missing photos had an extra space after their name in iTunes.

So if you go into iTunes -

go to 'artists' under 'library' on the main page -

right click on an artist with a missing photo -

click 'artist info' -

look in the 'album artist' field -

see if there's an extra space at the end of their name -

if so, remove it and click 'ok'.

This has worked for me for most of the mainstream artists in my library, so has got rid of a fair number of those ugly microphone images.

Another point I've noticed is that changing the artist name slightly can determine whether iTunes will display a photo or not. For example 'The Bee Gees' in my library had a no photo even after removing the space. As this is a very mainstream artist, I thought to change the name album artist name to 'Bee Gees' and it worked bringing up an artist photo.

Good luck!

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208 replies

Granto102 Author

Level 1

74 points

Oct 5, 2016 2:59 PM in response to cfibanez1

I hope you've noticed that I am actually the original poster of this question, and that my question was about both iTunes 12.5 and iOS 10. As I had made an improvement with one half of my question, I saw it fit to inform those who are experiencing the same issues.

Grant.

Granto102 Author

Level 1

74 points

Oct 5, 2016 3:17 PM in response to Granto102

ALRIGHTEY GUYS I'VE FOUND A FIX

So it seems that Apple have made it a requirement for Artist artworks to be accessed through iCloud. Put simply, you need to turn on your iCloud library.

FOR ITUNES

1- Open iTunes

2- Open iTunes Preferences shown here

3- Make sure the iCloud Music Library checkbox is ticked.

This should fix the issue for macs and iTunes.

FOR IOS

1- Open Settings

2- Scroll down to and open Music tab

3- Ensure the iCloud Music Library switch is in the ON position

This should fix the issue for iOS devices.

I hope this works out for you guys too, and i am 99% sure that this fix does NOT require Apple Music. Give it a shot, keep us updated.

Grant.

Oct 5, 2016 3:24 PM in response to Granto102

WOW! I got so excited when I read your post. However, I do not think it works unless you subscribe to Apple Music. I do not have any of those preference options and I'm using Sierra and iTunes 12.5.1 and iOS 10. No apple Music options are available on iOS or macOS.

Granto102 Author

Level 1

74 points

Oct 5, 2016 3:28 PM in response to Andrew Mcvinnie

You think that the option of having your 'iCloud Library' is limited to those with Apple Music?

It didn't occur to me that this option could have only appeared once I'd gotten Apple Music, so I'm thankful that you've brought it to my attention. I'm gonna wait for one more person to reply before I confirm it as being wrong.

Grant.

Oct 5, 2016 3:30 PM in response to Granto102

Well, it's only a guess... Since I do not subscribe to Apple Music. If it is true, it does lend evidence to the idea that Apple removed this feature and turned it into something you get if you pay...

Granto102 Author

Level 1

74 points

Oct 5, 2016 3:32 PM in response to Granto102

A quick google search proved my hypothesis correct...iCloud Music Libraries are only available with Apple Music or iTunes Match subscriptions 😟

Here is my source: iCloud Music Library: Understanding differences between Apple Music and iTunes Match - Apple Support

Sorry guys! Still no fix unless you have either subscription 😟😟😢

Grant.

Granto102 Author

Level 1

74 points

Oct 5, 2016 3:35 PM in response to Granto102

I can't edit the post for some reason, but as an edit: This apparently does not work unless you DO in fact have either Apple Music or iTunes Match 😟😟

Csound1

Level 9

60,063 points

Oct 5, 2016 3:36 PM in response to Granto102

Editing a post is only allowed for 15 minutes after it is posted.

Granto102 Author

Level 1

74 points

Oct 5, 2016 3:41 PM in response to Andrew Mcvinnie

That is true, and if that is the case then I think it's a bit cheeky on Apple's part. I'm not endorsing it, but there is currently a free 3 month trial for Apple Music. Still, I don't believe it's fair that Apple make something so simple as artworks a premium item. There is only so far that you can monetise things, and honestly i think artist artworks is overstepping the line a little especially when we've legitimately bought these albums on CD. (And yes, I know that money didn't go to Apple)

Keep us updated guys, but i have a feeling we won't be finding a fix unless Apple change it themselves... 😟

Grant.

Granto102 Author

Level 1

74 points

Oct 5, 2016 3:44 PM in response to Csound1

Ah, thank you. I didn't know that @Csound1

Csound1

Level 9

60,063 points

Oct 5, 2016 3:45 PM in response to Granto102

You're welcome.

Oct 5, 2016 3:46 PM in response to Granto102

I agree with you.

However, I can understand them removing the feature to automatically provide us with the artwork. Which is them essentially providing it for us for free. That I can see as being part of Apple Music. However, why they don't allow us to manually edit in Get Info, that is cheeky. Or, give us an option like "Pull Artwork from Wikipedia" or something like that.

Oct 5, 2016 3:49 PM in response to Andrew Mcvinnie

Or just give us what we used to have. Select one album and right-click Make Album Artwork (or similar, it's been so long since they took it out that I forget the exact command).

It's seems usability has become merely an abstract concept at Apple lately. Gone are the simple elegant solutions.

Granto102 Author

Level 1

74 points

Oct 5, 2016 3:53 PM in response to Andrew Mcvinnie

Honestly I believe it's Apple's attempt at cracking down on pirating. The Apple Music subscription, allowing you access to unlimited music for quite a small price ($12 AUD a month) and giving us simple things such as artist artworks. Maybe we're just in the middle of an awkward transition between typically pirated music and legitimately bought, subscription music?

Again, I could be completely wrong. But there is one thing for sure: it's definitely awkward!

I do also agree that either way, awkward transitions or not, they should give us an 'Artist Artwork' option as well as 'Album Artwork' in Get Info.

Thanks everyone for all their inputs and replies!

Grant.

Oct 5, 2016 4:00 PM in response to Granto102

Wow... I'm seeing posts to this thread in my email subscription that are not here now. Is Apple actually READING COMMUNITIES now? OMG....

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Artist Artwork is missing in iTunes 12.5