Granto102

Q: 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.

 

Screen Shot 2016-09-14 at 10.15.39 AM.png

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 5:33 PM

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Q: Artist Artwork is missing in iTunes 12.5

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  • by Forgotten Rebel,

    Forgotten Rebel Forgotten Rebel Oct 5, 2016 7:27 PM in response to Csound1
    Level 1 (8 points)
    iTunes
    Oct 5, 2016 7:27 PM in response to Csound1

    Never does, it's Apple feedback after all. They havent even changed the menu in a decade. They still list IDE and SATA drives as the only two HD options on a Mac Pro. They do not even include an newer option of SSD or PCIe SSDs for example. I could go on and on of course given the far to many issues. Even providing a menu option for complaints would be a HUGE step forward in getting truly honest Feedback.

     

    Maybe Apple thinks complaints are not valid feedback?

    Quite the Hobson's choice.

  • by MichaelRT1972,

    MichaelRT1972 MichaelRT1972 Oct 5, 2016 7:30 PM in response to Forgotten Rebel
    Level 1 (14 points)
    iTunes
    Oct 5, 2016 7:30 PM in response to Forgotten Rebel

    Some wise person said 'Never ask a question you don't want an answer to'.

     

    I'm guessing this will be wall art, a screen saver and a motto at Apple under Tim Cook.

  • by fewpix,

    fewpix fewpix Oct 5, 2016 7:50 PM in response to Forgotten Rebel
    Level 1 (4 points)
    Oct 5, 2016 7:50 PM in response to Forgotten Rebel

    Guys,

     

    I have been catching up reading the responses about whether this is an "Apple Music" feature that you have to pay for to get artist pictures.  I've had Apple Music for about a year now and about 90% of my artists pictures are missing.  I have iCloud Music Library turned on in iTunes and on my devices.  It doesn't make a difference for me.  And there is no rhyme or reason. 

     

    For example:

     

    IF it was a way of steering people towards paying for Apple Music subscriptions, then why do I have pictures missing for many artist/songs that have ONLY been added to my Library via Apple Music (not purchased or imported, but added directly from Apple Music).  You would think if this was an Apple Music feature then it would absolutely appear for artist that are Apple Music. 

     

    I have some artists that only have Purchased songs/albums and the artist pictures DO appear properly

     

    I have other artists where I have only Purchased songs/albums where the artist picture does NOT appear.

     

    I have some artists with a mix of Purchased or imported songs/albums that DO have the artist picture, but other artists with a mix of purchased/imported where there is NO picture of the artist.

     

    I even have several artists that have a mix of Purchased, imported and Apple Music songs/albums and yet I DO have an artist picture for them.  But there are others with a similar mix that do NOT have pictures. 

     

    I can understand, to some degree, if Apple doesn't have pictures for imported songs/albums if those artists are not currently in the iTunes store or Apple Music.  At least that would make a bit of sense why the artist pictures didn't show up.  But most of my missing artist pictures are for artist that absolutely exist in the Store and Apple Music.

     

    But even for those artist not in the store, they should have known that would happen with the huge libraries a lot of people have.  They should have allowed us some way to manually add our own pictures.  That's the bottom line, they have taken the control out of our hands for some reason.

  • by Csound1,

    Csound1 Csound1 Oct 5, 2016 7:57 PM in response to fewpix
    Level 9 (51,353 points)
    Desktops
    Oct 5, 2016 7:57 PM in response to fewpix

    And they did, just go to iTunes on a Mac select 'Get Info' and page to the Artwork tab, you can add Artwork there. Control is now yours. And Apple gets the art from the Gracenotes database, not from itself.

  • by Granto102,

    Granto102 Granto102 Oct 5, 2016 7:59 PM in response to Csound1
    Level 1 (50 points)
    iTunes
    Oct 5, 2016 7:59 PM in response to Csound1

    Once again, the one you are describing is ALBUM artwork. We are looking for ARTIST artwork, which currently we have no control over.

     

    Grant.

  • by MichaelRT1972,

    MichaelRT1972 MichaelRT1972 Oct 5, 2016 8:03 PM in response to Csound1
    Level 1 (14 points)
    iTunes
    Oct 5, 2016 8:03 PM in response to Csound1

    I think you'll find that is 'album art' as opposed to Artist.  Album art has historically been what showed up in Artist view, usually I understand the cover for the most recently added album (or part thereof).

     

    So no, as far as I could see/understand, there is no way to customise Artist art in Artist view.

     

    As previously noted, there is no consistency here for users, whether its purchased music via iTunes, burned CDs, or other means of imported media, it's all a little bit hit and miss as to whether 'artist art' shows up in the Artist view.

     

    I've seen people suggesting modifying artist name to match exactly what is in the itunes store, but other users here report this makes no difference either.

     

    Based on all the postings here in this thread, and in another thread I'm following, one can but assume this is a fault, a glitch or a flaw, or indeed a way for our overlords to eventually make us pay for Apple Music.

     

    Time will tell which of these may be true and which may not.

  • by Csound1,

    Csound1 Csound1 Oct 5, 2016 8:05 PM in response to Granto102
    Level 9 (51,353 points)
    Desktops
    Oct 5, 2016 8:05 PM in response to Granto102

    Granto102 wrote:

     

    Once again, the one you are describing is ALBUM artwork. We are looking for ARTIST artwork, which currently we have no control over.

     

    Grant.

    Why do you need to shout, type normally, I can read and I can see just fine.

  • by Granto102,

    Granto102 Granto102 Oct 5, 2016 8:06 PM in response to Csound1
    Level 1 (50 points)
    iTunes
    Oct 5, 2016 8:06 PM in response to Csound1

    I apologise, I meant to use bold and not capitals.

  • by fewpix,

    fewpix fewpix Oct 5, 2016 8:09 PM in response to MichaelRT1972
    Level 1 (4 points)
    Oct 5, 2016 8:09 PM in response to MichaelRT1972

    Agree with everything except your last point - as I stated I currently do pay for Apple Music and still have the same problem everyone else has for the vast majority of my library even those added directly from Apple Music.

  • by MichaelRT1972,

    MichaelRT1972 MichaelRT1972 Oct 5, 2016 8:15 PM in response to fewpix
    Level 1 (14 points)
    iTunes
    Oct 5, 2016 8:15 PM in response to fewpix

    Thats why I say 'eventually make us pay'..... as with all things apple, its progressive or cumulative in terms of how they seem to go about things, nothing seems to happen in one quick change (with the exception of USB ports and headphone jacks), but rather they slowly build up to a concept or idea.... so just maybe here, they are slowly building up to the point of saying, if you aren't paying for apple music, then artist art isn't a 'feature' you should expect in iTunes... for now they are just tweaking it a little bit here and there to see how people respond.  The silence on this subject is deafening... in no forum i've seen or hunted through do they appear to acknowledge this user/customer issue, let alone offer a potential remedy or acknowledge a fault.... thus I think it's just another slow tweak being imposed.

     

    So all in all, I say just stick with the previous version until clarity arrives, and that needs to be from Apple, because we, their loyal customers appear to be unable to find a consensus on what it is, let alone how we fix or work around it.

  • by cfibanez1,

    cfibanez1 cfibanez1 Oct 6, 2016 3:45 AM in response to MichaelRT1972
    Level 1 (4 points)
    Oct 6, 2016 3:45 AM in response to MichaelRT1972

    This is not the only problem with iTunes 12.5.1. The new fots are large and ugly. The new album icons get horrendously large when activated. Everything on this new version is just so... unlikely Apple. Not the Apple I grew up with.

  • by adamcala,

    adamcala adamcala Oct 6, 2016 10:00 AM in response to Granto102
    Level 1 (4 points)
    Oct 6, 2016 10:00 AM in response to Granto102

    Apple recommends this answer, but it is useless right now to many of us and not a solution. I have 130 GB or pop/rock/alt/etc music and another 50-60 GB of classical music (after all, there are multiple versions of Beethoven's 7th or 9th symphonies that I like and listen to regularly). I am not storing that much music in the cloud. I am not paying for that. I own the music on little shiny discs.

     

    I like iTunes integration with my Apple TV for playing on my stereo in another room, and the ability to track my library and cycle through things that I may not have listened to in awhile. But if the Artist thumbnails are gone, and the stupid interface continues to take up so much space on my screen, then it may be time to jump ship to another ecosystem. iTunes can back up my iPhone and sit dormant otherwise. I'll rent movies from Amazon instead.

     

    I know CD's are dying. But the death will likely take many years, IMO. I'm 50, and a huge music FAN. I almost always have music playing, whether as background or actively listening. I know some people aren't (my wife, for one), but I don't expect that they are buying many little shiny discs, or black vinyl discs, or digital downloads. Streaming works for them, I expect. But have other FANS really moved to streaming in great numbers? I expect (hope?) there are still a lot like me that like more control over what they listen to. When I make a 500-1000 song playlist based on multiple genius lists, made from my library, I very seldom have to skip a song.

     

    Off my soapbox now. I will send feedback to Apple. Maybe if enough people do, then there will be a fix. Shrugs.

     

    -Adam

  • by adamcala,

    adamcala adamcala Oct 6, 2016 10:07 AM in response to adamcala
    Level 1 (4 points)
    Oct 6, 2016 10:07 AM in response to adamcala

    Ugh. I thought replies to specific posts would be put inline after that post. In my post on Oct 6, 2016 at 10:00 AM, I'm referring to the "Apple Recommended" (as of 10/6/16) answer by Granto102:

     

     

    I don't know if this will work for everyone, but I've found it to work on my iPhone (haven't tried it on my Mac yet) but if you go into settings > mobile and turn on the Music app, all of the artworks reappear. The only reasoning I can put it down to is simply my music app was unable to connect to the internet to source the artist images. It's worked for roughly 90% of my library so I don't know what's happened to the other 10% but for now, it's a step in the right direction!!

     

    Everyone else give it a shot, make sure your Music app is able to access the Internet and see if it makes a difference at all

     

    I like how Apple never actually provided an answer.

  • by adamcala,

    adamcala adamcala Oct 6, 2016 10:54 AM in response to adamcala
    Level 1 (4 points)
    Oct 6, 2016 10:54 AM in response to adamcala

    As an FYI, here is the feedback I sent:

     

    I'm unhappy to see the Artist thumbnail pictures gone and replaced by microphones in iTunes 12.5.1. I liked when there were albums covers or a photo. The microphones waste a lot of onscreen space - poor design.

     

    The recommended solution of subscribing to Apple music and syncing my library with the cloud is not tenable for me. I have 130 GB or pop/rock/alt/etc music and another 50-60 GB of classical music, all purchased by me. I don't want to pay $10/month for a service that won't work for a large portion of my library.

     

    Please make it possible to have Artist thumbnails use album art, or let us fill in that tag with pictures we have.

     

    Also, please reduce the default size of albums in Artist view, or allow us to adjust it with a slider like in Photos  on the Mac.

  • by Jok12,

    Jok12 Jok12 Oct 6, 2016 11:58 AM in response to adamcala
    Level 1 (4 points)
    Oct 6, 2016 11:58 AM in response to adamcala

    This is what I am seeing which is pretty annoying:

    I cannot see some album covers when I play my music randomly on my iPhone.

    I cannot see artist pictures either. The stupid microphone like you are all seeing.

    I plugged my phone into iTunes, and browsed the music that was on my phone. I thought if I could change the tags maybe I could get the artwork to come down. Cant modify crap. I cannot even expand the album names to see if I am looking at disc 1, or disc 2.

    Cannot sort by name, song, anything. Defaults to Artist and stays there.

    Some songs kept saying they were Taylor Swift when they obviously weren't. I verified through iTunes the names were not labeled incorrectly.

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