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Can't import mp3 files to iTunes

I recently bought a handful of albums on bandcamp and am now trying to import them to iTunes with no luck. I've tried:

1) Right click file > open with... > iTunes

2) File > Add file...

3) Dragging the file to the iTunes icon


And none of these methods work. At first I thought it was some weird format thing because they were all "MP3 Format Sound," but when I tried converting them to MP3, and then WAV nothing happens. I tried updating iTunes to the latest version and that didn't work (although now I see that all of the file types are "MPEG Layer 3 Audio"). I don't think it's a format issue because neither MP3 nor WAV work, I don't think it has anything to do with the source of the files because they're all from bandcamp so I'd think they're all legit, and before this I tried importing everything to Google Play to no avail.


Please halp.

null-OTHER, Windows 7

Posted on Nov 13, 2017 11:03 PM

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Question marked as Best reply

Posted on Nov 14, 2017 9:03 PM

I am familiar with Bandcamp, I have 41 songs on nine albums, all of which imported into my Library with no problem at all. So unless there has been a significant change recently, I see no reason why there would be a problem.


First of all, where do you see the information that they are "MP3 Format Sound"? Does any message use that specific text, because I'm not aware of it or that it is different to MP3. And if it's not different to MP3, there is no need to covert it to MP3.


  • Next, have you downloaded the files to your computer?
  • If you have, for several songs in one folder, use the command File/Add Folder to Library, navigate to the relevant folder and select it. Click on the Select Folder button to add it to your iTunes Library.
  • For individual files, use File/Add File to Library, navigate to the folder with the file in it and select the file. Click on the OPEN button to add the song to your iTunes Library.
  • Once you have performed the add function, how have you tried looking for the newly added music in your Library?
    • You can use the Albums, Artists or Songs views to look for them.
    • The really useful and easy view is the Songs View. Arrange it so that you have the Date Added column displayed and use that to look for the new music.
    • To add the Date Added column, right-click on the header bar and choose the Date Added field from the menu that appears. Then click on the Date Added header so that the arrow points down. This will cause the songs to be listed in Date Added order, with the most recent ones at the top. Can you see the songs there?


User uploaded file



User uploaded file


If none of this works (and I would be surprised if it doesn't), try double-clicking any of these new songs in the Windows Explorer window and it should begin playing in iTunes. Once that happens, you should see that song listed in your Library.

5 replies
Question marked as Best reply

Nov 14, 2017 9:03 PM in response to will_moessinger

I am familiar with Bandcamp, I have 41 songs on nine albums, all of which imported into my Library with no problem at all. So unless there has been a significant change recently, I see no reason why there would be a problem.


First of all, where do you see the information that they are "MP3 Format Sound"? Does any message use that specific text, because I'm not aware of it or that it is different to MP3. And if it's not different to MP3, there is no need to covert it to MP3.


  • Next, have you downloaded the files to your computer?
  • If you have, for several songs in one folder, use the command File/Add Folder to Library, navigate to the relevant folder and select it. Click on the Select Folder button to add it to your iTunes Library.
  • For individual files, use File/Add File to Library, navigate to the folder with the file in it and select the file. Click on the OPEN button to add the song to your iTunes Library.
  • Once you have performed the add function, how have you tried looking for the newly added music in your Library?
    • You can use the Albums, Artists or Songs views to look for them.
    • The really useful and easy view is the Songs View. Arrange it so that you have the Date Added column displayed and use that to look for the new music.
    • To add the Date Added column, right-click on the header bar and choose the Date Added field from the menu that appears. Then click on the Date Added header so that the arrow points down. This will cause the songs to be listed in Date Added order, with the most recent ones at the top. Can you see the songs there?


User uploaded file



User uploaded file


If none of this works (and I would be surprised if it doesn't), try double-clicking any of these new songs in the Windows Explorer window and it should begin playing in iTunes. Once that happens, you should see that song listed in your Library.

Nov 14, 2017 9:08 PM in response to the fiend

The "Add Folder to Library" method didn't work for me, but I did figure it out for anybody who has trouble with this in the future.


Somehow my files went from "MP3 Format Sound" to "MPEG Layer 3 Audio." Whatever format it is doesn't matter for the following.


When you open up iTunes it will ask you if you want to make iTunes the default media player for audio files (if it doesn't it should be pretty easy to figure out how to do that yourself). If you click "yes" then it will give you a list of audio formats from mp3, to mp2, to wav that you can make iTunes the default media player for. Once you do this, you simply have to click on the file itself and it will open it in iTunes. If you do it song-by-song it's a little tedious, but I'm just relieved I found something that worked.User uploaded file

Nov 15, 2017 4:03 AM in response to will_moessinger

Ah! I see what the issue is.


The first thing is that your screenshot shows the music files in a zip folder. You cannot add the contents of a zip folder to your iTunes Library, you have to extract the files first. Once unzipped (or extracted) then you can use the File/Add Folder to Library command. In Windows, right-click on the folder and select Extract All... from the context menu.


* Note that this creates an additional folder, leaving the original zip folder where it was. The new folder will have the same name as the zip folder. Make sure you look in the correct folder when adding the music to your library.*


Next, Bandcamp has a facility to stream music. In other words, what you are listening to is being played online (at source) and then sent to your device as you hear it. Perhaps that is what the MP3 Format Sound is. You cannot add this music to your library either. You need to download the music, which you've done but (as mentioned) your screenshot shows the zip file that was used to download the music rather than the music files themselves

So make sure you have downloaded the music and unzipped the folder before trying to add the music to your library.


I can assure you, File/Add Folder to Library and File/Add File to Library both work.



*Entire paragraph subsequently added by author (for clarity).

Can't import mp3 files to iTunes

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