How do I prevent Itunes from renaming music automatically?

The metadata is stored in a tag. As noted I suspect your issue is caused by multiple tags, which aren't visible using iTunes or Windows Explorer. You would need a dedicated tag editor such as mp3tag to explore in more detail. You might also find MediaMonkey a useful alternative player and organizer.

tt2

Ah, in which case we're potentially back to Multiple tags (MP3 files only). iTunes will read the embedded tag of a track on import and set the metadata in the library accordingly. If there are multiple inconsistent tags then what iTunes picks up might be different from what is shown in WMP or Windows Explorer.

tt2

It seems you've covered this one already, but see Getting iTunes & Windows Media Player to play nicely. WMP does have a feature for auto-updating metadata. In principle iTunes doesn't, but it may on occasion undo edits you've made to items purchased from the iTunes store, reverting to the original metadata shown there. The workaround is to hide those items from your purchase history then make your corrections once more. See also Multiple tags (MP3 files only). If an MP3 file has multiple tags then the tag that iTunes reads or writes to is undefined. It is not unknown for iTunes to apparently accept and apply an edit, then later read back the original values when a track is played for example. iTunes for Windows generated file and folder names are limited to 40 characters.

tt2

Assuming that the issue is store metadata taking preference over your own edits then yes. Exactly what sorts of changes are you seeing? I have a bunch of scripts that I can use to organize my library with changes that can be applied systematically. I'm particularly keen on Title Case where every word has an initial capital, which also inevitably has plenty of very specific exceptions. Using a script allows me to confirm that thousands of tracks are the way I want them in just a few minutes. Are you using Apple Music or iTunes Match? These services attempt to match your library with what is in the store so again may link you to someone else's notion of the correct metadata for a particular item.

tt2

Can you confirm the problem files are in mp3 format? Can you give a specific example of exactly what you see before and after importing to iTunes? Are the tracks you're going to import set out in standard ..\<Artist>\<Album>\## <Name>.<Ext> form? If so it might be possible to add them to iTunes in a way that makes sure the file path doesn't get changed, clear out any multiple tags, then read in and apply the details from the path.

tt2

If you turn off the Keep and Copy options under Edit > Preferences > Advanced then files you add to iTunes won't be copied or renamed, however iTunes will still read the metadata from any tag. If the file names are in a standard form I have a script called TagFromFilename that can read in the desired data from the path.

tt2

Hmm, that isn't the kind of change I see iTunes making. I'm talking about minor changes in capitalisation and whether tracks or album names include say (Bonus Track) which is information I will move to the comments area, or changes to genres. Do you have either Apple Music or iTunes Match? If you see data change as you play a track that suggests an edit outside of iTunes that it has become aware of when it reads the tag from the file.

tt2

If the metadata inside the file doesn't agree with the file name, or there are multiple inconsistent tags, then iTunes is only showing you what is there, it isn't fetching new information from anywhere else.

tt2