[OAW]

Ok ... I've run into a really strange issue when it comes sorting tracks in the iTunes library. I normally sort my library by Artist. Now when you do that iTunes automatically adds a secondary and tertiary sort by Album and Track # respectively. This, IMO is a good thing ... although I do wish there was a way the user could specify these additional sort columns. Anyway, I recently purchased the "Salt" album by Lizz Wright on the ITMS. I bought the album normally but for some strange and unknown reason it downloaded the 10th track called "Blue Rose" from the "Salt - Single" album instead of the album I selected. Nevermind that one would have expected the "Salt - Single" album to contain the track "Salt" ... but hey whatever. The track downloaded successfully and played fine. So I figure no problem ... just edit the tags and change the Album to be "Salt" and Track Number to be 10 of 12 and all will be well in the world right? Wrong! I've done this, but for some reason this track simply refuses to sort in proper track order when I explicitly sort by Artist (or Album). It lists as the first track of the album when it should be the tenth. Now if I filter the library to only show this album and explicitly sort by Track Number then it falls right into place. But that isn't how I typically browse the library. I generally explicitly sort by Artist and rely on the secondary and tertiary sorts to create a usable list.

Having said all that, it appears that the secondary or tertiary sort isn't using the Album or Track Number tag that the user can access. Otherwise, it would have sorted properly. Could it be using some other value that's embedded in the file? Anyone have any idea what this would be? The only thing that jumps out at me is the Copyright information is different on the errant track but I have no idea whether or not that is the source of the problem. See the images below to see what I'm talking about. Thanks in advance for any help!

Incorrect Sorting (see the selected track)




Errant track (see the copyright info)




One of the other tracks that sort properly (see the copyright info)




OAW

[cybergoober]

I would check the disc number tag. i.e. - Disc 1 of 1

[OAW]

Good suggestion ... but it is Disc 1 of 1 like all the other tracks.

OAW

[OAW]

I found this thread over in the Apple Support forums.

http://discussions.info.apple.com/we...8G.2@.68b66383

It describes the same problem. So while it is possible that is is related to the copyright differences, it is more likely that this is a bug that arises when the tracks are originally from different albums. Anyone know of a way to edit the tags so that the tracks sort as intended?

OAW

[lavar78]

Try this: select all of the album's tracks. Change the album name and apply. Change the album name back and apply. Good luck!

[OAW]

Originally Posted by lavar78

Try this: select all of the album's tracks. Change the album name and apply. Change the album name back and apply. Good luck!

Tried that already. No luck, but thanks anyway.

OAW

[lavar78]

Delete the track, grab it from the Trash, and then reimport it.

[OAW]

Did that too. Believe me I've tried all the obvious stuff. Editing tags. Reimporting. Even re-downloading the tracks after b*tching to Apple. I don't think it can be done "normally". iTunes is apparently using something embedded in the files to sort ... and in this case it is not accessible to the user via normal methods. I think to get around this someone has to know what this is ... and suggest some sort of terminal or file "hack" to fix it and get iTunes to behave itself. I was just hoping someone would know what that would be ... if at all possible.

OAW

[lavar78]

I've had this problem before. I can't remember which album it was, but I think I fixed it. I'm going through my library right now to try to find it. I love a challenge!