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kylef · Aug 11, 2009, 02:05 PM

Hi

With the release of Snow Leopard, I have planned a fresh install. I'm also rebuilding and adding a lot of music to my library. Quite a bit of the music will need some tag editing (ie. Artwork / Album). Does iTunes save this information once you have edited it? I was planning on rebuilding the library whilst still on leopard, and then just copy across the entire iTunes music folder. However, if I will have to do it all again there isn't much point in me doing it now as Snow Leopard is only a few weeks away.

Thanks

Big Mac · Aug 11, 2009, 02:41 PM

Of course iTunes saves the song tag information you edit. What did you think the edit feature did?

Dakar V · Aug 11, 2009, 02:42 PM

I think he means to the mp3/aac files, as opposed to within the program itself.

kylef · Aug 11, 2009, 03:15 PM

Originally Posted by Big Mac

Of course iTunes saves the song tag information you edit. What did you think the edit feature did?

I meant to the files themselves (what Dakar is saying).

ghporter · Aug 11, 2009, 08:28 PM

The tags themselves are saved in the music file. It is my understanding that album art is apparently saved as a link to iTunes-researched art, though the art file is saved as tag information when you find and add the art.

kylef · Aug 12, 2009, 02:23 PM

Originally Posted by ghporter

The tags themselves are saved in the music file. It is my understanding that album art is apparently saved as a link to iTunes-researched art, though the art file is saved as tag information when you find and add the art.

Thanks, I'll do everything but the album art just to be sure.

Dakar V · Aug 12, 2009, 02:26 PM

Last time I checked, it's option embed the album art to the mp3 file, or have it accessed the album directory.

Spheric Harlot · Aug 12, 2009, 04:36 PM

Where is this option? I don't recall ever having seen it.

By default:
For artwork pulled off th iTunes store automatically, the artwork is not added to the file. For artwork added by hand, it is saved as part if the file and thus preserved when the file is sent via email or other medium.

Dakar V · Aug 12, 2009, 04:44 PM

I'm not sure... what version of iTunes changed from embedding artwork to keeping it separate?

Dakar V · Aug 12, 2009, 04:55 PM

Okay, here goes, best as I understand it from a quick perusal.

The way artwork was handled changed in iTunes 7, when they added the feature for iTunes to retrieve covers automatically. This artwork was added to the Album Artwork folder.
However, at the time, if you wanted to embed the artwork, all you had to do was copy the cover and repaste it into the mp3. It also looks like any artwork you added manually would be embedded.

I can't verify if this is still the case, since I'm not near my library at home.

I would be incorrect in that it was never a dialogue option, but merely an manual user option.

Spheric Harlot · Aug 13, 2009, 07:07 AM

Originally Posted by Dakar V

I'm not sure... what version of iTunes changed from embedding artwork to keeping it separate?

Nothing ever changed.

They just added the auto-download-from-iTunes-Store capability, but that artwork has never been embedded into the file.

IOW: embedding artwork has always been by hand only.

Dakar V · Aug 13, 2009, 09:19 AM

Originally Posted by Spheric Harlot

Nothing ever changed.

They just added the auto-download-from-iTunes-Store capability, but that artwork has never been embedded into the file.

IOW: embedding artwork has always been by hand only.

Previous to iTunes 7 artwork was always embedded by the file, because that was the only option. As far as it being "by hand" only, that's because that was the only way to do it.

You know, if you read my post under that one, this would have been clear.

kylef · Aug 13, 2009, 09:32 AM

Just to clarify:

- song information (ie. artist, album name) is embedded in to the MP3 file itself
- artwork is saved elsewhere / not stored within the MP3 file

Dakar V · Aug 13, 2009, 09:39 AM

Originally Posted by kylef

- artwork is saved elsewhere / not stored within the MP3 file

It depends on how you added it. If you asked iTunes to retrieve the artwork, not embedded. If you pasted it into the artwork field yourself, embedded.

kylef · Aug 13, 2009, 10:47 AM

Originally Posted by Dakar V

It depends on how you added it. If you asked iTunes to retrieve the artwork, not embedded. If you pasted it into the artwork field yourself, embedded.

Thanks for the clarification.

tooki · Aug 14, 2009, 01:03 AM

Actually, iTunes has always kept metadata changes in the library file, not in the music files. But if you use the Convert MP3 Tags command, the changes are written back out to the files. I know this from years of experience...

kylef · Aug 14, 2009, 05:51 AM

Originally Posted by tooki

Actually, iTunes has always kept metadata changes in the library file, not in the music files. But if you use the Convert MP3 Tags command, the changes are written back out to the files. I know this from years of experience...

Whereabouts is that? In the right click menu?

ghporter · Aug 14, 2009, 08:06 AM

Originally Posted by Wikipedia

ID3 is a metadata container most often used in conjunction with the MP3 audio file format.

Helpful?

Dakar V · Aug 14, 2009, 09:28 AM

Originally Posted by tooki

Actually, iTunes has always kept metadata changes in the library file, not in the music files. But if you use the Convert MP3 Tags command, the changes are written back out to the files. I know this from years of experience...

...wouldn't this mean that any files I added meta-data too, if I pulled them and added them to a different comp, would be untagged? Because that's never been the case in my experience...

TETENAL · Aug 14, 2009, 09:47 AM

iTunes changes the ID3-tags in the song files immediately. Only stuff that is not supported by those tags (like play count and last played date etc.) is stored in the iTunes library only.

Dakar V · Aug 14, 2009, 09:50 AM

Oh, I see. Damned terminology.

Spheric Harlot · Aug 14, 2009, 11:54 AM

Originally Posted by TETENAL

iTunes changes the ID3-tags in the song files immediately. Only stuff that is not supported by those tags (like play count and last played date etc.) AND ARTWORK THAT IS AUTOMATICALLY PULLED OFF THE iTUNES STORE (for non-online-purchased items) is stored in the iTunes library only.

Slightly addended for completeness' sake.

ghporter · Aug 14, 2009, 02:55 PM

Originally Posted by Spheric Harlot

Slightly addended for completeness' sake.

Good catch. Stuff you buy from the ITMS should obviously be complete, but stuff you import may need artwork added.

kylef · Aug 14, 2009, 05:24 PM

Very helpful, fully understood.

Thanks all.

SkaFreak · Oct 6, 2009, 02:59 AM

So, I have been searching for a list of data that Itunes stores in the MP3 so when moving an mp3 from one library to another I would know which data would be saved. I couldn't find a list so I decided to test it myself. I took an mp3 on one computer in itunes and edited every possible bit of info for the mp3. Then I copied that track to a seperate computer and imported it into itunes. This test was performed using Itunes 9.0.1 on both computers.
I will break down the data by tabs within the Get Info window of Itunes.

Info Tab: (Everything On This Tab Was Saved)
Name, Artist, Album Artist, Album, Grouping, Composer, Comments, Genre, Year, Track Number (and of track number), Disc Number (and of disc number), BPM, Part of a compilation

Video Tab:
Description

Sorting:
Name, Artist, Album Artist, Album, Composer, Sort Name, Sort Artist, Sort Album Artist, Sort Album, Sort Composer

Options:
Volume Adjustment, Part of a gapless album

Lyrics:
Lyrics where saved

Artwork:
Artwork was saved

I hope this will help others.