Editing song display in iPod

[Steve A.]

I've been loading up my iPod with my favorite albums and some of the songs I want to learn. The problem is that some songs display as album name, track number and then song title, while others display just as the song title (which is what I want).

I've Googled this extensively. "Get Info" shows exactly what I want displayed, yet it comes up with the bloated song title.

I've tried deleting the tracks and then reloading them- that did not help. Then again maybe I just deleted the contents of the playlist and not tracks themselves...

I really do not understand the user interface of iTunes- it seems to me to be very Mac-like!

Steve Ahola

[defaced]

iPods work off of the id3 tags on the MP3s. You need to make sure all of your tags are correct to get the iPod to display the naming right. Look at the tags of the songs you like the way they're displayed, and then at the ones you don't like, and adjust tracks accordingly.

[Steve A.]

Originally Posted by defaced

iPods work off of the id3 tags on the MP3s. You need to make sure all of your tags are correct to get the iPod to display the naming right. Look at the tags of the songs you like the way they're displayed, and then at the ones you don't like, and adjust tracks accordingly.

Yes, I know that. I have edited the id3 tags but the iPod and iTunes still display what was there originally. And sometimes it seems like the display in iTunes reflects the changes but then the iPod doesn't...

I have tried various sync options but possibly not in the right order.

I would really like to know where the metadata is stored but the iPod/iTunes interface is not the most transparent (probably to discourage illegal copying of MP3's).

Steve Ahola

P.S. I just got another iPod but until I resolve this issue with my old mini I really don't want to load it up with all of my songs. I have considered using alternate managers for the iPod, perhaps WinAmp, since I do not buy anything from the iTunes store.

[tboy]

Steve,

Are you using some program other than iTunes to edit the song info? If so iTunes won't be aware of your changes unless you re-import the songs. The big secret is to use iTunes itself to do the editing.

[defaced]

What are the files themselves named as?

[Steve A.]

Originally Posted by defaced

What are the files themselves named as?

The song title is prefaced by the album name and the track number. I hadn't bother to check the tags before importing those songs into iTunes. (My bad!) The filenames are in a XX - Song Title.mp3 format with XX being the track number. This is how I store them on my local hard drive (by albums).

But even after editing the tags iTunes and the iPod keep reverting to the original tags.

I may need to clear everything out of iTunes- all of the files are within a folder titled MP3. If I just rename that folder MP3x, iTunes should delete the entire library. After syncing with my iPod all of the wrong information should be cleared and then I can reimport everything from scratch. No problem since this is just a 4GB mini. Once I get it working properly then I have a brand new one to start learning up.

Thanks for the suggestions

Steve Ahola

P.S. It was a real trip learning about id3 tags a few years ago- I could not figure out why some songs were organized as albums and some weren't...

[drewl]

When you're in the "get info" menu or page you can edit or change what is displayed from there.
I do it all the time.

[Steve A.]

Originally Posted by drewl

When you're in the "get info" menu or page you can edit or change what is displayed from there.
I do it all the time.

The "get info" page shows the song title correctly but in the display for iTunes and my iPod the song title is prefaced by the album name and track number.

Here is what's weird: if I play the song or go into the "get info" page, the song will be displayed as desired. But that is a bit of a hassle because I just imported a whole sh*tload of albums. And no, if I try selecting multiple files the "get info" trick doesn't work.

It certainly seems like a bug to me- has Apple been taking lessons from MicroShaft...?

Steve Ahola

P.S. Under preferences I just checked two boxes:

- Keep iTunes music folder organized
- Copy files to iTunes music folder when adding to library

... so maybe that made a difference.

P.P.S. To simplify the "Get Info" process I can use the keyboard shortcut Ctrl I then Esc then the down arrow to get to the next entry. But it is still a royal pain...

EDIT If you sort the iTunes music folder by album name you can hit enter to play a song, down arrow to move to the next and then hit enter again. Repeat as needed. (If you have the folder sorted by song title it will jump alphabetically to actual song name.)

Question: Is there some trick to getting iTunes to recognize my iPod? It seems like I have to unplug it and plug it back in to get the iTunes/iPod menu (for syncing and setting options).