porting from iTunes to MM - metadata disappearing

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backinhumanform
Posts: 27
Joined: Sat Nov 20, 2021 6:22 am

porting from iTunes to MM - metadata disappearing

Post by backinhumanform »

I have just moved from iTunes to MM. I ported 34,000 songs over. MM is telling me that there are 2,828 files that have no artist or album. Yet in iTunes these files had full metadata. Why has that information disappeared?
Lowlander
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Joined: Sat Sep 06, 2003 5:53 pm
Location: MediaMonkey 5

Re: porting from iTunes to MM - metadata disappearing

Post by Lowlander »

It may be that iTunes didn't save that information to the files. In those cases you can use Tools > Auto-Tag from Filename if the folder/filenames of the files have the relevant information or use Tools > Auto-Tag to do a lookup on the internet for the tags. In both cases verify the changes prior to applying them.
Ludek
Posts: 4945
Joined: Fri Mar 09, 2007 9:00 am

Re: porting from iTunes to MM - metadata disappearing

Post by Ludek »

BTW: Were you importing the metadata via the iTunes XML file?
i.e. did you check
[x] Import files, playlists, ratings, and playback history from the other applications
-- [x] iTunes
in the Add/Rescan dialog : https://www.mediamonkey.com/wiki/WebHel ... he_Library
?

EDIT: OK, take it back, this imports just playcounts, rating, playlists. The metadata itself (like title, artist, album, genre) is read from the file tag. So most probably iTunes did not wrote the metadata to the file tag like LowLander indicated.

EDIT2 : A user here had a similar problem: https://superuser.com/questions/173581/ ... o-id3-tags
i.e. selecting all the files in iTunes and editing an unused file should force iTunes to write the metadata to the file tags.
Andre_H
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Location: Germany

Re: porting from iTunes to MM - metadata disappearing

Post by Andre_H »

backinhumanform wrote: Sat Nov 27, 2021 5:59 am Yet in iTunes these files had full metadata.
Can you doublecheck this with Mp3Tag or something similar?
- MMW 5.0.4.2690 (non-portable, shared DB & files) on Windows 2016 # only essential addons # my 24/7 media server
- MMW MMW 5.0.4.2690 (non-portable, shared DB & files) on Windows 10 # playing, testing skins & addons # my desktop app
- MMA Pro (2.0.0.1063) on Android 10, 11, 12 Phones & Tabs # WiFi Sync # playing

- MP3Tag, MP3Diags, MP3DirectCut, IrfanView
backinhumanform
Posts: 27
Joined: Sat Nov 20, 2021 6:22 am

Re: porting from iTunes to MM - metadata disappearing

Post by backinhumanform »

Lowlander wrote: Sun Nov 28, 2021 1:12 pm It may be that iTunes didn't save that information to the files. In those cases you can use Tools > Auto-Tag from Filename if the folder/filenames of the files have the relevant information or use Tools > Auto-Tag to do a lookup on the internet for the tags. In both cases verify the changes prior to applying them.
Tools->Auto-Tag doesn't work. The file name is the name of the track with nothing extra. However, the directory path contains the artist name and album name as "fields" separated by the subdirectory separator, '\'. Is it possible to use this information to tag the file?
backinhumanform
Posts: 27
Joined: Sat Nov 20, 2021 6:22 am

Re: porting from iTunes to MM - metadata disappearing

Post by backinhumanform »

Andre_H wrote: Mon Nov 29, 2021 12:23 pm
backinhumanform wrote: Sat Nov 27, 2021 5:59 am Yet in iTunes these files had full metadata.
Can you doublecheck this with Mp3Tag or something similar?
I double checked it with dBpoweramp. The artist name and album name are present and correct there. However, I've just noticed that there is also junk characters in the Comments field. A few years ago, I noticed that the album art had disappeared for any album that had this junk data in the Comments field. This junk data was put there when I ripped the disc to MP3, and at some later update by iTunes, this impacted the artwork of the file. It looks as if this also impacted the album name and artist name, and probably other fields, too.
Lowlander
Posts: 56465
Joined: Sat Sep 06, 2003 5:53 pm
Location: MediaMonkey 5

Re: porting from iTunes to MM - metadata disappearing

Post by Lowlander »

Yes, Auto-Tag from Filename can grab the information from folder/filenames: https://www.mediamonkey.com/wiki/WebHel ... lename/5.0

Can you send a sample file to Support: https://www.mediamonkey.com/support/ It may be that the tags have a corruption which cause MediaMonkey not to be able to read the tags, but a developer will be able to analyze this with a sample file.
backinhumanform
Posts: 27
Joined: Sat Nov 20, 2021 6:22 am

Re: porting from iTunes to MM - metadata disappearing

Post by backinhumanform »

I've started updating the metadata using Auto-Tag from filename. It only fills in the artist name and album name, though. Not stuff like release date or genre. Secondly, there appears to be a bug in the operation. I can't seem to attach an image here, so here is an example of what is happening:

track name with path: C:\Music\Madonna\Greatest Hits\01 Frozen.mp3
mask: <Artist>\<Album>\<Track#><Title>

MediaMonkey tells me that the results of this tagging operation will be:
Artist = Madonna
Album = Greatest Hits
Track # = 01
Track name = Frozen

This is what is actually happening:
Artist = Madonna
Album = Greatest Hits
Track # = 01
Track name = 01 Frozen

That is, MediaMonkey says it is changing the track name by removing the number preceding the name, but it does not.

Lastly, when you ask me to send a sample file to you, do you mean a handful of the affected MP3s?
Lowlander
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Location: MediaMonkey 5

Re: porting from iTunes to MM - metadata disappearing

Post by Lowlander »

It seems you're missing a space in the mask between <Track#> and <Title>
backinhumanform
Posts: 27
Joined: Sat Nov 20, 2021 6:22 am

Re: porting from iTunes to MM - metadata disappearing

Post by backinhumanform »

Including the space makes no difference. The track name still comes through as:
Track name = 01 Frozen
Ludek
Posts: 4945
Joined: Fri Mar 09, 2007 9:00 am

Re: porting from iTunes to MM - metadata disappearing

Post by Ludek »

I am trying now with the same filename and path and the same mask and it is extraced correctly, see:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/mtdo1u0nnxja2 ... 8.png?dl=0

Are you sure that it is not a test error? Which build are you testing? I have tested latest RC (5.0.2.2528)
backinhumanform
Posts: 27
Joined: Sat Nov 20, 2021 6:22 am

Re: porting from iTunes to MM - metadata disappearing

Post by backinhumanform »

I am using 5.0.2.2519. But I also experienced what you showed in your screen shot - it works before you click Ok, but when you click ok, the track name reverts to '01 Frozen'. Furthermore, I'm pretty sure that when the track number field is being populated with 01, it is being populated with a string and not a number(since if it were a number, it would simply be 1)

I don't mean this in a bad way, but it is not my role to test this software, software I have paid for. If I had known that Media Monkey was so unstable, I would not have bought it. I bought it on the strength of the positive reviews - have I arrived at a bad time?

I have no intention of downloading the most recent test version for that reason, I simply don't have the time to test this software.
Andre_H
Posts: 415
Joined: Thu Jan 21, 2021 2:04 pm
Location: Germany

Re: porting from iTunes to MM - metadata disappearing

Post by Andre_H »

backinhumanform wrote: Thu Dec 02, 2021 12:10 pm
Andre_H wrote: Mon Nov 29, 2021 12:23 pm Can you doublecheck this with Mp3Tag or something similar?
I double checked it with dBpoweramp.
i dont know dbPowerAmp well, but as far as i read about it, that also (similar to MMW and iTunes) uses a database behind the scene. that would mean there are 2 sets of information, one from the database and one from the tag. Both do not necessarily have to match, especially if tags have "unexpected" content.

You were able to read 92% of your data correctly, so the same way of importing the data for the remaining 8% can just as well show deviations because the source is incorrect, not necessarily the transfer process. Therefore, I would definitely want to rule out a possible origin of your problems in the tags itself before continuing to search in the program.

(Then you would also have to check the iTunes XML, but this is much more time-consuming and only necessary if you want to transfer history data such as playcounters, ratings, etc. The iTunes database is not required for the pure master data artist, album, track, etc. - IF everything is correctly stored in the tags.)

Check whether the affected tracks are properly tagged: Are the tags complete? Is there more than one tag version (IDv2.1, IDv2.3, IDv2.4, APE, whatever), do they match in terms of content? What happens to one of the affected tracks if you delete ALL tags as a test (make a copy beforehand!), and then re-tag the track, will it then be transferred correctly?

And check this ONLY on the Track itself; thats why i mentioned MP3Tag or something, that does not show anything stored elsewhere than in the track itself.

if both the tags and the iTunes database entries (XML) are correct, the result of reading in all tracks should match.
- MMW 5.0.4.2690 (non-portable, shared DB & files) on Windows 2016 # only essential addons # my 24/7 media server
- MMW MMW 5.0.4.2690 (non-portable, shared DB & files) on Windows 10 # playing, testing skins & addons # my desktop app
- MMA Pro (2.0.0.1063) on Android 10, 11, 12 Phones & Tabs # WiFi Sync # playing

- MP3Tag, MP3Diags, MP3DirectCut, IrfanView
Lowlander
Posts: 56465
Joined: Sat Sep 06, 2003 5:53 pm
Location: MediaMonkey 5

Re: porting from iTunes to MM - metadata disappearing

Post by Lowlander »

backinhumanform wrote: Tue Dec 21, 2021 11:20 amI am using 5.0.2.2519.
You are using an old beta release, so in that case I'd definitely recommend updating to the latest RC release of that version of MediaMonkey.
backinhumanform
Posts: 27
Joined: Sat Nov 20, 2021 6:22 am

Re: porting from iTunes to MM - metadata disappearing

Post by backinhumanform »

Lowlander wrote: Tue Dec 21, 2021 1:08 pm
backinhumanform wrote: Tue Dec 21, 2021 11:20 amI am using 5.0.2.2519.
You are using an old beta release, so in that case I'd definitely recommend updating to the latest RC release of that version of MediaMonkey.
When I click on Help / Check for Updates, it tells me that there is a new version available, asks me to click on the download button, which then brings me to the download page, which asks me to pay for Version 5 Gold, which I already own. Where is the new release, that is available to people who have already paid for a licence??????
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