iTunes Repeating Artists?

#1

I’ve noticed that when syncing my iPod or even putting my iTunes lists into “Artist” view instead of my usual “Album” view, artists repeat multiple times. See below:

It is happen for multiple artists, and not just Beyoncé. I’ve checked all tags and even all sorting tags, and they seem to match. Is there a specific reason for this to be happening? Because when I open my iPod, they’re all grouped as ONE artist. Is it an iTunes glitch?
#2

You have two options when iTunes decides to do this:

1. Rename the artist to something random, it doesn’t really matter. Once that’s processed,
go to the new artist you created and then retag it back to the proper artist.
2. Remove the files from iTunes entirely and then re-add them. They’ll be fixed when reimported.

The former generally works for me, but I have to sometimes do the latter too.

Also, I suggest using a better tagging program. iTunes has been an utter mess since around the 10.0 update. I don’t know what OS you’re on, but there’s mp3tag for Windows and Yate for OSX. mp3tag is free, but if you need Yate, send me a PM.
#3

This has been happening to me for so long and neither of those suggestions have fixed the problem. In particular Super Junior and Taemin have one artist entry for every single track I have of them. I only use iTunes to sync to my phone though and the problem doesn’t transfer over so nbd.

#4

I’m having the same issues as Ryan; I’ve tried both methods and it simply is not fixing it. Oh well. Like Ryan said, it isn’t transferring as an issue to my iPod, but was hoping to end the issue, as it’s annoying to have to manually click each name when syncing my iPod, etc.
#5

It sounds like both of y’all have messed up iTunes library files. You’ll need to delete the iTunes Library.itl file located under the Music/iTunes directory. From there I would use an external tagging program and manually remove sorting tags from every file (unless it’s necessary for stuff like soundtracks, etc) until they’re all cleaned up. Then reimport your audio files into iTunes. I had to do this about a year ago because I had the same issue.
#6

Is that safe? Will it fuck anything else up? I’ll have to look into it this weekend, definitely! Thanks for the input and help, Nate! As for tagging, I almost never change the album artist/artist tag, unless to change the “artist” to differ from the “album artist” because it’s a one-song collaboration or something, etc. What I change the most is the styling of titles.
#7

The library file is basically a massive XML sheet that tells iTunes every little bit of information about every track and it’s prone to eventually “corrupting”. If you’re anal about knowing how many plays you’ve had on a particular track, it’ll unfortunately remove that information as iTunes because a clean slate after that file is removed.
#8

IDGAF about that, lol. I usually click “Reset” on play count, 'cause I can’t stand the numbers on play counts, haha. I’m anal about them being there, lol! Do you think I should remove my media from iTunes and then delete the file? 'Cause I have my music on an EHD, and then it copies to my desktop.
#9

Deleting the file itself won’t touch any other file. If you’re retagging, I suggest retagging the original source files and removing the duplicates. So in your case, retag the files on your external and purge the ones elsewhere.
#10

Which would require Yate, right? Does that also affect album artwork, etc. or do I need to still do that in iTunes? Sorry if I sound stupid… just never done this before, lol. I usually import music into iTunes, do what I need to do and call it a damn day!
#11

Both mp3tag and Yate handle artwork; theyre both full tagging suites so you don’t have to worry about multiple programs to accomplish several tasks. Whenever I download stuff, it doesn’t hit my iTunes until it has been ran through iTMS and Yate.
#12

Is it too late to request Yate from you, then? I’ll likely wash my iTunes clean, delete that file, use the program and then put them back into iTunes! Again, Nate, I truly appreciate it! You be the best ever! :kissing_heart:
#13

Sent! I keep the file uploaded at all times. Hopefully it’ll sort out all of your issues.
#14

I’ll definitely keep you updated, provided the website allows me to! I’d do it today, but am off to work in a short time, and want time to dedicate in re-tagging everything, haha. I’ll re-tag the files on my EHD. And I’ll delete my iTunes library from both iTunes and my desktop hard drive. LOL. I’m a savage bitch!
#15

That’s the best practise; treat it like you’ve never had iTunes and start with a clean slate. All of this retagging talk has me itching to go redo some stuff in my library.
#16

Re-tagging party! I’ll bring the drinks and snacks! You bring the entertainment! LOL. I’ll probably re-make some of my artwork, too! Or even re-title the files, haha. I’m so bad!
#17

Sorry to BUMP; thus far, I’ve erased my entire iTunes, and have slowly begun re-adding albums. Most of the issues are [thankfully] fixed, and iTunes is running much faster, and isn’t slowing down my system, either! #WIN

#18

Yay! Great to hear! :raised_hands:

#19

Same. Now, I’ve got to re-add almost everyone, haha. Kind of sucks, but I am up for it. I’ve stopped using iTunes because it was too slow. Probably didn’t help I have over 80GB of music, lol.

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