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How to rename song that is listed as track 1 in iTunes?

I do not have apple music. Just copy my CDs to iPhone and iPad. I have PC, not a mac.

This is about editing in iTunes, so I can play songs on iPhone.

I have a number of songs titled just 'track #x'. They generally do not have album name .So I can't just look at CD and put in name of that track number.

I also, can't seem to play the tracks; other songs keep playing. If I could play them, I would know the song names.

Then I need to figure out how to rename the songs.

I can't edit the 'song info' .


There was a previous question about this from 2013, suggestions seem to start at the end of many steps.

Trying to playing the song in iTunes keeps palying other another song, not the ones for which I need to change the names.

Any help will be appreciated.

Thanks.



Does anyone have some suggestions on 1. playing song; 2. editing the name.


[Re-Titled by Moderator]




Windows, Windows 10

Posted on Mar 13, 2023 8:45 AM

Reply
Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Posted on Mar 14, 2023 3:04 AM

There appears to be a few things going on here. Let's see if we can address them one at a time and work out how to prevent or remedy the issue.


  • Tracks named as "track #x":
    • when you copy from a factory produced (commercial) CD to your iTunes Library it should have all the titles put in by iTunes before you rip the CD (but note that the information is not "on the CD" itself). If that doesn't happen it's either because your iTunes cannot get access to the Gracenote database that it uses (where the track information is listed), or the CD is unknown by Gracenote (i.e. a brand new album that has not yet been submitted, or a home burnt CD). Make sure iTunes has access to the internet when copying from CD
    • iTunes cannot find information for a home burnt CD, even if the CD is in CD Audio format (and each file is has a filename extension of .wav or .cda). If the files on the CD are in .wav or .cda format, you will have to type in the track and album information yourself
    • if you are adding audio files from a home burnt CD, that are in another format (such as mp3), you do so using the Add File or Add Folder procedure and track information will (or should be) in the file itself. If it isn't, then it's the file that's the issue. You can rename these files as detailed below


  • Tracks cannot be played and other songs keep playing:
    • If a song (track) cannot be played by iTunes, iTunes will skip to the next track, so I assume that's why "other songs keep playing". I would expect an exclamation mark to appear next to the song unplayable track's name. This can occur if the file for that track has been moved, renamed or deleted in Windows Explorer after it has been added to your iTunes Library. If you are trying to rename tracks, you need to do it before adding them to your Library or use iTunes to rename the track (details below). Do not reanme tracks in Windows Explorer after they have been added to your iTunes Library


  • Can't edit song info:
    • if the file for the song is missing, so iTunes can't play it and it has an exclamation mark next to the name, then there is nothing for iTunes to edit; there's no file for it to rename. You need to sort out the missing issue first. How you do that depends on what caused the problem originally.


First of all, work out why iTunes can no longer find the file for a track. If you renamed, moved or delete the file in Windows Explorer, undo this, and then ask iTunes to play the track, Once the file detail is as it was before, it will play.


Next, if you have a song in your library that is incorrectly (or incompletely) titled and iTunes can play it, use iTunes to edit it by using Edit/Song Info. Note that you cannot do this if iTunes is unable to find file.


Finally, make sure this doesn't keep happening: once you understand the points I've made above, you should be able to work out why this happened in the first place. You can then take appropriate steps to stop it re-occurring. One thing that might help you is to have the following fixed in your mind:

    1. as far as iTunes is concerned, "adding a CD" to iTunes Library means a commercial, factory-made CD in CD Audio format. With this method, iTunes looks online for information about the CD
    2. adding audio files from a home burnt CD is in fact adding digital files to your Library (you are not "adding a CD", you are "adding files"). The procedure for getting them listed in your iTunes Library is different (i.e. File/Add File or File/Add Folder). All track information should be contained in tags within the file for the track. However, this is not guaranteed; if the person who created the CD with audio files on it didn't put the track information into the files, iTunes cannot find that information elsewhere


Feel free to post back if you require more information.

Similar questions

2 replies
Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Mar 14, 2023 3:04 AM in response to Hollis1818

There appears to be a few things going on here. Let's see if we can address them one at a time and work out how to prevent or remedy the issue.


  • Tracks named as "track #x":
    • when you copy from a factory produced (commercial) CD to your iTunes Library it should have all the titles put in by iTunes before you rip the CD (but note that the information is not "on the CD" itself). If that doesn't happen it's either because your iTunes cannot get access to the Gracenote database that it uses (where the track information is listed), or the CD is unknown by Gracenote (i.e. a brand new album that has not yet been submitted, or a home burnt CD). Make sure iTunes has access to the internet when copying from CD
    • iTunes cannot find information for a home burnt CD, even if the CD is in CD Audio format (and each file is has a filename extension of .wav or .cda). If the files on the CD are in .wav or .cda format, you will have to type in the track and album information yourself
    • if you are adding audio files from a home burnt CD, that are in another format (such as mp3), you do so using the Add File or Add Folder procedure and track information will (or should be) in the file itself. If it isn't, then it's the file that's the issue. You can rename these files as detailed below


  • Tracks cannot be played and other songs keep playing:
    • If a song (track) cannot be played by iTunes, iTunes will skip to the next track, so I assume that's why "other songs keep playing". I would expect an exclamation mark to appear next to the song unplayable track's name. This can occur if the file for that track has been moved, renamed or deleted in Windows Explorer after it has been added to your iTunes Library. If you are trying to rename tracks, you need to do it before adding them to your Library or use iTunes to rename the track (details below). Do not reanme tracks in Windows Explorer after they have been added to your iTunes Library


  • Can't edit song info:
    • if the file for the song is missing, so iTunes can't play it and it has an exclamation mark next to the name, then there is nothing for iTunes to edit; there's no file for it to rename. You need to sort out the missing issue first. How you do that depends on what caused the problem originally.


First of all, work out why iTunes can no longer find the file for a track. If you renamed, moved or delete the file in Windows Explorer, undo this, and then ask iTunes to play the track, Once the file detail is as it was before, it will play.


Next, if you have a song in your library that is incorrectly (or incompletely) titled and iTunes can play it, use iTunes to edit it by using Edit/Song Info. Note that you cannot do this if iTunes is unable to find file.


Finally, make sure this doesn't keep happening: once you understand the points I've made above, you should be able to work out why this happened in the first place. You can then take appropriate steps to stop it re-occurring. One thing that might help you is to have the following fixed in your mind:

    1. as far as iTunes is concerned, "adding a CD" to iTunes Library means a commercial, factory-made CD in CD Audio format. With this method, iTunes looks online for information about the CD
    2. adding audio files from a home burnt CD is in fact adding digital files to your Library (you are not "adding a CD", you are "adding files"). The procedure for getting them listed in your iTunes Library is different (i.e. File/Add File or File/Add Folder). All track information should be contained in tags within the file for the track. However, this is not guaranteed; if the person who created the CD with audio files on it didn't put the track information into the files, iTunes cannot find that information elsewhere


Feel free to post back if you require more information.

Mar 14, 2023 3:20 AM in response to the fiend

Oh, by the way:


Let me expand a little on the adding music (or speech etc.) to iTunes points I made in my previous post:


    • When copying a factory-made Audio CD (that will be in CD Audio format) to an iTunes Library, the procedure is as follows:
      • inset CD into computer drive
      • CD is seen by iTunes and iTunes looks online for the information such as track titles, album title etc. for that CD and lists the information in the Add CD window
      • you click on the Import CD button and iTunes "rips" the CD, i.e. it copies the tracks from the CD, converts them into digital files and lists them in its Library, complete with track information for each track
      • job completed


    • When copying music (or speech etc.) from a home burnt CD, the procedure is as follows:
      • you use Windows Explorer to copy the files from the CD to your computer, usually storing them in the appropriate Music folders
      • you then use iTunes' menu and select File/Add File to Library for an individual track or File/Add Folder to Library for a folder full of files. No conversion takes place as the files are already in (computer-ready) digital format
      • iTunes will display the tag information for each track, that it has found in the file itself. It cannot go online for this information

How to rename song that is listed as track 1 in iTunes?

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